Power Your Productivity: The “How to Get Things Done Series!”

How to Get Things Done More Effectively

It’s an issue we all struggle with: balancing school, work, life, and anything else that comes our way. Time is the most valuable commodity that we all have, no matter who we are, what we do, and where we are. Time is the ONE  thing that–when it is lost–can never truly be bought back.

The good thing about time is that everyone has the same amount of it–that we are all on the same level playing field, right?

Not quite.

If we all have 24 hours in a day, why do some people get so much done and others… not so much?

We all know that it comes down to HOW you use your time. We have all been taught that time management is important.

But it’s also crucial that we know WHY we are using our time in a particular way. What purpose does a particular activity serve? The answer guides how we can and should prioritize.

Build yourself a roadmap… but understand what a roadmap is.

When you are sightreading music for the first time, do you plunge right in without taking particular notice of anything? Or, do you take a few moments to get the lay of the land on the page, looking for any notable warning signs such as a key change or a tempo shift?

Any musician worth his salt will tell you that it’s a good idea to take a look at what’s in front of you before you start playing. Sure, you could go driving on the road with no idea of where you are going. But if you don’t look out for something until the moment it’s about to happen, there’s much more chance of your getting in an accident.

Most people have an idea of what they want to accomplish, but few take the time to build a process and path for getting to their destination. On the other side of that scenario are those who take the idea of a strategy too far, and rigidly stick to all of their previously formed plans.

A roadmap is not a binding contract locking you into a course of action. It’s simply a guide that gives you a more concrete idea of how you get to where you want to go. In many ways, sheet music is like that. We aim to hit every note correctly, just as we aspire to reach all of our goals. But throughout, we miss a note here or there, we don’t perform our best at an important moment, and we kick ourselves when we slip up at the one spot that we prepared for.

But we don’t just stop playing living…

The show must go on, as must life. When we realize that we have deviated from our roadmap, we don’t just give up. We adapt and look for alternative ways to keep going, to reach our destination.

Building a roadmap and understanding what it does is only the first step. Over the coming weeks I will be sharing a set of strategies for helping to power your productivity–as musicians, students, teachers, and (potential) visionaries.