My day in units, and thoughts on practicing

OK, any post is naturally better if I start with a picture of Hugh Grant. Even though I've heard stories in the tabloids that he's actually quite skanky, I just love the guy and find him very hot. It's OK, Matt knows this and besides, he never reads the blog anyway. We sort of have an agreement...if Hugh calls, I have to go. And on the flip side, if I answer the phone one day and it's Kate Beckinsale calling for Matt, I understand that he has to go. Anyway, this is not about Hugh and I. In a Hugh Grant movie I saw a few years back called About a Boy, the main character is trying to explain how he spends his day. Since he is very wealthy living off the proceeds of a Christmas song written by his father, he has no job or career whatsoever. He says,

I find the key is to think of a day as units of time...

...each unit consisting of no more than 30 minutes.

Full hours can be a little bit intimidating...

...and most activities take about half an hour.

Taking a bath: One unit.

Watching Countdown:

Okay...

One unit.

Web-based research:

Two units.

Exercising: Three units.

Having my hair carefully disheveled: Four units.

It's amazing how the day fills up.

I often wonder, to be absolutely honest...

...if I'd ever really have time for a job.

How do people cram them in?

(end of quote)

OK, so I'm not like this character because on the contrary, I have so much to do, and it's been kind of overwhelming lately and then I end up giving up and frittering my time away for too long on one single activity and lose my focus on what I'm supposed to be doing and what needs to be done. So I'm starting to think about my day in units too. Only I do not find full hours intimidating so I use one hour as one unit. So in the past couple of days I really keep my eye on my watch and try not to go over the time allotted for a single task. Upstairs housework...one unit. Downstairs housework (non-kitchen time)...one unit. Cooking and dishes (kitchen time)...1-2 units. Singing....one unit, maybe two. Lizzy playtime...one unit. Errands....one or two units. Computer time, one unit. (Yes, just one!) Sewing, one unit. Grooming...one unit. Etc...

It's not the computer, TV, or even sewing that I feel is gobbling up my time lately, it's singing. I remember when I was younger and I went voice lessons totally unprepared, having hardly practiced at all. Now, I've become a total dork where I can't quit singing, all the time. When my kids have little friends over, I have to constantly remind myself not to sing so much, so I don't embarrass them. (Hmmm, maybe that's the reason the neighbors never want to come over). But in matters of time management, this is becoming sort of a problem. I'm really into Bach lately, and I've put several favorite arias on my ipod. Then I set the ipod in its dock in hen I practice in the kitchen. If I don't keep an eye on the clock, too much time goes by and I'm still singing.

A side note, practicing in the kitchen rather than the music room has been a monumental change for me. It was only when I gave up the whole notion that I could have "practice time" to myself that I truly began to love practicing. Now I share my practice time with dishes and cooking tasks, and somehow it works out. My voice is ten times better and stronger for it. I also have started to have music books that look kind of like cookbooks, with little spatters of this and that on the pages. Yes, the mundane tasks take a little longer because I have to pause and concentrate on difficult phrases, but I have found I can unload and load the dishwasher very quickly in the instrumental interludes between vocal passages. I'm getting much more consistent in the vocal sounds that I make too, which is really exciting. I used to think "I'm not warmed up so I can't hit that note." Now I find that ridiculous. I like to feel warmed up all day long, all the time. I want to sing just as good at 7:30am as I do at 7:30pm. Progress for me has come much better in little five minute chunks all day long than long sessions spent in the practice room.

But like all things, I really need to keep some moderation and balance the singing/cooking/dishes with other stuff that needs to get done. Eventually when it's not so dang cold, I do plan on dedicating a unit to exercise, but honestly, twenty degrees is just too cold for me. So I'll stay inside and sing some more. And blog. Wait, my unit is about up, so I have to go. Have a nice day!