Don't feel that you have to make huge waves every day. You don't have to write and record an entire album and plan a cross country tour. Just do a little bit at a time. Write one song that you can present to your band mates and read some articles about what to expect when you do plan that tour. Show up to a show of an artist you respect and introduce yourself and start building that relationship. And stay on top of your social networking duties.
There's a great book by Timothy Ferriss entitled "The Four Hour Work Week" that I read when it came out about four years ago. It really doesn't have much to do with the music business per se, but regardless of what field you're in, I believe it's recommended reading for all. Throughout the book Tim offers many great tools and life-changing advice to significantly increase your chances of success in whatever it is you do.
One thing that he suggests is to write your to-do list for tomorrow no later than tonight. And he insists that your list should never include more than two mission-critical tasks. By putting too much on your plate, it creates indecision and confusion and you wind up accomplishing less.
I feel this is great advice for DIY musicians because when you're traveling down the independent road, slow and steady wins the race. If you don't have major label backing, you're not going to move a mountain in a day, so don't stress yourself out trying. There are certainly a ton of little things that can be done every day and you should not neglect doing them, just make sure that you do the high priority stuff first.
If you have any stories about how you've accomplished a lot by doing a little, I'd love to hear about it. Or conversely if you took on too much and burned yourself out, please share your experience.
Oh, and as I write this I'm sipping on some rye and celebrating that the world is till intact. Whew!
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