Which production concepts/techniques have improved your production the most?

[joshsolomon_]

Realising that 90% of the mixing process is down to simple volume leveling.

[thegbuddy]

For me, it was realizing that good mixing starts from a good production. Much easier to mix a well produced song than have a "fix it in the mix" mentality.

[swilow11]

Write a song and then delete absolutely everything superfluous. IME, that can be almost all of it.

[BONES]

Don't do things just because you think they should be done. e.g. I used to EQ pretty much every channel, because that's what you do, but these days I hardly use any EQ at all. And as swilow11 says, get rid of everything that isn't making a positive contribution to the result. Mute each track and decide if the song is really any better off with it in there. If you have to think about it for even a second, then you probably don't need it, so get rid of it.

Think MINIMALISM! Do only what really needs to be done and choose sounds that work in a mix with minimal effort. Don't make anything more work than it needs to be.

[elsaq84]

Using References (for ideas and Inspiration)

Yes, learning how to properly use references was a game-changer for me.

[gjunk]

Understanding compression was huge for me. Also just listening to music I like very closely