Hi Mimi,
I live out in the country, in a small house with lots of land around, with my family of 10
(1 husband, 5 dogs, 3 cats). You will probably think that at least 8 of them usually spend their time out there running around… but no, all they want, is to snuggle up around me, on a few square inches. And I absolutely love that, they melt my heart. ❤️
As you can imagine, I have lots to do every day to keep all these creatures happy, well fed, entertained, and well looked after. The lands needs lots of care too, and husbands are notorious for being the highest-maintenance species on the planet. 😹
So I’m always looking for better ways of getting organised, and of managing my time and my energy.
The latest life-changing hack I discovered, only 20 years after everyone else 😹 is audiobooks! So now, instead of piling up books that I don’t have the time to read, I have Audible on my phone, my phone in a beastie-proof pouch, and buds in my ears while weeding the vegetable patch, watering the garden, cooking, cleaning, and all of that.
And the latest audiobook I got, which might prove to be a life changer as well, is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. It’s all about getting used to changes, and amounts of time working on new skills, so tiny, that they become really realistic and really easy to stick to. Atomic, both because of how small, and how powerful the atom is. What a great title! I’m starting to apply this approach to my daily tasks, and ohmygod does it work!
And then lately I’ve had two of my students, both mothers of young kids, complaining about the fact, that they rarely get a whole hour per week, to practice their singing without either being interrupted, or feeling like they have to rush to do the next thing. So I suggested to both of them that they only sing 15 minutes per day, but then every day, consistently.
I know it is possible to find 15 minutes a day for something that’s important to us!
They were both surprised at my suggestion, because we all know that the voice needs time to warm up, so 15 minutes would just about allow for that to happen. And I say that, first, it’s a lot better to only warm up, than to do nothing at all; and second, even with only 15 minutes a day, your warmup time will become shorter and shorter, and before you know it, you might only need 10 minutes to warm up and have 5 for a song.
So, just stick with 15 minutes! Set your phone on airplane mode with the timer running, and for this exact amount of time, only sing, and don’t get sidetracked by anything else.
Are you willing to give it a try? I would absolutely love to hear how this works for you!
All the best to you, and happy singing!
Simona