VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #670 – Balance is Key
Voice coaches, radio, everything voiceover. Hey there, happy Friday. Welcome to a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio. My name is Marissa. Uh, doing this actually on Thursday, but posting on Friday. I'm gonna be in Boston. Uh, this is just, I. The, the normal trajectory for me, you're gonna notice, uh, you know, if at least I mention about it, that it's multiple times a year.
Um, clearly I have a second home and, uh, you know, it was my home for a while. So it makes sense. And, uh, you know, I've been in the stages, I think I mentioned like just kind of redoing my studio and it's very Celtics related. You know, here we are in the, the full swing of NBA playoff season as of this moment.
Celtics are two and oh in round one. So I'm a happy girl, uh, you know, and, uh, studio's coming along, so I'm a happy girl in that way too. Um, today itself happens to be. Uh, what, what do we call it? Oh, right. It's, uh, bring your kid to Workday and always in my studio there's at least one kid, a fur kid. And uh, right now it happens to be the puppy, so George's right next to me asleep on my desk.
Um, and it's funny because you would think puppy full of energy that she would just be taking over and you'd be at least able to hear her panting or trying to play or something. And. No, this is just also our norm where she just goes and she chills. Uh, we've been doing that from day one. Uh, it, I'll bring her down.
It's like, it's just nap time now and she knows that. And we have a little tradition and, uh, you know, routine is good. Routine is always good. Uh, but that right there is gonna lead me into what I wanna talk about a little bit today, because I know I've talked about it at some point. I don't remember exactly when it may have been like.
Last year at some point. Maybe it was a year prior to that, I, I don't even know. But you know, we talk a lot about voiceover itself for the obvious of reasons. You know, I want you to be able to get educated a little bit. I want you to maybe know that these feelings that you're having, whatever they might be, you're not alone.
Uh, that's always important, you know? 'cause we can kind of get in our own way so many times and think that this must be just us sort of situation. And no, I mean, a lot of the feelings that you have as you're navigating this, they're very, very common. Uh, you know, it's, it's hard not to have some of those feelings creep on in, uh, but there, there's always a really, really big challenge.
Right from the beginning. And it, it comes down to how can I make this work? Like life is busy. How, how can I make this dream come true of mine? And I would like to say that there's, you know, an, uh, easy outline or plan or guide to do that for yourself. But, but life is busy and everybody's life, everybody's day to day is different.
So what works for me might not necessarily work for you. Uh, you know, so it's, it's just, it's a little bit of a challenge right from the beginning because like, bills do need to be paid, right? So you need to go ahead and have that livelihood and, and you know, things coming in so you can go ahead and, and make that that money.
Um, so. What should we do when we're getting started? How do we go ahead and understand what's going to be best for us? Now listen, this might be something that shifts along the way. You know, it might work at first, and then it just, eh, just doesn doesn't work anymore. You know? So you have to be willing to, what we've talked about before and not too long ago, I know, is pivot.
You know, and I've had to do it many, many, many times since 2020 especially. Uh, so. Here is the best way I think to start. You've gotta look at your every single day. Now, are you somebody who tends to fly a little bit like by the seat of your pants? You know, you don't really have, uh, good time management skills or, you know, maybe you are somebody, maybe you, you do have time management skills, but, but you know, you just have way too much on your plate typically, and you just end up running behind or, or whatever.
Uh, you end up. Getting late, you know, you're just discombobulated. Um, you know, first and foremost, you've gotta, you've gotta look at how life is and then see how can I adjust? Because you can, you have to, you have to be willing to adjust. And that might be the little trick here, right? You might think you're willing and then, and then you start putting things into action.
You're like, maybe, maybe I'm not as willing as I thought I was. Uh, you know, maybe this isn't as. Easy as I thought it was gonna be. Uh, you know, for me when, when I was getting things back in order for myself and I was in the midst of teaching full-time and, and just trying to, I guess, get my head in a good mental place because the pandemic definitely messed me up in a number of ways.
I, I had to kind of just, you know, as things were sort of opening up again and opportunities were popping up. I had to go ahead and see like, how can I make this work? What is my day to day? What does it look like? You know, thankfully for me, in a lot of cases, I ended up getting to, to work from home. You know, if we didn't have a student in person, I wasn't going to the office, uh, you know, unless it was absolutely necessary.
