Thoughtful Refresh: Check In 2
Refreshing Rain No. 3 by Cynthia Christine
It’s been exactly a month since I shared a check in on how trying to thoughtfully refresh my habits is going. If you hang out with me on Instagram or subscribe to the B-List, you’re already a little up to date, but I want to dig in here partially to help myself sort out what I’ve observed, and to share some (hopefully) useful thoughts on how you might approach something you’re hoping to refresh in your own life.
One of the biggest areas I wanted to address going into the summer was how I structure my day around my most important activities. Practice and physical activity took a big hit during the spring semester forcing me to acknowledge that my life and schedule are very different than just a few years ago. There’s that famous quote that insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results, and it seemed that I may have reached that point with my schedule.
Of course the summer is very, very different than the school year and I have the luxury of a lot more flexibility in the summer - something I don’t take for granted. I still think it’s possible to set myself up well for a busier time of year, though, and initially I went against my all-in instincts and did small sessions of everything (practice, exercise, yoga, meditation, etc).
Honestly, it felt dissatisfying to me to spend these small chunks of time but reinforced that it is possible to get things done in a short session, which is often a necessary course of action during school. It also reminded me that I don’t need the luxury of prep time if I have a good warm-up or starter activity/action that helps me get in the zone (more on that later).
The biggest struggle for me was deciding on an order of events and whether or not I was going to set a length of time to work. During the academic year my windows of free time are often determined by my lesson schedule, so this element takes care of itself with the exception of deciding to arrive early or stay late if there is a lot do. I have the people-pleasing tendency to work on emails and scheduling first thing, respond to messages, organize anything that’s needed for teaching and then tackle my big projects. Obviously this is not the best approach, and often snowballs away from what I want to get done in the day.
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve gotten much better about this, letting emails wait for a mid-morning break or lunch (I do still look to make sure there is nothing that needs immediate attention). I hope I can keep it up during the school year.
What remained was deciding what order to tackle things in. When I was in school I loved practicing early - my mind was clearer than after I’d interacted with others and less people were around to bother me in the music building. As an adult, I felt the pressure of our culture idealization of exercising first thing and have tried for years to exercise early or first, followed by meditation and then practice.
Going back to practicing first has been great. I do feel my concentration is better, and my distractions are less. I’m not practicing super early, often it’s after reading or meditation, but it works and points out that we know ourselves best. During the school year this might look like a return to arriving early on campus to practice unbothered. For now, it means not feeling guilty for exercising in the afternoons when I need a brain break anyway.
Weirdly enough, the other time of day it feels great to practice is before I put everything away for the evening. Bookending my day with a focused practice session means coming back to my most important task with intention and makes it easier to relax in the evenings. There’s also plenty of research that points to doing something important before resting or relaxing and allowing our brain to work on any problems or challenges in the background, so maybe there is a bigger reason why I have been finding it so effective.
As far as the duration of activities, I’ve started giving loose boundaries to things. Right now my parameters are 60-90 minutes of practice both morning and afternoon, 30 minutes of writing morning and afternoon (this usually ends up being one longer session once a day), 20-60 minutes of yoga or exercise at any time of the day, and 20-30 minutes of meditation. This leaves some wiggle room for things to stretch into longer sessions or be shuffled around.
Of course this will look different during the school year - it already does on the days that I teach - but it’s a wonderfully flexible approach. On my busiest teaching day right now I don’t prioritize exercise, but I do schedule in small blocks of practice. On a day where I teach only in the morning, I can decided on a weekly basis what needs to be addressed in the open time of the afternoon. I imagine that during the academic year I will not get to all my focus activities every day, but I can dedicate blocks of time to them evenly throughout the week.
It has been incredibly freeing to think about my time this way, and while I’m not writing much down right now I think it will be effective as my schedule fills up in the fall to take time before each new week begins to write out a schedule for myself that can remind me not to give away all of the time that I truly need for important tasks.
It is intentional that I’m not planning out my practice sessions or meditations in detail right now. I want to allow myself this time over the summer to trust my intuition. I’m not fully without structure (four orchestra gigs, my usual three week summer orchestra festival, and a recital to prepare for) and I have relatively good time management skills, so this feels like a great indulgence to apply them to a more open-ended schedule. I’m already learning a lot about what works, what doesn’t, and how quickly I can learn things when I need to (I have a tendency to tell myself that I need a lot of time to learn new music, sheerly out of self-protection and a fear of procrastination!).
June is a delightfully free month, and I know it’s going to go way, way too fast. The goal for now is to treat this time with intention.
My exact struggles with time may be very different than yours, but I do think there’s something in this experiment for everyone.
Here are my takeaways from the last month of thoughtfully refreshing my routines:
Pivot as needed: We all feel the strain of sunk-cost (or time). We also know when we need to shift gears. You’re always better off changing gears than sticking with something that isn’t working.
Begin important activities in a similar way each time: Start your practice sessions with the same warm-ups, your day with the same stretches, or your time writing at the computer with the same beverage. Repeating something at the beginning of your work time creates a signal for your brain that you are about to work and makes it easier to get into a state of work or concentration.
Consider how things might change: Even if you feel you’ve landed on the perfect adjustments, nothing stays the same. Look ahead at the next week, month, and the rest of the year. How might exterior people and events affect the changes you’re making? Can you prepare yourself now?
Try things you wouldn’t normally like: We learn a lot from understanding why. Why don’t we like doing things a certain way? Why do we spend our time the way we do? Changing it up to go against the grain can tell us a lot.
Be creative about your approach: Instead of assuming something won’t work, could you find a way to make it work? It’s ok if you don’t end up liking the solution, but you won’t know unless you try.
Always remember your priorities: Is it your objective to be a great musician or a speedy, helpful emailer? Plan accordingly.