They're HEEEEEERRRREEEEEE.....

Hello everyone,
Spring "break" is just around the corner - remember to bring your choir music with you if you're traveling - just 10 to 15 minutes of focused work a day will reap ENORMOUS dividends when we next see each other at the beginning of Spring quarter!

If you deliberately make time for music practice, it will likely happen. Personal experience tells me that the more specific the assignment, the better.
Invariably, I have more success when my practice task assignment looks like this:

Tuesday, December 4 -
Mussorgsky "Catacombs" - LH legato work, RH continuous tremolo overkill
Bach fugue - voice combinations and mm work 4 clicks above perf tempo
Brahms #1 - Sweeping #2 Left arm drop #3 Shifting accents RH, LH legato

und so weiter

I have little real success if I give myself this kind of assignment:

Tuesday, December 4 - Practice piano 3 hours

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Use Doc's assignment sheets as your models - they are excellent ways of training yourself to think specifically when you're working alone.
Modify the task assignment to include your PERSONAL challenges. If you need to work on rhythm, INCLUDE THIS SPECIFICALLY IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT, as though you were detailing it in an email.
Not "rhythm" - but, "Count and tap Froggy Goes A'Courting mm.1-20, shift major beats till thinking in 1"
you see where I'm going with this.

The more specific the assignment, the more you'll be able to "quantify" your accomplishment.

This really doesn't take much time to do -
Punch and put a few plain sheets of paper in your binder.
Get a pad of 3 x 3 sticky notes.
For each piece: Devise an acronymn or something to identify the piece and write it at the top of the sticky before you begin.
To assign something to yourself - go to the music you'll be working on, locate trouble spots, and write ONE specific practice task for each trouble spot on a separate sticky note.  Stick these notes to the score.
When you're ready to practice, just work through the stickies.
When you finish the tasks, check each one off on the stickie and then put the sticky on one of the plain sheets of paper - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The beauty of this is its flexibility. If you don't get to something, leave it stuck onto your music, reminding you of work yet to be done. When you finish something, the plain sheets serve as a collection point and a reminder of continual success!

I use something like this to manage work flow - it's my personal modification of the most amazing task management concept ever - Kanban. It has kept me sane and productive since September 2015. I couldn't live without my Wall of Stickies.

Rehearsal in 15, must take off for Campion - remember to bring your music with you if you leave town or to put it in a prominent place in your digs if you do a stay-cation ;-)

LL&P,
Lee