How to Discover and Set Your Priorities

In my last article (click here to read), I discussed the issue of shifting priorities in the context of parents' struggles to find time to practice with their children. I related two stories of building a foundation on shifting sand or rock. Here are some questions to help parents uncover and focus their priorities and attention.

Four Questions to Discover and Set Your Priorities

Here are four questions to discover where your treasure is and to set your priorities:

1. Where do you spend your time?

In order to find out where your treasure is, you need only look at where you spend your time. Fill out an activity log or hourly calendar this week with every activity that you do, including work, driving time, sleeping, and watching TV. Do this for one week and you will most likely be amazed at what you discover. Of course, what you choose to do about your discovery will also be interesting. Are there pockets of time that are wasted? Do some activities drain your time? Where could you yield more satisfactory results with your time?

2. What do you want to accomplish?

Do you know what you want to accomplish? Do you have a set of goals or even one thing that you want to see happen this year, this semester, this season, this month, this week, or even today? I usually have a few goals floating around each year. I have them written down. Sometimes I go through periods when I refer to them often or on a daily basis, but I find that once I have written my goals down, I usually remember them. There have been several instances when I wrote a list of goals and forgot about them only to rediscover my list later and realize that I had accomplished everything on the list. I believe that writing down your list of goals is the key to accomplishing them. (Here is an article about my 90-day goal setting approach).

The purpose of having a list of goals or any goal is that you will be more in control of how you spend your time. You will be more aware of when others take you away from your goal path and when and what activities drink up the time you could spend on your goal plan. Think about what you want to accomplish.

I have three scheduling tools, and they each serve specific purposes:

• iPhone: this digital tool allows me to check my schedule at all times and far into the future, and I can share it with others.
• Planner: I keep my appointments here with occasional note reminders of important items that have a time specific aspect to them. This tool serves two purposes for me: (1) I get a “global” view of the week to come, and (2) I can quickly see where I have pockets of available time to accomplish things related to my goals.
• Bullet journal: this is my weekly and daily schedule plan and my working tool. In this tool (Leuchtturm 1917 dotted medium), I design my week and my days to come. I identify my top goals for the week, and I use this tool to capture stray thoughts, notes, reminders, and other useful information. Because I refer to this particular tool often every day, I stay on top of all my priorities and goals for the day and the week. This tool is a great way to keep track of many different things. There is an entire community of avid bullet journal users to draw ideas and inspiration from. For more information about how I use a bullet journal, here are some previous articles and podcast episodes:

• Bullet Journals for Suzuki Parents
• GTD for the Music Teachers, step 3, Organize!
• Episode 42: The Bullet Journal and Other Tools

3. How will you reach your goal?

Do you have a plan? Having a list of goals is a great step, but developing a plan to reach those goals is an even stronger step. Figure out what steps need to be taken and in what order. I currently use my bullet journal to work through ideas and steps for a project, and I have also used a project notebook to jot down ideas related to my goals, but any notebook, sketchpad, or legal pad would do. I devote a page of the notebook for each project idea I might consider. Then I pull out one project sheet at a time and carry it around with me. I jot additional ideas down on my project sheet, and sometimes I turn them into lists of action items. Here is an article I wrote recently to outline my use of the 90-day square to accomplish my goals and projects over a 90-day period and to provide more balance in the major areas of my life: There Comes a Journey.

4. How Can You Get Started?

Remember the Nike slogan, “Just Do It!” This is the best advice I can ever give to any parent or student. My other favorite unspoken part of the slogan is, “stop whining,” or as I like to tell my university students, “stop why-ning” (Why do I have to play scales? Why do I have to go to this concert? Why? Why? Why?). Yup, stop the "why-ning" and just get started! The time it takes to think of creative excuses is time that you could use for something more productive, like practicing with your child!

I hope that my readers will take some time this week to consider where their hearts truly are and what treasure they seek to find. Are your priorities built on rock or sand?

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2017 by Paula E. Bird

If you found this episode (or any episode) of the podcast helpful, and you would like to make a donation to support the Teach Suzuki Podcast and the blog, click here. My efforts to write and produce the Teach Suzuki blog and podcast do not generate income except through the generosity of those readers and listeners. I really appreciate your support. Just click here for a direct link to PayPal to support the blog and podcast.

