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2025-11-12
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Easiest lever here: not “more willpower,” just finding more ear-time slots and making them fun enough that music wins against podcasts/YouTube.
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I’ll riff on what you’ve already got and add some concrete patterns you can steal.
1. Micro-commute walks
- You already thought of this:
A daily music walk, in the eve? 👀
- I’d sharpen it:
- “Fake commute”
- 10–20 min walk before or after work block where the only goal is: listen to 2–4 songs, no talking, no phone scrolling.
- You could theme it:
- Monday = “new album walk”
- Rest of week = repeat tracks you liked
2. Album of the week
- You already have:
- You could add:
- “Album of the Week” challenge
- Each week, pick one album you will:
- Listen to at least 2–3 times
- Give a quick write-up in Obsidian
Template for the page:
- Release year / genre
- First impressions (3 bullet points)
- Best tracks
- “Where I listened” (walk? kitchen? fake commute?)
- 1–10 “Era 25 resonance score”
- One album per week feels achievable and gives you a nice sense of continuity between eras.
Song / album reviewing while you listen
You wrote:
Listening whilst writing song reviews?
– E.g. make a page for the album, write up some thoughts etc
Yes, and you can make this the default way you listen alone:
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Put the album on.
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Keep a scratch note open; every time something stands out, write one sentence.
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e.g. “Track 3 – verse melody feels like crying in a carpark at 2am.”
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This makes listening feel “productive” in a good way and plugs directly into “wannabe artist brain”.
4. Interaction ideas: make it playful
You already hit some of these, but let’s expand a bit.
4.1. Playlists as mini-projects
Not just “vibe playlist,” but constraints:
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“EA Hotel kitchen cleanup bangers – 25 songs max”
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“Walk to the sea and back – exactly 45 minutes, flows like a story”
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“Mixtape for my 17-year-old self”
Constraint = more fun + you’ll actually listen to see if it flows.
4.2. Learning to DJ (slow + dirty version)
You wrote:
Learning to DJ? Attila has a DJ deck here 👀 👀
Low-pressure way to use that:
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Once a week: a 30–60 minute “DJ lab” where the only rule is:
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Play tracks you don’t normally hear start-to-finish anymore.
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Record the set → now you have a mix you can use for walks or chores.
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Bonus: DJ brain makes you listen more closely to structure, which ties nicely into songwriting / artist ambitions.
4.3. Dancing more
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Dancing more?
Yes, but make it concrete:
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1–2 song “silly dance break” in your room between work blocks.
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Occasional living-room micro-rave with one or two people in the house.
Zero performance pressure, just moving body + music = deeper imprint.
5. Social stuff (since you’re at the EA Hotel)
Because you’re in a big communal space, you can create excuses for music:
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Album listening night
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Pick one classic or new album, announce: “8pm, common room, lights low, we listen start-to-finish, no talking.”
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“Bring a song that changed your life” circle
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Everyone plays 1 track and says 2 sentences about why.
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Shared playlists for:
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Kitchen cleanup
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Board game nights
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Coworking background (instrumental)
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Socialising + music = you’ll “incidentally” listen a ton more without needing solo time.
6. Reduce friction vs podcasts/YouTube
Right now, your defaults favour talk content. A few tweaks:
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Put a couple of core playlists / albums on your phone home screen (widgets / shortcuts).
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Make a tiny rule like:
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“First 15 minutes of any walk: music. Podcasts allowed after that.”
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Or: “1 music session per 1 podcast episode” as a rough ratio.
Not rigid rules, just nudges for your future self.
If you want, I can help you draft:
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An “Album of the Week” Obsidian template, and/or
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A little menu of “Era 25 music rituals” you can paste straight into your notes.