The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 088 Efficient Practice Planning with Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier

Episode Date: January 22, 2021

088 Efficient Practice Planning with Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier This winter, I'm bringing you a series of four episodes about building your amazing practice. In this series, I'll be covering many of the components that I think are essential in having a great productive practice session.  At least, for me! I'll be talking about planning and scheduling, priming for an efficient practice, building a great warmup regimen, and, finally, I'll take you through my favorite practice session breakdown. This episode is all about planning and scheduling efficiently for better results.  I share strategies on how to plan for productive practice and how to schedule it in a way that maximizes your time so you can operate at the highest level possible.   THE MUSIC MASTERY EXPERIENCE will be back in June 2021!  This is my LIFE CHANGING, highly personalized group coaching program where I show you how to implement mindful & effective practice techniques, how to make them habits, and how to get RESULTS. Save your spot at http://www.mindoverfinger.com/mme and get access to some really cool bonuses!   Join the Mind Over Finger Tribe for access to my weekly live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians!   Visit www.mindoverfinger.com and sign up for my newsletter to get your free guide to an exceptionally productive practice using the metronome!  This guide is the perfect entry point to help you bring more mindfulness and efficiency into your practice and it's filled with tips and tricks on how to use that wonderful tool to take your practicing and your playing to new heights!   If you enjoyed the show, please leave a review on iTunes!  I truly appreciate your support!     THANK YOU: A HUGE thank you to my fantastic producer, Bella Kelly, who works really hard to make this podcast as pleasant to listen to as possible for you! Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme!  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson. Thank you to Susan Blackwell for the introduction!  You can find out more about Susan, her fantastic podcast The Spark File, and her work helping creatives of all backgrounds expand their impact by visiting https://www.susanblackwell.com/home.   MIND OVER FINGER: www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger podcast, episode number 88. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice and building a purposeful career. And now your host, violinist, teacher and high performance coach, Dr. Renée Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. I hope this episode finds you doing well. This winter, I'm bringing you a series of four episodes all about building your amazing practice every third Friday of the month. In this series, I'll be covering many of the components that I think are essential in having a great, productive practice session, at least for me. I'll be talking about planning and scheduling,

priming for an efficient practice, building a great warm-up regimen, and finally, I'll take you through my favorite practice session breakdown. And today is all about planning and scheduling. Some people might hate those words, but for me, planning and scheduling put me at ease because I don't have to worry about things getting done because I've planned them. And it's not just about planning what has to be done, but planning my whole life. Planning for me is about self-care. It's about building into my life the things that are the most important to me and the things that help me function at the highest level. By planning ahead, you can really build the life that you want. let's start with planning our practice and we're going to go at the micro level in the next episode

in this series but for today we keep things at the macro level if you're listening to this I'm hoping you've also listened to episode 86 gear up 2021 if you haven't I actually recommend that you pause this one and start with gear up 2021 because this is where this whole process starts You can also listen to episode 73, Performance Reboot, which has a lot of similar concepts. These are the episodes where we imagine our future, establish our vision, we reverse engineer the process, and create our ideal optimal context. So with my vision in mind and on paper, I'd like to start drafting my practice plan for the months ahead.

I like to put it in a table in a Word document. I put the months of the year on the left, and I have several columns for the different information I find helpful to keep track of and plan. I usually have a column that lists all the firm deadlines, the performances, and what repertoire I'll be playing for those. then I have another column where I put the elements I already outlined in my reverse engineering from episode 86 with even more details and broken down into weekly assignments within the month in another column I keep track of the pieces I need to keep on the back burner

and the ones that I need to slowly start learning but that are projects in the distant future And finally, I have one for my long-term personal goals, like, for example, working on finger doctives or if there's something I want to work on for fun. I put this in a word doc because I can edit it constantly and easily, but any format will do. It doesn't matter if it's pen to paper, a Trello board, or an Excel sheet. Whatever fits you best is perfect. But the one place I strongly advise keeping this plant in is a vague space in your brain.

Write it down and it will happen. Now, I hear from so many of you that it's difficult to find the time to practice, that you don't have the time or you don't have enough time to practice. So let's talk about a way to organize things that will help you find time, save time, become more effective, and channel your energy towards achieving your goals. Let's get scheduling. Ultimately, of course, you want to find a way to organize your schedule that works best for you. But let me offer some suggestions that have worked well for me. I like to take some time at the beginning of each week, usually on Sunday evening, to plan the upcoming days.