How to Get Ready for the Fall

I sent out a newsletter recently that contained links to recent blog posts and podcast episodes. My theme was about getting ready for the fall. If you have not yet signed up for my newsletter, why not take a few seconds to do that Then you will get the newsletter issues (about 2 times a month) right away rather than a few weeks late. Here is the last issue: Hello everyone! I hope your summer has been a time to relax, catch up on a few outstanding chores or family activities, and recharge your batteries, because the fall season is right around the corner. Are you ready? I wrote a blog article about how to prepare for the fall. I thought about all the things that I want my studio parents to know or remember about their responsibilities as the home practice partners, and I put together a basic list of articles and podcast episodes that will help guide parents to start out the fall semester with the appropriate tools and motivational reasons to do a great job as their children’s home practice partners. I am enclosing my list of podcast episodes and article links here, although the article will be published Thursday, August 18. If you are a teacher, please feel free to share this newsletter or the article links with your studio families. I hope that you have a great start to this next season!

Podcast Episodes Get Ready for the Fall: This podcast episode is devoted to helping parents (and teachers) plan for a successful start to the fall semester. How to Teach Your Child (Practice): This podcast episode discusses how to practice with your child and offers the tools to help practices be more successful. How to Take Notes at the Music Lesson: This podcast episode explains how to take notes at the child's music lesson and offers reasons why parents will want to do this. How Parents Can Help at Lessons: This podcast episode lists 8 ways that parents can help their children at music lessons. I talk about some of the silent messages that parents may unknowingly give to their children, and I talk about the importance of enthusiasm to help motivate children to want to practice and learn how to play a musical instrument. Top 10 Things a Suzuki Parent Should Know: This podcast episode lists my favorite top 10 things that I think Suzuki parents should know. I believe that these 10 things are the foundation steps to have a successful music education journey. Are You Listening?: This podcast episode talks about the importance of listening to impact how fast a child may progress in learning how to play a musical instrument. Sometimes a slight tweak in the listening program at home will have an enormous impact on the child's progress. This episode relates several interesting research and personal stories that illustrate the tremendous power of listening. The 6 Suzuki Philosophy Points: This podcast episode sets out the 6 fundamental philosophy points to the Suzuki Method and discusses why it is important for parents to believe these points. This is an episode that parents and teachers may find helpful to review often.

Blog Articles How to Recover from a Practice Break: Everyone takes a break now and then. The trick is getting back on track. Here are some useful ideas. Back to School Checklist: A checklist that will help parents get back on track and get ready for the new school year. How to Add More Music to Your Day: It is important to do a lot of listening in order to make good progress in learning how to play a musical instrument. Here are some suggestions for adding more music listening to your day. Listening Magic: Another good article about listening. This one shows the power of the listening program and relates a personal story of one of my students and how he made extra listening work for him. Music Listening Resource List: This article lists several excellent resources to help add more listening to the child's environment. The Weekend Plan: Here is a suggestion for those tough weekends when it is difficult to schedule practice sessions. Squeezing Practice Time into a Busy Family Schedule: Sue Hunt wrote this article, and the information is always valuable for busy families. Resolutions for Suzuki Parents: Another post that offers valuable information that is pertinent all the time. How to Get Started After a Break: A short article that offers quick, helpful advice about starting up a practice routine after a break.

Until next time, Happy Practicing! ----- Paula -----

Getting Ready for the Fall Semester

About this time, folks are planning the fall semester and getting ready for school to go back in session. Here are a few tools to help you:

Podcast Episodes

Get Ready for the Fall: This podcast episode is devoted to helping parents (and teachers) plan for a successful start to the fall semester.

How to Teach Your Child (Practice): This podcast episode discusses how to practice with your child and offers the tools to help practices be more successful.

How to Take Notes at the Music Lesson: This podcast episode explains how to take notes at the child's music lesson and offers reasons why parents will want to do this.

