It’s been a rainy day today, hence the title. It’s rained on and off, but not too much. And it’s finally a bit cooler. Fingers crossed that fall is here!

This has been a good week for “getting things done”. My stress levels and schedule (the two DO often go together) have been at a manageable level of busy-ness and so I’m able to make progress in areas of life other than simply showing up for scheduled events and letting the rest slide. I’m getting things done around the house (this is probably an overstatement, as there’s most definitely a basket of laundry I need to fold), I’ve got the holidays planned out, I’m working on some of my commitments for SLAMTA (music teachers organization that I’m a board member of), I’m definitely caught up on paying bills, mostly caught up on some other important paperwork. OH and I’m working hard practicing for our quartet concert next week. I still need to brainstorm what needs to be done to prepare for November’s teaching and quartet commitments, but October is mostly either done or planned out.

How do you deal with your to-do list? I keep a running “to-do” list on my phone and when I have a moment I’ll check the list and see if there’s anything I can take care of. Some things stay on there for a long time, but mostly I do pretty well getting things checked off. And if there’s something super timely I’ll add a timer to it to make sure I don’t forget. For larger projects, I try to break the tasks down into manageable parts.

I never include practicing on the list—maybe I should? This year I’m trying the “binder” route where all the music I’m learning is copied and added to a binder. That way I’m not searching for things—it’s all there, and I can just grab it and start working. I have it in order of priority (what’s coming up on the next performance) right now and I’m mostly focusing on our Schumann concert next week, but I had enough time today to work on some other pieces too which was really great. It gave me the confidence that I was on track with my practicing, and also reminded me of the challenging parts from some pieces I hadn’t worked on in awhile.

This is probably the world’s most boring blog post, as it’s mostly just  a brain dump about my to-do list, but my next plan is to work through what I really need to accomplish for my private teaching studio between now and the end of the year. This weekend is the Arch Cup, a festival run by a piano teacher I know, and five students are participating. They are each playing one piece by memory for a judge, and I’ve decided to push myself with my piano skills by accompanying them. Since starting to teach at Wash U I’ve had access to a real piano several times a week in addition to a small keyboard at home, and I feel like I’m getting a bit better on a little effort. A little goes a long way, I think! Anyway, after the Cup is over then it’s time to prepare for the recital in late November…that means I’ll have to add several tasks to my to-do list, perhaps I should even do that now! (Adds: “make recital sign-up sheet” and “prepare student newsletter about upcoming performances, recital, and student accomplishments”—that’s a long one, but sometimes I’ll divide things up more later).

Nobody tells you in music school that most of your day will be spent on various administrative tasks! Being self-employed means being your own agent, secretary, president and CEO. I spend my time marketing myself and my quartet and other groups, finding places to perform, telling people about our performances, planning repertoire and rehearsals…I spend my time scheduling and rescheduling students, keeping track of payments, sending invoices as needed, figuring out who is behind on payments, finding videos and recordings to share with students, keeping current on the latest pedagogical ideas…I spend my time practicing and listening to music I’m performing or want to perform…I spend my time responding to phone calls and emails about potential jobs, gigs, and students…not to mention taking care of taxes and insurance! I love how many different things I do in my daily life, but sometimes, it can be overwhelming. Especially when then people act surprised that I do this for a living. No credit and no rest!

But I wouldn’t trade it. I live for the performances, for the “aha” moments while teaching, and for the smiles on people’s faces when they accomplish something they thought they couldn’t!

Those are some of my rainy day thoughts. Stay dry!