I plan everything. Practice time, appointments, lessons, cooking, working, studying, cleaning, leisure time, etc. And in normal time, of course, rehearsals and concerts. I try to be as precise and detailed as possible, and also I leave some open time for the unexpected. Doing that allows me to maximize my time and prevent unpleasant surprises. Knowing how to build a well-organized schedule can be an instrumental element in becoming efficient and in reaching your goals. Personally, I feel that when I schedule something, it's almost just as good as done. And if I don't, if it stays on a list somewhere or if it stays in my head instead of making its way on my calendar, it most likely won't happen. Operating this way is what allowed me to complete a doctorate while raising a newborn and a toddler, dealing with a daily heavy commute in Chicago traffic and a busy concert schedule.

This is what allows me to create this podcast for you while juggling, in normal times, a heavy performance schedule, teaching schedule, and spending time with my family. And I would like to specify that I'm not some special unicorn. If I can do it, anyone can do it. not a hundred percent of what I plan gets done, but I'm 100% more efficient by planning ahead of time. So here's how I do it. Throughout the week, I use the memo app on my phone and my Trello boards to keep track of any ideas that pops in for things I need to do. And by the way, if you are someone who likes organization and you don't know about Trello boards, I strongly recommend you check it out. And like I said I set aside some time at the beginning of each week usually on Sunday to

organize my schedule. I use Google Calendar because I can easily plan things from my computer and access them through all of my devices. Also it's easy to edit to create recurring events and I love that I can use colors to identify the different events and areas of my life. The first things going in my schedule are what I call the firm commitments or the non-negotiables. Those are the activities that I am committed to at a specific time and place. That includes lessons, meetings, appointments, family activities, etc. And during a normal year, rehearsals and concerts. My work and family obligations are usually entered as soon as an engagement is confirmed,

so they're already in the calendar when I sit down to build my week. The next thing going in will usually be the chunks of time necessary to commute to all the different activities. This does not apply for me these days, of course, but life will go back to normal, so let's talk about it for a second. planning for commute is something people forget to do all the time and that's a big one that can derail your schedule real quick if you drive to work this can save you so much time because planning commuting ahead of time helps you work around traffic hours and increases your chances of being punctual you can notice that by leaving an hour earlier you could escape rush hour so you can schedule to leave early and get 30 minutes of practicing done at the hall instead of sitting in

the car in the tailgate. And when you do this, you realize how much time you spend going from place to place and you can figure out ways to make that work for you. I like to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, which transforms my long commuting time into a learning opportunity or an entertaining right. Planning for my commute also helps me notice where I go and when, and that allows me to combine errands and commitments, which saves me time. Once the non-negotiables are in, the firm commitments, I add what I call the variables. The variables are all the other activities which have no specific set time. Sleeping, practicing, studying, cooking and eating, reading with the kids, exercising, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc. I love this quote from former NASA rocket designer

Peter Turla who says, managing your time without setting priorities is like shooting randomly and calling whatever you hit the target. Prioritizing is the guiding light when scheduling the variables. As a human being, I need to eat, sleep, take care of myself, and do things that are fun. As a spouse, parent, and homeowner, I need to make sure that I save blocks for family time, grocery shopping meal preparation and home maintenance as a musician teacher and coach I have several tasks which must get done dutifully and mindfully if you're a student you'll have classes homework studying exams and social activities so from week to week the order of priority and the use of my time will change according to my to-do list or

might be affected by unforeseen circumstances. One week, a sick child will consume a great amount of time. Another week, preparation for a big concert will take precedence over getting all the laundry done. It's all about flexibility. But with careful planning, everything important and necessary can get scheduled and accomplished. So let's talk about planning for practice, right? This is a podcast about music. We are what I would call musician athletes. So to stay in shape, practicing needs to stay close to the top of the priority list. We have a daily minimum of time required to maintain form, which is different for all of us. And then we'll have a variety of deadlines or performances to plan for. So when looking at your schedule, go back to your practice

plan. Schedule your practice sessions early in the scheduling building process. If practicing is a priority for you, don't squeeze it in when you've put all of your other to-dos on the calendar and there's hardly any time left. You want to carve time out for your priorities. So consider scheduling your practice sessions first thing after your non-negotiables. As you put your practice sessions in your calendar also include what you plan on practicing in that session. For example, don't write practice. Write things like warm-up plus Bach first movement or read Brahms symphony number three plus identify passages to practice or record run-through concerto plus listen plus take notes. Of course you can always change things around as needed