And, and that was just 'cause we didn't have enough space for anybody. Everybody, anyway. So, you know, it kind of worked out in that way where I was able to be at home base. On a fairly consistent basis. So if I had to get something done in between my other work, I was able to, and I'll admit I actually am pretty good at time management, but I am my own worst enemy in that way because there are some days I just think I could handle a lot more than I actually can.
So when I don't check everything off my list, oh boy do I get mad at myself. But there you think there's the thing, right? That's that's a big part of who I am. The list, the, the list and the check boxes and like, I need to be as organized as I can be. And so when, when you're looking at your day to day, the, the best thing that you can do is see what your schedule is like.
Maybe even document it for a couple days in a row just so you can really understand what it's like. And then I want you to kind of. Think about everything that goes around that day. You know, family life maybe, maybe you're not, you know, married or whatever, but you've got kids or maybe you've got a significant other than you don't live with them, but you gotta make time for them.
'cause otherwise, I mean, you're not in a relationship if you don't. Uh, you know, so it's like you've gotta have this nice work life balance. And you can start this in voiceover. But it's just, you've gotta be able to make the time and the work, the work around with it, right? So I say like, go ahead, document those couple days.
Think about all the other life things that you have going on, and then see where you can fit in. Even if it's like 10 or 15 minutes, just a couple times a week to start. You know, where you can go ahead and you can just practice where you can go ahead and you can maybe. Do a little research to find some auditions.
Maybe it's taking some time to set up social media that can be incorporated with this so you can start joining different groups and you know, finding like-minded people that it's good to be able to bounce off of, but start small because the small steps are what are going to get you the furthest distance.
That's where you're gonna grow the most. That's where you're going to start to see the positive change. And in some cases you might not feel it right away, but you will start to take those strides in the right direction. It's all about making the time. And sometimes it is just only a little bit from the beginning, and then little by little, you know, maybe you're able to open it up a little bit more.
Maybe you have an extra hour on the weekend, maybe you have two. Uh, you know, let let that growth happen and, and then see where maybe if work starts coming in, I. How could I start pulling back on something else so I can get more time for this? You know, it is, it's a teeter-totter, right? And that's exactly what I had to do the entire last five years and change.
It has been a constant trying to, to balance the totter and I don't have balance. When I'm standing. So like, you know, trying to have that kind of mental balance and clarity in everything can be quite a, a mind twist. Um, but it is all up to you. And, and I think that's where in a lot of life we don't have control.
Here's where you will right from the beginning, you know, if you want this, you can have it. But you have to make the time, you have to make the effort, you have to go ahead and take those steps in the right direction. And it does come down to to just like having that little bit of a plan of action to allow the work life balance.
You can't go a hundred thousand percent and think that because I'm giving a hundred thousand percent that everything's gonna happen and it's gonna happen quickly and I'm gonna be in this and I'm gonna be able to get rid of my full-time and whatever. Because you're gonna get burnt out little by little.
Take care of yourself along the way. Remember that you're doing this because you love it and because you wanna have fun and, and let the rest kind of come in on its own. Um, so hopefully that can help, you know? 'cause I do know, I know the feeling of being burnt out. I feel it. I don't wanna say on a regular basis that would be being dramatic, but.
Especially in these last probably few months, uh, when I'm balancing things like doctor appointments and just because I hadn't been feeling so great, uh, with the, the injury I had from during the pandemic and, you know, then also with my, my fiance also not feeling a hundred percent like, and helping, helping her along the way and, you know, trying to celebrate things and, you know, just making time for fun.
Um. Yeah, I mean, having any of that downtime, trying to catch up on sleep, like all of that, it, it's like you kind of feel like you're running in place a bit and, and that can feel a little bit overwhelming at times. And then it's like, here you are trying to feel better, but you almost kind of feel, I don't wanna say worse, but probably worse.
Um, so. You've just gotta keep a check on it, you know? And, and it will feel good. You know, it, it's gonna hit a point where it's like, all right, yeah, cool, we're vibing. And, uh, you know, I have that feeling quite often, you know, but sometimes life just gets tricky 'cause it will throw you a curve ball and, you know, you just kinda have to run with it.
And, uh, you know, I, I think now that we're getting into warmer weather, I'm gonna be trying to do as much as I can to make for some more relaxing time, just even if I'm doing my workout on the deck, because that. Just solves so many problems. Um, but if you've got questions on how to start. Kind of creating that, that plan of action for yourself.
You know, always an email away, [email protected]. I love to help when I can. Uh, so feel free to reach, reach out anytime, [email protected]. There is gonna be a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio coming your way next week and, uh, I hope that you enjoy the weekend. Stay safe, everybody. Go Celtics.