How Parents Can Help at Lessons: This podcast episode lists 8 ways that parents can help their children at music lessons. I talk about some of the silent messages that parents may unknowingly give to their children, and I talk about the importance of enthusiasm to help motivate children to want to practice and learn how to play a musical instrument.

Top 10 Things a Suzuki Parent Should Know: This podcast episode lists my favorite top 10 things that I think Suzuki parents should know. I believe that these 10 things are the foundation steps to have a successful music education journey.

Are You Listening?: This podcast episode talks about the importance of listening to impact how fast a child may progress in learning how to play a musical instrument. Sometimes a slight tweak in the listening program at home will have an enormous impact on the child's progress. This episode relates several interesting research and personal stories that illustrate the tremendous power of listening.

The 6 Suzuki Philosophy Points: This podcast episode sets out the 6 fundamental philosophy points to the Suzuki Method and discusses why it is important for parents to believe these points. This is an episode that parents and teachers may find helpful to review often.

Blog Articles

How to Recover from a Practice Break: Everyone takes a break now and then. The trick is getting back on track. Here are some useful ideas.

Back to School Checklist: A checklist that will help parents get back on track and get ready for the new school year.

How to Add More Music to Your Day: It is important to do a lot of listening in order to make good progress in learning how to play a musical instrument. Here are some suggestions for adding more music listening to your day.

Listening Magic: Another good article about listening. This one shows the power of the listening program and relates a personal story of one of my students and how he made extra listening work for him.

Music Listening Resource List: This article lists several excellent resources to help add more listening to the child's environment.

The Weekend Plan: Here is a suggestion for those tough weekends when it is difficult to schedule practice sessions.

Squeezing Practice Time into a Busy Family Schedule: Sue Hunt wrote this article, and the information is always valuable for busy families.

Resolutions for Suzuki Parents: Another post that offers valuable information that is pertinent all the time.

How to Get Started After a Break: A short article that offers quick, helpful advice about starting up a practice routine after a break.

These are just a few of the numerous podcast episodes and blog articles posted. I hope that everyone's new school year and fall semester start off with good energy, enthusiasm, and motivation! This is going to be a terrific year!

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

GTD for the Music Studio Teacher, Step 4: Reflect and Review

This article discusses step 4 of the GTD ("Getting Things Done") methodology and how it applies to the music studio teacher.

This next step is a crucial one because the system stands or falls with it. My first article in the GTD series for music studio teachers began with a brief look at the GTD Methodology. Up to this point we gathered and collected all the loose ends around us that have cluttered up our physical and mental spaces in step one.

Then we clarified what we had collected in step two. What does all of it mean to us in terms of what needs to be done?

In step three we organized what we gathered and clarified into various systems or holding places and we gave some thought to the tools and resources we would use for this purpose.

In step four, we now come to what I consider one of the most important steps: reflect and review. We review what we have, and we do that on a regular basis. At the same time we reflect on what we have, where we have been, and where we want to go. This step keeps us from going stale or getting stalled, and it prevents us from slipping and sliding back down the mountain into the old habits of cluttering our physical and mental spaces.

How Often?

GTD methodology tells us that the best review happens weekly, preferably the same time each week. How long the review lasts will vary from person to person. Review is not engagement, meaning that we do not act on the items that we review other than to make notes that clarify or clean up. We make sure that our list items are current and clear.

If I have any loose notes somewhere, I need to be sure that my system has gathered and collected those notes. If I have anything lying in my inbox (or electronically too), I need to clean that out and gather it, clarify it, and organize it appropriately. I will "engage" or act on these things later once I put them on my "next actions" list. For now, I note these items, clarify what they are and what needs to be done in order to be done with them, and I put them in the proper "containers."

How to do a Weekly Review?

So how to do a weekly review? First, I find it helpful to take a look around me to be sure that I have not forgotten to include something in my system. Is there something lying around that needs me to gather or capture it, clarify it, or organize it? I search around my physical locations and inside my head. I look for loose ends or things that I forgot to record or collect. I thumb through my weekly planner for the past week, maybe the week before that (just in case), and the coming week. Sometimes this act will spark a memory of something that I wanted to remember or accomplish, and I then include that item in my GTD lists.

