Music & Motion: 5 Mental Health & Wellness Tips with Erinn Knight

In this installment of Music & Motion, we are highlighting Erinn Knight. “E” is a powerhouse of a woman who is wheeling and dealing behind the scenes for artists such as Wande, WHATUPRG, Kaleb Mitchell, and indie tribe. She is the president of BYOD (Build Your Own Dreams) and co-founder of INVTOnly.

Knight maintains a very busy/stressful schedule, and that is why she is a strong advocate for rest and mental health. She was kind enough to share her tips on health and wellness that keep her focused.

This article was sparked by the following tweet:

*Note: Erinn Knight is not a health expert. What works for her, may not be best or work for you. If you are new to any of this, perhaps ask your doctor first.*

5 Mental Health & Wellness Tips

I LIVE by my calendar, if it’s not there, it doesn’t exist…also I have a team of people to help me stay on track most notably my business partner Brandon and my assistants and intern.

  • Setting your own personal boundaries is important. There is only so much time in a day to get things accomplished. By using a calendar, Erinn is able to prioritize the important things at the moment and doesn’t have to worry about new things throwing off her game plan.
  • Because of this, there’s less stress for day-to-day work, especially when unexpected things try to wreak havoc. It even allows her to plan for leisure and time to herself.
  • Business partners, co-workers, interns, and assistants can offload some work and even provide accountability.

Here’s an insightful article on how having a calendar can lead to healthy habits that help your mental health. 

I also only require myself to finish 2 things on my to-do list each day. If I do more – great. If not, I feel accomplished because I’m still working ALL day on other things that come up in meetings or emergencies with my team/artists.

Wouldn’t it be nice to feel like you accomplished something every day? Well, for Erinn, why get overwhelmed by the million things you have to do when you can feel proud and encouraged by the two things you crushed?

From the Guardian, “A study by professors Baumeister and Masicampo from Wake Forest University showed that, while tasks we haven’t done distract us, just making a plan to get them done can free us from this anxiety. The pair observed that people underperform on a task when they are unable to finish a warm-up activity that would usually precede it. However, when participants were allowed to make and note down concrete plans to finish the warm-up activity, performance on the next task substantially improved. As Bechman notes: “Simply writing the tasks down will make you more effective.”

So it would appear Erinn is on to something! There’s also that rewarding feeling of completing a task.

Once you do this you will feel an amazing sense of accomplishment. Sometimes I even write things down that I’ve done even if they weren’t on my list — just so I can cross them off! This boost of self-esteem really helps to keep you motivated and productive,” read more about this on List Producer.

Stretching, walking, time away from screens, slow afternoons with my friends.

“I stretch in the AM before I ever start working and have at least an hour to myself after stretching with a friend on Zoom before I work,” Knight says. “I walk in the evening to decompress. It’s not every evening but I try at least 3 times a week.”

These days, good friends are hard to come by, so when you have one, or several, hang on to them! Many people deal with loneliness or feeling inadequate. Much of these feelings were magnified during COVID and its ensuing lockdowns.

Humans and most other mammals are social creatures. Spending all that time alone from family, friends, and even acquaintances did a toll on people.

Friendship, according to the Mayo Clinic:

  • Increase your sense of belonging and purpose
  • Boost your happiness and reduce your stress
  • Improve your self-confidence and self-worth
  • Help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one
  • Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise

Erinn mentions stretching. Stretching has two main methods – static and dynamic. Static is when you sit, stand, lay, and hold a stretch for periods of time. Dynamic is when you are performing a stretching action – think arm circles or leg swings before running.

“Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints. Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage,” reported Harvard Health Medical School.

The business owner also mentions walking. Many people believe walking doesn’t produce benefits. They see running as the be-all-end-all, but that’s not true. It all depends on what health benefits you are trying to derive from it.

Healthline breaks down 10 benefits of walking here. The shortlist – burn calories, boost heart health and energy, improve mood, and promotes creative thinking.

When I don’t feel like working anymore, I try not to push much past that, even if its the middle of the day. A lot of times if I take a break, I end up deciding to work again several hours later. But if I force myself I’m not really super productive and I feel inslaved to work…this is my newest change.

There’s a lot of wisdom in what she said and what she Tweeted. When we push ourselves too hard, we begin to resent what we’re doing. It becomes a slog, and just something to endure, rather than something to accomplish or master.

The Wall Street Journal posted an interesting article that talks about people not knowing when or how to stop working. Erinn figured out when to stop, and she’s reaping the reward.

As far as rest being rhythm and not reaction, that’s powerful. Because of the systems, Erinn has implemented to her schedule and day, rest is PART of her day. It’s built-in and hopefully serves to fight the feeling of not wanting to work anymore.

The rest shouldn’t come after being burned out, it should come before it, and be part of an everyday routine so the burnout doesn’t occur.

I go to therapy weekly.

People talking about going to therapy used to be taboo. Often it was something not spoken about for fear of being judged or for the fear of people saying “what’s wrong with them?” If you’ve watched the Sopranos, the mere suggestion of a mob boss going to therapy was grounds for being “whacked.”

Fortunately, we’ve come a long way, and therapy has been so useful and healing for people. And there are many reasons to go to therapy beyond feeling suicidal, depressed, or experiencing trauma. Some people just need someone to talk to. Others want a professional accountability partner to provide advice or to build confidence. Whatever the reason, just know, going to a therapist does not equate to being crazy or having problems. Therapy is a valid form of medicine, for the mind and soul.

Knight often heaps praise about her therapist on Twitter and some of her posts deal with therapy-like topics.

PsychCentral talks more about Therapy and why you should go here.

If you wind up trying any of these things, let us know, and be sure to tag Erinn Knight as well! For more info on what she does, click here

Justin Sarachik
Justin Sarachik
Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Rapzilla.com. He has been a journalist for over a decade and has written or edited for Relevant, Christian Post, BREATHEcast, CCM, Broken Records Magazine, & more. He's written over 10,000 articles, done over 1,000 interviews, and is in post-production for documentaries on Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez & Mario "Machete" Perez. He's the project manager of the upcoming video game Run the Court and of the media brand Crimefaces. Justin likes to work with indie artists to develop their brands & marketing strategies. Catch him interviewing artists on Survival of the Artist Podcast & creating videos on his social media channels.
RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular