How to be more productive as a voice actor
I’m sure many of us have run into this situation: you have some jobs you’ve booked, and they’re waiting for you. You decide to get in the booth, open up your DAW, and you’re about to hit record. But then, your phone rings. Or, you get a Facebook notification from your favorite voice over group. Suddenly, 30 minutes have gone by, and you’ve wasted a bunch of time looking at posts or chatting up friends, when you could have been getting work done and making money.
It happens to the best of us. Humans are social creatures, after all. But, if you want to do this job with any sort of efficiency or professionalism, you have to tune out the distractions. Clients are waiting on you, and you want to exceed their expectations at every possible moment. This is how you get them to come back to you time and time again.
Here are my tips for becoming more productive with your voice over work:
Put your phone on do not disturb. This will help you avoid messages and alerts that aren’t related to what you’re currently working on. You don’t need to respond to that text message right away, it can wait.
Close those unnecessary browser tabs. All you should have in front of you are your copy, other relevant materials for the job, and your DAW.
Embrace presets and keyboard shortcuts. With my setup, all i have to do is step in my booth, press CTRL+R, and I can start recording my voice in Reaper. My presets in my DAW automatically apply the necessary effects, and all my file format preferences are dialed in. I don’t have to do much else. Imagine how much time you could save by having your project set up and ready to go, without you having to add the effects you need and dial in settings every time.
Have a dedicated, quiet workspace. If at all possible, try to have a separate space in your home where you do your work. For me, I have my Whisper Room set up in the home office, and generally keep work activities confined to this space. This also helps eliminate distractions from around the house.
Set aside a specific time throughout the day that you will dedicate to voice over work. By doing this, you will set healthy boundaries between voice over and other parts of your life, like your day job (if you have one), your family, your other hobbies or interests, etc.
For more tips like these, be sure to follow me on social media, and join the Facebook group. Links to my socials are below!
Trevor