One reason I like the Omnifocus 2 for Mac program, aside from it being available on my iPhone and my MacBook Pro, is that it includes a "review" feature. It reminds me weekly to do the weekly review. I open up the app, look through every item on the lists, and mark them "reviewed" when I finish. Simple! Quick!

If you are using lists on paper, sit down with your favorite beverage and start looking through your lists. Cross off tasks that you completed, add new items to your lists, and rewrite your lists if it helps you to gain a better footing on what you need to accomplish in the next days, week, or month.

Bullet Journal and GTD Weekly Review

My bullet journal serves a lot of my GTD purposes right now, and I find that I look through that journal much more often than once a week, although I think it is a terrific idea to set aside a specific time for this special weekly review. I think by setting aside a special time that we create a better focus. I thumb through many pages within my journal, not only to enjoy what I have written there -- the splashes of color, the notes I included, the new collection sets I created -- but because I look to complete items on the various pages so that I can "close out" the page as being finished.

As of this moment, I use my bullet journal as the "brain dump" area. As I begin a new month, I leave a page (or 3) open to allow me to collect any ideas, thoughts, reminders, or notes throughout the month. When I begin a new month, I add a new set of pages for this brain dump to continue in the next month. Meanwhile, during the previous month, I systematically check off things that I accomplish. At some point, I will reach the "almost done" point, and I will then decide to migrate any tasks that I still deem relevant to the next month's brain dump list, or I will cross off tasks as irrelevant, unnecessary, or no longer something I want to do. Then when the items on the page are dealt with, that means I can "close out" the page. It is done and never needs to be revisited again unless I want to reminisce about to do lists from the past. I put a star at the top of the page, and I can make that page a thing of the past.

Weekly Review for Music Studio

What are some things that we need to be sure to review in the music studio? Here is a list of things that I like to review each week:

Tuition Payments -- Are they current? Do I need to send a reminder to anyone? Have I deposited checks in the bank? Have I brought my studio's financial records up to date?

Physical Environment -- How clean is my teaching space? Do I need to put things away, run the vacuum cleaner, or organize the bookshelf? Does my space look clean, energized, and exciting for learning, or does it look tired, dull, and messy? Are there things lying around that remind me of things to include on my lists of things to do?

People -- I like to consider this category to help me remember to contact people that I need to connect with. I run through my student list to see if I recall anything. Was I going to send an email to a parent? Schedule a special parent-teacher conference? Suggest something helpful to a parent for a home practice? Contact another teacher about doing a joint performance? The people category can also refer to people I need to connect with, such as my accountant or bookkeeper, someone in charge of a venue where I want my students to perform, or someone associated with my local Suzuki community.

Calendar -- I like to look ahead by the month or two in case there is a holiday or special occasion opportunity. Since I have not been as good at this in the past, I have resolved to make notes about these sorts of opportunities and events for the coming year. As I note these things this year, I am also making a note of them for next year as well. When I look at the calendar, I also recall future plans I might need to add some next steps to take care of.

Other Reviews

There are other regular reviews that might be helpful, such as monthly reviews, quarterly reviews, semiannual/biannual (6-month) reviews, and end-of-year reviews. Just about any time frame you want to use would be appropriate for some sort of review process. I have not discussed goal-setting in the context of GTD, but goal-setting is certainly the sort of topic that would apply here.

Daily Review Focus

A friend of mine also follows an interesting review plan on a daily basis, which I find intriguing. She suggests that there be a particular focus on each day of the week. You are permitted to do other things besides that particular focus, but when you have a focus on a particular day of the week, you will visit that topic definitely once a week. Some suggested focus ideas might be to take the above topics and assign them to particular days. On those days, you will first and foremost give attention to that particular area.

You might also find a "weekly review" easier to accomplish if you do it in bits and pieces. I often do this, and the Omnifocus 2 for Mac allows me to review whenever I can. Anything I mark as reviewed is then set aside until a week later.