Visit voice coaches com for more voiceover news and information.
Um, clearly I have a second home and, uh, you know, it was my home for a while. So it makes sense. And, uh, you know, I've been in the stages, I think I mentioned like just kind of redoing my studio and it's very Celtics related. You know, here we are in the, the full swing of NBA playoff season as of this moment.
Celtics are two and oh in round one. So I'm a happy girl, uh, you know, and, uh, studio's coming along, so I'm a happy girl in that way too. Um, today itself happens to be. Uh, what, what do we call it? Oh, right. It's, uh, bring your kid to Workday and always in my studio there's at least one kid, a fur kid. And uh, right now it happens to be the puppy, so George's right next to me asleep on my desk.
Um, and it's funny because you would think puppy full of energy that she would just be taking over and you'd be at least able to hear her panting or trying to play or something. And. No, this is just also our norm where she just goes and she chills. Uh, we've been doing that from day one. Uh, it, I'll bring her down.
It's like, it's just nap time now and she knows that. And we have a little tradition and, uh, you know, routine is good. Routine is always good. Uh, but that right there is gonna lead me into what I wanna talk about a little bit today, because I know I've talked about it at some point. I don't remember exactly when it may have been like.
Last year at some point. Maybe it was a year prior to that, I, I don't even know. But you know, we talk a lot about voiceover itself for the obvious of reasons. You know, I want you to be able to get educated a little bit. I want you to maybe know that these feelings that you're having, whatever they might be, you're not alone.
Uh, that's always important, you know? 'cause we can kind of get in our own way so many times and think that this must be just us sort of situation. And no, I mean, a lot of the feelings that you have as you're navigating this, they're very, very common. Uh, you know, it's, it's hard not to have some of those feelings creep on in, uh, but there, there's always a really, really big challenge.
Right from the beginning. And it, it comes down to how can I make this work? Like life is busy. How, how can I make this dream come true of mine? And I would like to say that there's, you know, an, uh, easy outline or plan or guide to do that for yourself. But, but life is busy and everybody's life, everybody's day to day is different.
So what works for me might not necessarily work for you. Uh, you know, so it's, it's just, it's a little bit of a challenge right from the beginning because like, bills do need to be paid, right? So you need to go ahead and have that livelihood and, and you know, things coming in so you can go ahead and, and make that that money.
Um, so. What should we do when we're getting started? How do we go ahead and understand what's going to be best for us? Now listen, this might be something that shifts along the way. You know, it might work at first, and then it just, eh, just doesn doesn't work anymore. You know? So you have to be willing to, what we've talked about before and not too long ago, I know, is pivot.
You know, and I've had to do it many, many, many times since 2020 especially. Uh, so. Here is the best way I think to start. You've gotta look at your every single day. Now, are you somebody who tends to fly a little bit like by the seat of your pants? You know, you don't really have, uh, good time management skills or, you know, maybe you are somebody, maybe you, you do have time management skills, but, but you know, you just have way too much on your plate typically, and you just end up running behind or, or whatever.
Uh, you end up. Getting late, you know, you're just discombobulated. Um, you know, first and foremost, you've gotta, you've gotta look at how life is and then see how can I adjust? Because you can, you have to, you have to be willing to adjust. And that might be the little trick here, right? You might think you're willing and then, and then you start putting things into action.
You're like, maybe, maybe I'm not as willing as I thought I was. Uh, you know, maybe this isn't as. Easy as I thought it was gonna be. Uh, you know, for me when, when I was getting things back in order for myself and I was in the midst of teaching full-time and, and just trying to, I guess, get my head in a good mental place because the pandemic definitely messed me up in a number of ways.
I, I had to kind of just, you know, as things were sort of opening up again and opportunities were popping up. I had to go ahead and see like, how can I make this work? What is my day to day? What does it look like? You know, thankfully for me, in a lot of cases, I ended up getting to, to work from home. You know, if we didn't have a student in person, I wasn't going to the office, uh, you know, unless it was absolutely necessary.
And, and that was just 'cause we didn't have enough space for anybody. Everybody, anyway. So, you know, it kind of worked out in that way where I was able to be at home base. On a fairly consistent basis. So if I had to get something done in between my other work, I was able to, and I'll admit I actually am pretty good at time management, but I am my own worst enemy in that way because there are some days I just think I could handle a lot more than I actually can.
