How Simplifying my Life Enhanced my Piano Skills

DISCOVERING THAT CLUTTER IS THE REASON I’M NOT PRACTICING

Staying-at-home, working-from-home has been a challenge for me because my house isn’t always perfectly clean or even close to that! They say that visual clutter is mental clutter and for me that’s 100% true. I don’t always get it perfect and there have been days when I made myself practice with a dirty house but I have noticed that it’s hard to keep up the consistency in investing in my playing gift when my house is out of whack! So basically, I’m not practicing because my house is a mess…sounds like the dog ate my homework excuse EXCEPT IT’S A REAL THING! If you’ve ever said I don’t practice because I don’t have time, this blog post is for you.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING AN EVENING ROUTINE

Picture this, a world where each day begins with a relaxing rhythm, giving you the clarity to achieve your dreams of playing for the day. This perfect day starts with creating an evening routine. By dedicating time in the evening to drink a cup of tea, set out your clothes, turn on the dishwasher, we give ourselves a jump start to greet each morning with clarity, focus, and renewed energy. I heard lots of productivity gurus talk about decision fatigue and the more unimportant decisions we make in the morning the less will power we have to tackle the important things. AN EVENING ROUTINE BECOMES OUR SECRET WEAPON! Trust me, practicing will be on the back burner if you wake up in the morning and already feel behind.  So, let's embrace the power of these twilight rituals, my dear friends, and unlock a world where our days flow effortlessly and our dreams become reality. Here are a few ideas of things you can tackle in 30 minutes after dinner, that will make you feel clear headed and excited about your practice time tomorrow!

WHY LESS OUTFIT CHOICES HELP US DRESS BETTER AND HOW TO CREATE A NOT-SO-CAPSULE WARDROBE.

Many years ago, I started picking out my clothes for Sunday church on Saturday. Before I started this routine, I would wake up on Sunday mornings panicked and frantically pulling clothes from my closet trying to find something to wear - watching the clock because I couldn’t be late to practice. All the while listening to the songs I was playing and trying to grab a quick breakfast. Talk about chaos! Try to play for church when you’ve had that kind of morning…. Mistakes everywhere!!

This routine was so lifechanging, I started picking out my clothes every evening for the next day. My mornings went from chaos to calm. My outfits looked better today. I was no longer racing to get ready and get out the door. This dramatically freed up my brain-bandwidth to give me space to learn something new, like a new way to play the 4 chord.

I’m still on the journey to creating a wardrobe where I wear everything in my closet - all the time. I’m not going to try to convince you to create a capsule wardrobe, but I am proposing that there are probably things in your closet that you hardly wear. And just maybe… leaving those items hanging in your closet and piling through them every morning is taking your stress level up a notch or two. I decided I wanted to really stick to colors that look best on me and colors I like. So I decided to pair my clothes down to mostly: Black and white, fuscia, blue/jean and green. This has also made shopping for clothes so much easier.   So far what has worked for me is looking on Pinterest to see what styles I like and trying to duplicate them. Just the other day I knew I wanted to wear my pink blazer and needed inspiration. I searched “pink blazer outfit”. This is what I found on Pinterest and this is the outfit I came up with from my closet! One less thing to think about!!

NAME THE 1 THING THAT MAKES YOU FEEL THE MOST PRESSURE

I want you to name the thing that makes you feel the most pressure in your home and figure out a solution. For me, it’s the kitchen. Waking up to dirty counters, a stove with left over food stuck to it or dirty dishes in the sink make me feel so behind before the day even starts!

I have figured out that for me, keeping a clean kitchen starts with loading the dish washer each night and emptying it in the morning. I’m pretty sure I heard one of you that’s reading this sigh. I KNOW, I KNOW!! I used to loathe this process until one night I timed myself. To load the dish washer took about 5 minutes. The next morning to unload the dishwasher took about 3 minutes. You guys! I ways making my life a lot more stressful for a few minutes worth of effort! I’ll admit that on days when I need to bribe myself to complete this task, I’ll set the timer just to make sure I’m staying focused. I’m always amazed at how quickly I can have a clean kitchen and a much more relaxed day.

So now as a part of my evening routine, I’ll do a quick wipe of the counters and table. Touch up the stove as needed and walla, I can breathe easier!

With a clean(er) kitchen, I almost waltz to the piano every moring because I feel so accomplished. 

DOING LESS WILL HELP YOU FOLLOW YOUR CALLING

I’m not referring to doing nothing. We’re all involved in our church music ministry, have families, work and other responsibilities. It’s impossible to do nothing and that wouldn’t be very fun either! As women it’s hard to let go. It’s easier to do it ourselves but we pay for it. We’re more stressed out than ever, we snap at the people we love, inwardly roll our eyes during music practice and watch the clock during church so we can get back home to finish what we were doing. This isn’t the dreamy purpose filled life I wanted as a young girl. You have to decide your priorities, ask yourself if you’re taking  time to invest in things that give you life… like following your calling! Maybe you feel drained because all you do is clean your house and feel guilty because you want to practice just for 10 minutes! You can also do good things, in a way that drains you. It could be taking on extra projects at work that someone else can do. Or maybe you’re working on the VBS decorating all by yourself when you should ask for help. Many hands make light the work (even if it’s not the way you would have done it) When we develop the gifts God gave us it gives us energy and purpose like nothing else will. You might find that after you set some things aside, you don’t miss them at all. 

Be laser focused on why you’re here on this planet. Be involved. Work in the kingdom. Enjoy your family. Grow your gifts. Live fully!