Make Review Your Own Creation

How you do your weekly review can be your own creation. There is no right way to do this. In fact, many people adjust things to suit their own personalities and needs. Everyone's review may look different from everyone else's review. The purpose of the review is to stay in touch with the things that you have gathered and collected and to make sure that you keep focused on what next actions to take to make forward progress.

The most important reason for doing a weekly review is to keep your system operating properly. If you neglect this aspect of GTD, then you begin to distrust the reliability of your system. You begin to hold things in your head again or leave them piled up in an inbox or on a corner of the desk. When I forget to do my weekly reviews, I find that my counter tops get covered up again with stuff.

So make a weekly appointment with yourself to review your stuff. With my bullet journal lists, I enjoy looking through things regularly. I have begun to highlight certain areas of my life with certain colors (personal is pink, writing/creating is blue, university/symphony/gig is orange, and studio is green). I also use splashes of color and sometimes some cute stickers here and there to make the pages more pleasing to the eye. My color pens really help me do this. I pick the color that suits me for the day, and because these pens are erasable, mistakes are a thing of the past.

At the moment I concentrate my thoughts on how I can turn the bullet journal into even more of a GTD masterpiece. For now, things work fine. This tool has really helped me stay focused, and it helps me to gather all my stray thoughts. I turn my thoughts into projects and special pages once I have captured the thoughts initially. All good. I hope to write a specific post in the future that is related to the bullet journal because it has really helped me.

Here are some links to the items I talked about in my articles. If you wish to explore further, click on the picture or link:

bullet journals

color erasable pens

This page references affiliate links, which will help to support the time it takes me to write articles for the blog, research information, and write and produce the Teach Suzuki podcasts. You are never under any obligation to buy anything or to use these particular links. If you are in the market for any of the items I have listed, please consider supporting my work with the affiliate links I have provided. There is no additional cost to you, but I will receive a small benefit if you do use the links.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing! (or GTD'ing)

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

GTD for the Music Studio Teacher, step 2 -- Clarify

My Clarification Questions

In my previous articles, I introduced the GTD concept and discussed the first step -- capturing and gathering. If you have not read those articles, click here for the introductory article explaining what the GTD Methodology is and how it would benefit a music studio teacher. The article about the first step in GTD -- Capturing and Gathering -- can be found here.

Today I will discuss the second big step of the GTD "Five" and demonstrate how this step can benefit a music studio teacher. This is the "clarify" step.

What is Clarification?

In the clarify step, we look closely at all the stuff we gathered and captured, and we decide what each item means and what we should do about it. If you have a cluster of sticky notes and lists of things to do, as well as reminders strewn about in your planner or bullet journal, then you may be suffering a blockage in this second step of clarifying what it is you have and what you need to do with it.

Many folks mistakenly believe that they have adequately dealt with something once they have written it down somewhere. They write down things like "recital program" or "group class theme" and think that they have done all that is necessary to capture these items on the "to do" list. They may also mistakenly believe that their clutter problem is that they are procrastinating or are just too busy to deal with all the things that clamor for their attention.

Yes, that may all be true, but there may be a more important reason underlying all of this turmoil, and that is that you have not clarified what you have written down. For example, there is an art form to writing things down, and both of the two examples I gave above do not fit the criteria. "Recital program" and "group class theme" seem like good things to write down, but they fall far short of indicating what the final outcome really is and what you need to do next to get there.

Outcome Thinking (Thinking for Success)

I developed my own little system to handle this processing step. I followed David Allen's former GTD flowchart and the newest one, and I found that I could simplify some of the steps to fit my situation as a music studio teacher. First I realized that I had difficulty making myself decide what "done" looked like. I would pick up something and think about it for a few seconds and come up with things to do, but I had not mastered the art of "outcome thinking." That came later after much trial and error, as I contemplated why I gathered and captured well in step one but seemed to have such a big logjam at step 2 and clarifying.

Instead of spending more time dealing with my piles of gathered stuff, I thought about my thinking. As a teacher, I completely understand the need to know what goes on in a student's head during instruction. So, I began talking aloud and figuring out what my thinking was. I discovered that I was doing some sloppy thinking about clarification, and in fact, my type of thinking was not doing very much to clean up or deal with the pile of things I had gathered and collected before me.

