May Goals: Mid-Month Check-in

In the beginning of May, I laid out my percentage goals for the month--that is, what percentages of my practice time should go to different pieces/skills. I am here to tell you that ... I'm not doing so well! At least according to the numbers.

What The Numbers (and Colors) Say

Here is where I am now.

If a cell is blue, that means I've gone over the goal -- not a bad thing per se, but it shows that time spent on those pieces maybe should have been spent on others.

If a cell is white, that means I'm pretty close to the goal range, either just under it or just over it. And a green cell means I'm in the goal range.

Of course, a red cell means I'm far below the goal range.

As you can see, I'm doing OK with my technique exercises, but I've gone over in Blues, Chopin, and (almost) Maple Leaf Rag. And I'm way under with the Rondo and Bare Necessities.

Reading the Numbers

This could mean one of at least two things. One, I'm not practicing my two main pieces enough. Or two, my 30% goals were unrealistic. (Also, even though Maple Leaf and the Nocturne are both now "maintenance" pieces, I keep finding things in them that I need to work on, so they're taking more time than anticipated.)

Oh, and did I mention that I had to create a new "Free" category of things that aren't even in the goal list?

Yes, a full 5.3 hours (17% of my practice time!!) have gone to "free" things -- PWJ course-watching, sight-reading, and working on a gospel arrangement of "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" (more on that in another post). So I'm only spending a little over 80% of my practice time on my goal ("assigned") work. That was unexpected.

Looking Ahead

I don't want to make changes to the spreadsheet now, but I'll be able to do better next month. For one, I'll include at least one additional category ("Free"), or probably more ("Sight-reading," "Improvising/Arranging," etc.). I'll also begin by thinking about how much time per day I want to give each item, and then work the percentages from there. I think I did that for May, but those goals weren't realistic -- if I spent as much time as I wanted on each item in the list, I'd be practicing four or five hours a day!

Still, this is a learning process, and I'm getting a better idea of how I can set these goals in the future.

Meanwhile, I'll plan to put more time into the Rondo and Bare Necessities than I have. And I'm going to try to hold off on gospel arranging until June. Or until I'm through the Blues Track on PWJ. Because I already have too many things on my piano plate.

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