My passion is to help others in the community, young, old, and everyone in between, find relevance and joy in learning, performing or listening to classical music.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Summer goal setting for a busy, multi-tasking musician

Image taken by Kevin Bunt,
 from Wikimedia Commons 
Ahhhh, summertime.  Time for....

Relaxing without a care in the world.
Reading books just for fun.
Sleeping in every morning.
Learning all the music that I've been wanting to learn all year.

Ha ha, right...let me try this again, with a little more realism...

Catching up on everything that should have gotten done during the school year.
Planning ahead and get a head start on preparations for the upcoming school year.
Learning the music that I have slated to perform during the next year.
Taking care of our little girl that is home for the summer.

And for my family this summer, let's also throw in there for good measure, "figure out how we're going to patch together a living with two freelance musician's salaries next year."  

I think it would be safe to say that we are far from being bored!

I recently read a blog post titled, "How to Set Yourself Up for a Growth Spurt this Summer" from one of my favorite music-related blogs, Noa Kageyama's, The Bulletproof Musician.  It left me feeling very inspired and motivated for about 5 minutes but then I found myself in the the middle of a minor panic attack.  Although Kageyama's suggestions, as always, are wise, I quickly came to the conclusion that for someone like me, a mother that has a daughter to take care of at home during the summer, expecting a growth spurt during the next few months is a little akin to expecting a fish to pole vault onto dry land - it just isn't going to happen so easily or so quickly.  This feeling was further confirmed when a friend that follows this blog, a mother of three little ones, brought up a similar concern - how does a parent maintain goals and practicing over the summer while also taking care of little ones?

After some thought I've come up with a few ideas for how I'm going to try and get through the next few months without sacrificing any one side of myself - the musical side, the mother side, the wife side, the "me" side.  Most important, musical goal setting will have to be done on the fly as moments of opportunity present themselves.  Would I like to practice every day?  You bet.  Should I put my foot down and insist on practicing a certain amount every day?  Perhaps, but at least in my little world at this exact time, that's really difficult to do.  And as I hear so often from older, wiser people, these years with our children go by so quickly so I'm going to release myself from the typical pressure I put on myself to be the productive person that I try to be the rest of the year.  

If I do make any goals, they're going to be little ones that can be accomplished in a very small window of time.  When I find myself with any amount of practice time, I'm going to fill that hour with mini goals.  "I'm going to pick a good fingering for this passage that's giving me trouble," or "I'm going to memorize these last 4 measures of the Fugue."  They are going to be almost too easy to accomplish in the allotted time so that success is practically inevitable and so that I can find a reason to pat myself on the back.  Lots of back-patting motivates me to do even more, to succeed more.  Who knows how much I'll actually be able to accomplish, albeit in tiny, tiny steps.  If I can pull it off I will also be a happier mom when I walk away from the piano and a happier mom makes a happier family which makes for a happier summer.  

Having a happier summer...now that's a goal I think we could all live with.  

Bring on the summer!  Now I'm ready. 


11 comments:

  1. As always, you are wise and insightful. I hope you will have an exciting and lovely summer.

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    1. Thank you so much, Janet - thanks for reading. And I hope you have a wonderful summer yourself!

      -Erica

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  2. Erica,
    Excellent post! I have heard from people that being a mom is incompatible with being a musician or learning to play. Well, then i guess some of us will just be doing the impossible. Like you, I don't have a set amount of practice time, I just try to accomplish little things throughout the day. My overall goal this summer is to improve technique. Not drastically, I am sure, though it's easier to find time with three kids, as they entertain each other really well. Small steps are good. I also have goals for kids' schooling, like a list of books for my 2nd grader to read and to help my 1st grader improve his reading skills. Sharing my flute goals with them actually helps them set their own goals and work on them as diligently as I work on mine. After all, they copy what they see. And we will also be having lots of fun in the sun :) Happy summer to your family!

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    1. Olya, I love it. Yep, I think we'll have to just do the impossible because I, for one, refuse to give up either music-making or being a mom. And as you mentioned, I think it's really beneficial for kids to see their parents working hard on a skill - to see them struggle at times, succeed at other times, expressing themselves without words, being fulfilled by something that isn't bought in the store...all good things! By this point our daughter has learned that mommy playing music makes me happy so there are times when I'm grumpy or irritable where she'll look at me and suggest, "Mommy, maybe you should practice a little bit." I love those moments :-)

      Thanks for reading and for all your correspondence on the facebook page. I'm enjoying getting to know you!

      Happy summer to you and yours as well.

      -Erica

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  3. Divide and Conquer is a great ancient oman tradition, Erica! I've found your "chunks" for goals system very useful for quite some time. And I don't even have some of your, er, Other Considerations. Finished chunks keep one from going crazy. And I've found if I am really crafty in choosing them, I can actually make progress on some of the larger pieces I'm learning.

    Btw, I love your new blog look. Not that the others weren't quite nice. But for some reason I can't quite identify, this one strikes me as "YOU".

    %%robert

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    1. Robert,
      It's always so great to hear from you here, on facebook, on twitter...wherever!

      Thank you for reading and for sharing your own chunky experiences (sorry, I couldn't resist) - long live chunks whether they be in cookies, ice-cream, or practice!

      I'm so glad you like the new look here on the blog. Your last sentence, that it strikes you as being "ME" made me want to leap in the air for joy because that was what I was going for. And now you know that you truly get me! Oddly wonderful, in my opinion.

      All the best to you,
      Erica

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  4. Awwwwwwwwww... (the "w" key is not broken)

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  5. Let me add my voice to those who affirm that these years go far too quickly. My youngest is 15 and I'm almost at the point where the only things I'll need to occupy my time with are my husband and my students. It's OK to let some music slide a bit for now - these years can NEVER be replaced but fugues can be memorized at any time.

    Enjoy your time with your daughter and all the best!

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    1. LaDona,
      I can't thank you enough for that personal feedback. It is so good for me to hear that but so easy to forget! Hearing it from a mom that's almost on the other side is such a good reminder.

      I will take a deep breath, let go a bit, and enjoy my daughter and family :-)

      All the best,
      Erica

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  6. I spoke with a young mother-of-three yesterday who is also #4 in a family of ten (so I thought should know innately how to budget time and energy!). She said she feels she's had a good day if she can accomplish ONE thing meaningful in her day. I took comfort in that! Maybe reading an encouraging blog, finding one great musical idea to use with students, making a decision on how to teach this concept is a meaningful thing to accomplish in the day. One good conversation. One song running through the head. Perspective.

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    1. Wow, Anonymous. I'm always amazed at parents that can balance everything. And her words are a good reality-check for me. That at this point in my life I don't need to keep checking things off any list. In the moment, in the moment...it will be gone in a flash.

      Thank you for this wonderful, important reminder!

      -Erica

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