My Clarification Questions

I studied David Allen's flow charts and found a way to rephrase the questions to fit the sort of language and questions that I would find understandable in my personal situation. I simplified this clarification step to these questions when I picked up an item, whether it was a file folder, an item in my mail pile, or a receipt I had just removed from my wallet:

• What is this? [I write an answer]
• Do I need to do something with this?
• No, then trash it, defer it (and decide when that would be), or give it to someone else to do.
• Yes, proceed to the next step.
• [I actually circle "no" or "yes" so that I actually answer this question.]
• What is the successful outcome? In other words, what does "done" look like when I have finished with this thing in my hand?
• What is the very next step?
• Are there other steps? Make this into a project.
• Where to put this?

I actually needed to speak aloud each question listed above and give my verbal answer. In fact, I made up a sheet of these questions (as pictured above at the beginning of this article) to help me. I staple or clip one of these little sheets of questions to each item in my gathered pile, and then I write the answers to the questions on the paper. Later I transfer these notes to a different system to help me keep track of the progress on these items, but that is another future article to come. For now, I process and clarify.

If I identify more than one step to be completed in order to reach the state of being "done," then I turn the item into a "project." I set up a projects folder for the item and make sure that a lot of the steps are written down.

If you would like a copy of my processing questions form as pictured above, click here.

Remember when I said that there was an art form to writing something down in order to successfully process or clarify it? There is. It is called associating a verb to the item. When I scribbled "recital program" down on my list of things to do, I did not envision what exactly I needed to do about the recital program. Throw it in the trash? Take it to the printers? Draft it? Figure out what would go into it? And why did I scribble "group class theme" on my list? Because I wanted to send an email to my studio families about it, organize a party or special event, or brainstorm some ideas for group class lesson plans this fall?

Do you begin to understand how important it is to decide what the final successful outcome is -- what "done" will look like when you get there -- and what action you need to take next to make headway? Pick a verb. Describe the action.

For many of us, picking a verb or deciding what action to do next will be a learning process. I know because I have spent much time in that land of clarification limbo. I found the entire experience worthy of the time I spent learning how to do this correctly. It took me a while to think about verbs and actions, but I found in the end that this solved most of my log jam problems just by clarifying what I needed to do when I wrote down the to do item.

Two Minute Rule

There is one other magical rule to follow in the GTD system, and that is the two minute rule. This is the rule that says, if the next step you have identified will take two minutes or less to complete, then go ahead and do it right there and then.

The reason for this rule is that it would most likely take two minutes or longer to actually do anything else with the item, such as make a file folder or log it on a reminder projects or next actions list. Most of my students are surprised to discover just how long a time period of two minutes actually is. I routinely set a two minute timer for myself to remind me of how much I can accomplish in that short time frame: clean an appliance, take out the trash, run through my basic scale routine, briefly answer an email, send a text message, draft an outline for an upcoming article, mind map a creative project, clean up the books that students pulled from the bookshelves, or just file away the music that got stacked up during that day's lessons. There are so many things that could fit within this two minute rule.

Lessons Learned as a Music Studio Teacher

The biggest lesson I learned in this clarification process was that I failed miserably at first in outcome thinking. I procrastinated and dithered about things because I did not have clarity about what the finished project would look like. I also thought that this type of thinking would just take too long, so I avoided doing it.

What I learned from following the GTD methodology is that this type of thinking is crucial to just about everything I do and teach as a musician and teacher. I want my students to learn how to be "outcome" thinkers. I want them to be able to think about what the finished product will look like when they learn that piece to the mastery stage, and I want to guide them into uncovering the steps that my students will need to follow in order to reach that final result. I discovered, much to my surprise, that outcome thinking is exactly what I taught my students! How ironic that I failed so miserably at doing it when I dealt with my personal clutter!

A Learning Process

Many people have tried the GTD method and given up on it. I speculate about that and think that perhaps one reason is that the method does not happen overnight. There is a learning process, and what I mean by that is not that it takes a long time to learn. In fact, quite the opposite. The GTD method is quite simple and can be learned quickly in terms of knowledge.

