Improving your mental health through DJing, really? Loud music, partying, late nights? Surely DJing is one of the worst things for long-term benefits to your well-being, right?
Well of course, if you insist on spending seven nights a week out ’til daylight, for years on end, you’re probably going to have problems. But let’s be serious, DJing has moved waaaay beyond clubs, into a hobby that millions of people of all ages do for all kinds of reasons. And as long as you avoid the obvious drink, drugs, sleep deprivation and hearing loss traps, it can actually be an incredible way of shoring up and improving your mental health.
If you don’t believe me, here are seven ways DJs just like you can use DJing for just this purpose, as so many of our students here at Digital DJ Tips do.
7 Ways To Improve Your Mental Health With DJing
1. Use it to regularly relieve stress
There’s little that can unwind you more at the end of a hard, stressful day at work than getting on the decks, playing your favourite music, and feeling all that tension just melt away. DJing to unwind is one of the biggest ways our community uses DJing to improve their well-being, which is probably something you know already – but if not, you should try it. Sure beats drinking!
Pro tip: Make sure your gear is always ready to get DJing on straight away, so you’re not tempted to leave it for later.
2. Commit to creating, not consuming
One of the traps with DJing as a hobby is that you can get obsessed with spending money on equipment that you don’t really need. Sure, you need something to DJ on, but the truth is you can DJ on pretty much anything, and it’s important to move past the “gear” step once you’ve bought something, and concentrate instead on the music and mixing aspects to DJing.
Pro tip: Make a commitment to yourself that you’ll stop worrying about the latest and greatest gear and instead properly understand and use what you’ve got.
3. Prioritise chasing the “flow state”
The near-mythical flow state, where time slips by without you realising and all you’re concentrating on is the here and now, is of course a well-being nirvana. And it’s relatively easy to get into this state when DJing, because DJing requires us to make lots of small creative decisions all the time.
However, you can certainly encourage this by building some genuine DJing time into your life and making sure people around you know to not disturb you. Then, ensure that you are not sabotaging it with looking at your phone, answering notifications and so on. Turn your phone off, leave it in another room, close the door behind you – get the environment conducive for DJing and allow yourself the time – because the benefits are huge.
Learn to DJ with us: The Complete DJ Course
Pro tip: You can get to this state not only by mixing, but by repeatedly practising a single technique. Try both.
4. Engage the left side of your brain too!
Because DJing is a hobby with lots of facets, it really isn’t all about simply mixing. Properly understanding how to use your gear and spending the time to build an effective music organisation and management system, as well as (of course) regularly searching for great new music, are just two additional ways of engaging other parts of your brain, which have benefits too. So don’t neglect these, it all counts…
Pro tip: Spend some time with your gear or software’s instruction manual. You’ll improve as a DJ this way without even playing a single track – it’s a win-win.
Watch the show
Prefer me to talk you through this? In this video, a recording of a live show from the Digital DJ Tips YouTube channel, I talk you through everything in this article, and we take questions from our community on the subject.
5. Lean into the community
I’ve got some good news for you here if you think DJs are self-centred, arrogant and unhelpful people. Because you’re here on Digital DJ Tips, you’re one step away from our community, which (just like you!) is open, supportive and helpful.
If you’re not already a member of our Global DJ Network Facebook group, then click here to go to it and join now. There you’ll find a ready-made community of people who are happy to share, help, and make you feel part of something.
Pro tip: Give what you wish to receive. For instance, don’t just post your latest mix – comment on other people’s mixes first. That’s how karma works.
6. Realise you can engage with the public on YOUR terms
Yes, of course DJing is a team game, which means it’s better done in public. But you have so many ways of doing that nowadays that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. It’s more inclusive than ever.
One of the biggest ways is livestreaming your DJ sets. You can livestream from your own home or you can choose to go out and do it from somewhere else, but ultimately, you can reach an audience all around the world playing the music you really love more easily than ever nowadays.
But if you’re not a fan of real-time sharing, then producing DJ mixes and sharing them online is another way that you can engage with other people on your terms.
Read this next: How & Where To Share Your DJ Mixes
And of course, as with most DJs, if your ultimate aim is to get in front of real people and DJ, there is a wider range of opportunities than ever now thanks to the acceptance of DJing throughout society, and the ridiculously wide choice of platforms on which to do it, from your phone upwards.
More than ever, the choice is yours. They are all great ways to increase your confidence, beat “imposter syndrome”, and grow as a person.
Pro tip: Choose a way of performing you haven’t tried before and commit to doing it.
7. Surprise yourself by making music
DJing might just be a Trojan horse into the music production world. As a DJ, you are exposed to more music than most people and you have a better idea of what works in front of an audience than most people. You are also, whether you realise it or not, dabbling in music production every time you mix two tracks together or discover something cool on your gear that you want to do because it sounds good.
Furthermore, modern music production software lets you make bootlegs, mashups, re-edits and even start composing your own melodies, basslines, chords and so on without necessarily needing any music theory training, and definitely without being able to play any instruments.
You might just find that DJing is simply leading you to making your own music – and so if it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, don’t let the unhelpful thought that this is beyond you stop you, because trust me, it isn’t.
Pro tip: Start by trying to make bootlegs, mashups and re-edits rather than your own original music – it’s a great way to get started.
Finally…
In truth, any creative hobby is going to do wonders for your mental health, but as I hope you’ve seen, there are various unique things about DJing which make it ideally suited for any music lover, especially any music lover who likes to dance, as a way to do this. It can engage both sides of your brain, get you involved with other people, and ultimately increase your self-love and confidence as you produce work you are proud of.
There’s an old joke where a child says to a parent, “When I’m an adult, I want to be a DJ!” and the parent smiles and replies, “You can’t be both. You’ll have to decide!”
Read this next: 7 Myths About DJing That Hold People Back
I hope this article has helped convince you that nowadays this is no longer the case and that DJing can be great for long-term well-being, mindfulness and mental health. So lean into it and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Phil Morse
