Berklee Blogs follows Kayleigh Mill, a Music Business major and participant in Berklee’s Summer Internship Program in New York City. In a follow up to last week’s post about stress, Kayleigh lets us in on some new realizations about balancing her personal and professional lives…

The majority of my posts are dedicated to sharing my advice from experience and from research, and to expose people to bands that I believe in that deserve to be acknowledged for their music. Today, however, I’m going to talk about my life the past couple weeks in a more personal way, to show a glimpse into how this business can be…challenging.

Although I love what I do, I’ve been struggling a little bit lately to keep my head above the stress of the industry, the difficulty in finding people that I can feel close to, and balancing the two without going crazy.

I’ve always been of the belief that I can do more – that I shouldn’t be satisfied with merely “good enough” – which is motivating, but it’s also disheartening and overwhelming sometimes.  The past two weeks have been non-stop for me, with managing a band for the first time, working 4 days a week, and writing for my personal blog as well as The Berklee Groove. I love everything that I do, but there have been times when I’ve thought to myself “What have I gotten into? What if it’s too much?” all while planning the next step.

It’s not just affecting me, either. I haven’t been going out with friends nearly as much – and not at all during the week. It’s really been isolating and can make the stress worse. I can tell my friends are getting tired of inviting me out and always getting declined. I know it’s a learning process, though, and I’m working on it

So what am I going to do about it?

Well, this past weekend I basically took a complete break – I didn’t work, or stress about something that needed to get done; I went out both nights and helped my friend shop for a birthday gift on Sunday. I danced and sang and met some amazing people. It was a godsend really.

I’ve decided not to commit as many articles to The Berklee Groove, and luckily, because I’ve been working with the band for a couple weeks, the most time-consuming work for them is finished. Now it’s a matter of maintaining and keeping up with their current activities. I’m taking my own advice and learning to take time for myself and to have the ability to say no.

There’s no other industry I’d rather be in. I’m constantly amazed with where my life is headed – sometimes I just need a little perspective.

 

Read Kayleigh’s Other Posts:

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Dealing with the Stress

Securing an Internship in the Music Industry

What I do and What I learn

Working for Free- 5 Ways to Make it Worth it

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Be sure to follow Kayleigh via Twitter @musikleighalive

 

BIO

Kayleigh Mill is in New York for the summer with two internships in the music industry. She’s been at Berklee for two years with one to go until she graduates with a Music Business degree, and has embraced the opportunities the college has to offer. While at school, she runs the Berklee Songwriters Club as well as the Ski/Snowboard Club, is on the board of the Berklee Fitness Club, and writes for The Groove.

After graduation, Kayleigh plans to move to New York to pursue her entrepreneurial ambitions, as well as experience as much of the music industry as possible. You can read her full blog at musikleighalive.wordpress.com or email her at kmill@berklee.edu.

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