What trips people up, I believe, is that there is a learning process for each individual. Most of us have taken a long road to get to the land of clutter and confusion, and so for us to expect to instantly or quickly arrive at a different place may not be the most realistic expectation to have. It took me many attempts and a great deal of soul searching and observation for me to realize that I was not actually completing this clarification step with any -- um -- clarity. I stuck with it. I reviewed the book and the materials several times, and finally one day, the light bulb went on over my head, and things have taken a decided turn for the better ever since.

So if you have tried GTD before and had a less than happy result, give it another go. Read the book again, as I did. Think about things. Ask a friend for help or guidance. The lessons you learn about yourself will be valuable. And the final result -- the GTD "mind like water" -- is gold! When I finally "got" how to do GTD, I began having so many creative ideas because I had so much more room in my head. I also found that I had more time to actually engage with my ideas and with others, because I was productive and unstressed about what I had to do.

If you are interested in David Allen's book, here is the link again. This is an affiliate link, which means that there is no additional cost to you. I already own the book and highly recommend it, and if you are also in the market for this book, I ask that you consider using this link. Doing so will give a benefit to the blog and help me continue to podcast and write.

Again, if you are interested in the previous articles about GTD and the Music Studio Teacher, you can find them here:

GTD for the Music Studio Teacher

GTD for the Music Studio Teacher, Part 2 -- Gather and Capture

Until next time,

Happy Practicing! (or clarifying!)

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

Lazy Daze of Summer

The following article was published on June 14, 2012, but the material is still valuable and true for today, and I have updated it just a wee bit. Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * *

It's a Dog's Life!

For most of us in the United States, school terms are over and the summer has officially begun. [Sigh!] Although I have very fond memories of my childhood summers, as a teacher my summers do not hold the same excitement. Here are some of the reasons that my teaching summers may be difficult, and these same reasons may apply to any holiday, vacation, or break.

When school term ends, most families no longer follow any consistent routine. Days seem to drift by with little structure. The kids play outside or in the park or at the pool. Daily practice gets postponed in favor of some other interesting, new, or fun activity [as in, less work]. Families go on vacation and make no arrangements for taking the violin along to continue practice. Sometimes lessons are cancelled entirely as families disappear for the summer.

I am all in favor of breaks and vacations. I use these tools myself to renew, refresh, and recharge my spirit and my teaching motivation. Sometimes I use my breaks and vacations to further my teaching skills by attending institutes and workshops. I also understand when families travel out of the country or across the country to visit extended family for long periods of time.

What I have trouble understanding is when families completely shunt aside the progress they and their children have made in learning a musical skill and developing ability. Children thrive on structure. All research supports this fact. Parents routinely report to me that their music studies and practice proceed successfully when the families follow an established routine and that problems occur when the schedule is not maintained. And yet, as a teacher, I still encounter the summer issue with many of my students.

The problem in some cases may be that we are not on the same page. As a Suzuki teacher who is strongly committed to the Suzuki philosophical point that the Suzuki Method is about creating fine human beings, I view my life's work as extremely important for the child, the child's family, and ultimately for our society at large. When I think of my purpose in teaching music via the violin or piano to young students as developing and nurturing ability, talent, and life skills, then I cannot bear to think about taking an extended break from my work. I have to keep things going in order not to lose any ground.

If a parent does not share this philosophy, then it is likely that the parent will be sporadic about continuing lessons and practice during the summer. The parent will schedule vacations and special events without any consideration given to the continuation of learning and practice. Remember, I am referring to the parents who do not schedule lessons (or who schedule very few lessons) or who do not maintain any semblance of a regular or consistent practice schedule. With the growth of the Internet and online tools, there are ample opportunities to maintain lessons during an extended period of time away from home. There may also be possibilities to take extra lessons per week. There is no reason to limit lessons to a weekly schedule. Why not take two lessons per week during the time the child and family are at home?