but being really specific with what you cover in the different sessions is going to be extremely effective in making sure you cover everything you have to and you won't find yourself with a forgotten item at the end of the week. Another thing about scheduling practice is to think carefully about which time of day you want to do it. I strongly recommend planning to practice when you know you will be in your most productive state. For me, it's early in the morning, but for others, I know it's late at night. So whether you're an early bird or a late night owl, keep that into consideration and plan your practice sessions when you know your prefrontal cortex will be running at full speed. And the last thing I'll say about scheduling your practice sessions is to plan for

enough breaks. We want you to stay healthy, fit, and on top of your physical game. So as long as you make sure you plan ahead and schedule enough time to get ready fully for performances and commitments, things should move in the right direction for you. So here's the order I might follow when I'm filling up my schedule. First, I put in the non-negotiables, the firm commitments, appointments, rehearsals, concerts. Then, in a normal year, all the commute necessary to get to those commitments. Then, because it's really important for me to feel like I operate at my best, I'll schedule the elements that will support everything else. Sleep, family time and family activities, meditation, exercise, mealtimes, and yes, leisure activities. Then my daily practice

sessions. And if you're a student, this is also where I would schedule chunks of time for studying and for homework. Remember that if you don't schedule it in advance, it either won't happen or it will have to happen at a time that is not convenient for you. And this is where the difficult choice of what to give up comes in and you lose control of your life. So after practice and study time, I put all the rest, podcast work, content creation, errands, etc. And then I'll go to the less fun stuff. Groceries, cleaning, laundry. Be careful to not overload your schedule and keep enough time to transition between activities. Also be realistic when scheduling how long something is going to take but at the same time challenge yourself to not allocate

too much time to complete a task. You might have heard of Parkinson's law which says that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. So make sure you allocate your prime time efficiently. And before I conclude this episode, I'd like to bring up flexibility again. And what I mean by flexibility is to be aware and adaptable to your changing priorities. So in the same way that your practice is going to be different two months before a performance versus two days before a performance, your schedule is going to be different from week to week depending on what's coming up for you.

In the weeks before a big audition, practicing is probably going to be at the very top of your list and you might spend less time exercising or going out with friends. This is the kind of flexibility you want to have with your schedule reflecting the needs you have in that moment. Having said that, I strongly recommend maintaining the activities that support you in the long term. It's about negotiating a fine balance, and I would be careful about cutting out completely things that nurture you, like sleeping, exercising, and meditating, in favor of more work, because the lack of balance will affect you negatively.

For example, if you need to reduce exercise or social activities to work a little bit more when it's that last stretch, so be it. But eliminating things completely could be counterproductive. Just use your best judgment and spend time pondering on what serves you best both short-term and long-term and how to reach the best balance for this week. there are a lot of things going into a schedule so I'll reiterate these three important things in conclusion number one make sure to keep your priorities in mind and remember that those might change from week to week number two try to be as realistic as possible when deciding how long something is going to take. And number three, be flexible and creative as you craft your schedule. Obviously, everybody has a different way of going about things. What matters is that you find a way

that works for you. This kind of nitty-gritty planning can appear to be really boring and not really elevated, but it's doing this homework, building this strategic structure of your time that opens up time and mental space for the productive work, for the elevated work, for the mindful practice, for artistry. So give it a shot and keep tweaking, adapting, see what works and what doesn't work for you and try new things. I know that for me, through experimenting for years, I realized that I find freedom through planning. Because as I said earlier, if it's in the schedule, it's as good as done. And when things get done, I reach my goals, or at least more of them. And I have time to do the things I want to do without worrying.

But if operating this way sounds like a living nightmare to you, that's perfectly okay. Just make sure you find a system that works for you, that makes you feel empowered, and that brings efficiency and freedom to your life in the way that feels perfectly aligned with your way of doing things. So I hope this was helpful. Now let's see those schedules. Sit down, plan, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me or drop me a comment to let me know that you found this info useful. I mind over finger on all platforms and as I shared with you last week I'm really excited that the music mastery experience will be back in June 2021. This is my life-changing highly personalized group coaching program where I show you how to implement mindful and effective practice

techniques, make them habits and get results. It's not too early to save your spot and if you sign up now, you get access to some pretty cool bonuses. So go to mindoverfinger.com slash amami and let's talk. So that's it for today. Thank you and à bientôt.