So when I don't check everything off my list, oh boy do I get mad at myself. But there you think there's the thing, right? That's that's a big part of who I am. The list, the, the list and the check boxes and like, I need to be as organized as I can be. And so when, when you're looking at your day to day, the, the best thing that you can do is see what your schedule is like.
Maybe even document it for a couple days in a row just so you can really understand what it's like. And then I want you to kind of. Think about everything that goes around that day. You know, family life maybe, maybe you're not, you know, married or whatever, but you've got kids or maybe you've got a significant other than you don't live with them, but you gotta make time for them.
'cause otherwise, I mean, you're not in a relationship if you don't. Uh, you know, so it's like you've gotta have this nice work life balance. And you can start this in voiceover. But it's just, you've gotta be able to make the time and the work, the work around with it, right? So I say like, go ahead, document those couple days.
Think about all the other life things that you have going on, and then see where you can fit in. Even if it's like 10 or 15 minutes, just a couple times a week to start. You know, where you can go ahead and you can just practice where you can go ahead and you can maybe. Do a little research to find some auditions.
Maybe it's taking some time to set up social media that can be incorporated with this so you can start joining different groups and you know, finding like-minded people that it's good to be able to bounce off of, but start small because the small steps are what are going to get you the furthest distance.
That's where you're gonna grow the most. That's where you're going to start to see the positive change. And in some cases you might not feel it right away, but you will start to take those strides in the right direction. It's all about making the time. And sometimes it is just only a little bit from the beginning, and then little by little, you know, maybe you're able to open it up a little bit more.
Maybe you have an extra hour on the weekend, maybe you have two. Uh, you know, let let that growth happen and, and then see where maybe if work starts coming in, I. How could I start pulling back on something else so I can get more time for this? You know, it is, it's a teeter-totter, right? And that's exactly what I had to do the entire last five years and change.
It has been a constant trying to, to balance the totter and I don't have balance. When I'm standing. So like, you know, trying to have that kind of mental balance and clarity in everything can be quite a, a mind twist. Um, but it is all up to you. And, and I think that's where in a lot of life we don't have control.
Here's where you will right from the beginning, you know, if you want this, you can have it. But you have to make the time, you have to make the effort, you have to go ahead and take those steps in the right direction. And it does come down to to just like having that little bit of a plan of action to allow the work life balance.
You can't go a hundred thousand percent and think that because I'm giving a hundred thousand percent that everything's gonna happen and it's gonna happen quickly and I'm gonna be in this and I'm gonna be able to get rid of my full-time and whatever. Because you're gonna get burnt out little by little.
Take care of yourself along the way. Remember that you're doing this because you love it and because you wanna have fun and, and let the rest kind of come in on its own. Um, so hopefully that can help, you know? 'cause I do know, I know the feeling of being burnt out. I feel it. I don't wanna say on a regular basis that would be being dramatic, but.
Especially in these last probably few months, uh, when I'm balancing things like doctor appointments and just because I hadn't been feeling so great, uh, with the, the injury I had from during the pandemic and, you know, then also with my, my fiance also not feeling a hundred percent like, and helping, helping her along the way and, you know, trying to celebrate things and, you know, just making time for fun.
Um. Yeah, I mean, having any of that downtime, trying to catch up on sleep, like all of that, it, it's like you kind of feel like you're running in place a bit and, and that can feel a little bit overwhelming at times. And then it's like, here you are trying to feel better, but you almost kind of feel, I don't wanna say worse, but probably worse.
Um, so. You've just gotta keep a check on it, you know? And, and it will feel good. You know, it, it's gonna hit a point where it's like, all right, yeah, cool, we're vibing. And, uh, you know, I have that feeling quite often, you know, but sometimes life just gets tricky 'cause it will throw you a curve ball and, you know, you just kinda have to run with it.
And, uh, you know, I, I think now that we're getting into warmer weather, I'm gonna be trying to do as much as I can to make for some more relaxing time, just even if I'm doing my workout on the deck, because that. Just solves so many problems. Um, but if you've got questions on how to start. Kind of creating that, that plan of action for yourself.
You know, always an email away, [email protected]. I love to help when I can. Uh, so feel free to reach, reach out anytime, [email protected]. There is gonna be a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio coming your way next week and, uh, I hope that you enjoy the weekend. Stay safe, everybody. Go Celtics.
Visit voice coaches com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa chats about something that’s often overlooked…how to balance your work life, your home life and starting a new path for yourself. What should you do? What should you *not* do?