I will relate two stories to show support for the idea that summers can be more productive rather than less. One is from my own personal experience. My mother was a public school primary grade teacher, so she had summers free. When I was a child, my mother had a general schedule outlined for us kids. There was a "looseness" about the structure in terms of specifics, but there was a sense of structure. For example, when we got up in the morning, after we ate our breakfast, there was a time to complete some necessary household chores, such as cleaning or laundry or some other activity that would benefit the entire household. Then we practiced. Since my sister and I played two instruments, we would practice both. There was still some time left in the morning (we did not sleep in or late in the summer but maintained a reasonable morning wake up time), so we would run errands. Either we would go shopping for groceries or other items, or we would go to the public library to return books or to check out new ones. The library run was a regular recurrence, because I remember that more than I remember other shopping activities. After lunch, where we were eagerly beginning our new books, we spent the afternoons at the local pool. We would take our books as well and read in between swimming periods. In the late afternoon, we might play outside while mom fixed dinner, or we might pick up our instruments and dabble with some fun things. Mom might ask us to play some things for her while she worked. Sometimes we helped her to make dinner or to set the table. Then when dad was home, we would do family activities. Often my dad would do his own piano practice after dinner, or we would sing some songs together at the piano. I often played piano after dinner to amuse myself. My dad had lots of sheet music to play through. I had great summers. We always continued our lessons and music studies. Sometimes I would even begin reading about subjects I would study the next year (yes, I was a bit of a nerd when it came to school).

My second story is my former student "little Katie" who attends university now and wants to work for NASA some day as an engineer. Little Katie, so named to distinguish her from an older, taller Katie in the studio at the time, was a very busy child during the school year. She loved her summers because it gave her a chance to "get ahead" in her practicing. If she was learning book 3, she used the summer to finish the book and graduate and get a head start on the next book. Katie used this summer method of hers for many years.

You read the title of this article correctly. I meant to type "daze" rather than "days." As a teacher, what I see in the child as a result of an unstructured summer (few lessons or none, sporadic practice or none, unfocused activities), is a dazed child. They stand before me and present themselves with little focus and concentration. They are easily distracted by anything else going on. Their thoughts seem diffused, as if they are oozing out of their ears before my eyes.

Here are my recommendations to avoid the summer daze:

• Look through your calendar and schedule as many lessons as your schedule and your teacher's schedule will allow. It is okay to have more than one lesson in a week. The teacher can focus one lesson on one aspect of technique and use the other lesson to work on something new or fun.
• Think about your day and how you can arrange your schedule so that you arrange suitable moments for daily practice.
• Think about times during the week when you can arrange a special concert. Your child would love to perform for others, and this would be a wonderful reason to do some practice during the week to prepare for the event, even if the event is a phone call to grandma.
• Perhaps you can arrange a special music play date with some of your child's other music friends. I recall a trio of young students who regularly arranged sleepovers that involved the violin.
• Look through the local concerts and plan to attend several concerts in the park. Our local symphony offers several possibilities. It offers special art and music park events every Wednesday morning throughout the summer, and each week features a different section of the symphony (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion). The symphony sections each present monthly concerts in the park, and families can bring lawn chairs and pets to the concerts. The big summer event is the July 4 concert with the 1812 overture.
• Plan your vacation with your child's instrument in mind. Children can carry their instruments onto airplanes. I have camped out with my instrument and practiced under pine trees beside lakes. One time a railroad train blew right past me as I played. I had no idea that I was 30 feet from a railway line. That was interesting!
• If you are unable to take the instrument, then plan to maintain a listening program for the child so that the child remembers the pieces he or she is learning or has already learned.
• Make plans for your child to attend a Suzuki Institute or other music camp. Some of my fondest summer music experiences were my summer camps. I went to strings camps, and later as a teacher, I attended Suzuki Institutes with some of my students. We had a lot of fun! The parents who came along learned a lot as well.
• Plan special summer events. This summer might be a great time to arrange a summer Olympics for the violin. Set a few dates for special Olympic trials and races, and have the child start preparing for those events. Then arrange to make medals and certificates for each event that the child participates in.
• Listen to the Teach Suzuki Podcast episode: 100 Things to do in the Summer and try a few suggestions.

Summer time can be a fun time for music. I hope you find ways to add music into your summer fun.

Happy Summer Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird