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Joined: Aug 2012
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If you've found a way of achieving this I'd like to hear it please. I was just getting on top of my work/life balance until six weeks ago when I started piano.
At the moment it's more like Work/Piano and "Life" gets squeezed out somewhere. But if I have both Work and a Life, then there's not much time for piano. And I wonder when I'm suposed to find time for my family. And for cleaning. I'm not particularly effective at my job lately anyway, since all I can think about is when is the next time I can get back to the piano.
I guess there's always the option to just lock myself in the house, start collecting old newspapers and cats, and refuse to do anything except play piano.
So tell me how you balance your time please.
Complete Beginner August 2012
'Play Piano' Book 1 - finished
'Play Piano' Book 2 - finished
Grade 1 Sight Reading - finished
Grade 1 Exam Pieces
Grade 1 Scales
The Easy Piano Collection Classical Gold
Yamaha U3
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 309
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Joined: May 2012
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Well, piano is part of my life and all of my work, but considering the hours I devote a day to it, we can look at it relative to what you do. There was a great quote I found for a book on Amazon:
"Please also note, however, that the language (and this course) require a significant amount of attention and dedication. As stated, I have been following the course for 11 months while also working a full-time job (40 - 80 hours a week). While my life did not change dramatically, I did find that completing this course in a year required me to: (1) watch significantly less TV, (2) spend virtually no time reading other books, (3) find creative times to study latin (e.g. studying on airplanes, flashcards on the walk into work, etc.), and (4) put up with abuse from friends and coworkers who can not understand why."
It takes dedication and care.
I would start with being very mathematical about it in your case:
8 hours for sleep (ideally!), leaving 16 hours in the day, then 8 hours a day for work (if that's your amount). We're left with 8 'our hours' in a day.
Subtract 4 of that for chores and errands and eating. Yes, think about eating.
We're left with 4. Subtract 2 for misc. things and other small minutes that add up.
We're left with 2. Put aside 1 hour a day to play piano no matter what (doesn't have to be all at once) and try to stick to it.
The balance then comes as you become used to this schedule (or whatever the case may be). You can accomplish a lot of you are dedicated and smart with your time.
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,173
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I guess this is following on Para Otras's post, but always try to make sure your practice is efficient, so if you have limited time for it you will still get good results. So that means if you only have an hour to practice, for example, avoid doing a lot of playing through but instead focus on small and specific things (there are a million ways to do this -- learning how to practice well is a lifetime endeavor in itself).
It also helped me a lot when I realized I didn't have to do marathon practice sessions every day to make progress. I just do what I can, but do it every day even if it's just a few minutes.
Recovering cellist, amateur pianist. ![[Linked Image]](http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:m8hBGJHyDFlGeM:http://www.asinari.it/cello.jpg) Check out my blog ! ![[Linked Image]](https://www.pianoworld.com/ABF_Medals/5medals.jpg)
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Joined: Aug 2012
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I get up at 6am, get to work for 7.30am, get home from work at 6.30pm which leaves between 3.5 and 4 hours in the evening, as I find it quite difficult to stay awake much after 10pm. My eyes will hardly stay open right now to be honest.
So we are left with 4 hours or less to do cooking, eating, cleaning, laundry, take care of family, practice piano etc. Often I will have a lot of work to do as well. I don't watch TV, so that saves time at least. I also save time by eating toast and instant noodles a lot, so i don't have to cook. But sometimes I just have to sit down. When I sit down I usually multitask by doing something else, like following up email or reading this forum, or doing something work related.
Saturdays are for shopping, doing something with family, tidying etc, all the stuff there's no time for during the week basically. Sundays are generally for catching up on work. I think my the culture of my workplace breeds workaholics.
Last edited by Toastie; 09/03/12 05:33 PM.
Complete Beginner August 2012
'Play Piano' Book 1 - finished
'Play Piano' Book 2 - finished
Grade 1 Sight Reading - finished
Grade 1 Exam Pieces
Grade 1 Scales
The Easy Piano Collection Classical Gold
Yamaha U3
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,607
1000 Post Club Member
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1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,607 |
My children go to bed at 9:00 pm and I go to bed at 10:00 pm. In between it's a good 45 minutes of piano. I practice more on the weekends. With three pianist in the house I get last priority on the piano. If I watch TV with my wife, I simply skip practice that day. If I watch TV with the kids, I'm on Piano World at the same time. On average I get in 6 hours of piano practice a week, some times 4 hours of it on the weekends.
It is important to keep making progress in piano, but it is just as important to have a life, and spent time with family. I do not have a deadline at the Carnegie Hall. If I have to stay at level 4 piano for the rest of my life, so be it. (soon to be stuck at level 5 for the rest of my life.)
I totally understand the workaholic nature of work. Most of my co-workers will respond to email up to 9 or 10 at night. We live in a never off society; just have to get used to it or become obsolete.
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,377
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Since I started piano, I cut down my computer time and TV time. If a person is already down to bare minimum on those two, it gets tougher. However, a lot of folks spend a lot of time on one or both.
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 388
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one of the reasons I took up piano was that I was disgusted with myself for wasting time watching bad TV. So, that was the first thing to go when I started playing. I haven't had trouble fitting practice in (usually), and I have a pretty active life. But I live far from my family, so I don't have any family obligations on a regular basis.
Thinking about piano does distract me from work a lot, though. This isn't good as my job is rather demanding. I think this comes and goes in waves, though, and it was especially bad in the beginning. I.e., it does get better...
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,446
5000 Post Club Member
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5000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jun 2005
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Well, piano is part of my life and all of my work, but considering the hours I devote a day to it, we can look at it relative to what you do. There was a great quote I found for a book on Amazon:
"Please also note, however, that the language (and this course) require a significant amount of attention and dedication. As stated, I have been following the course for 11 months while also working a full-time job (40 - 80 hours a week). While my life did not change dramatically, I did find that completing this course in a year required me to: (1) watch significantly less TV, (2) spend virtually no time reading other books, (3) find creative times to study latin (e.g. studying on airplanes, flashcards on the walk into work, etc.), and (4) put up with abuse from friends and coworkers who can not understand why."
It takes dedication and care.
I would start with being very mathematical about it in your case:
8 hours for sleep (ideally!), leaving 16 hours in the day, then 8 hours a day for work (if that's your amount). We're left with 8 'our hours' in a day.
Subtract 4 of that for chores and errands and eating. Yes, think about eating.
We're left with 4. Subtract 2 for misc. things and other small minutes that add up.
We're left with 2. Put aside 1 hour a day to play piano no matter what (doesn't have to be all at once) and try to stick to it.
The balance then comes as you become used to this schedule (or whatever the case may be). You can accomplish a lot of you are dedicated and smart with your time. If you work at home, this is great. But you left out "commute time". 
Every day we are afforded a new chance. The problem with life is not that you run out of chances. In the end, what you run out of are days.
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 309
Full Member
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Full Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 309 |
Well, piano is part of my life and all of my work, but considering the hours I devote a day to it, we can look at it relative to what you do. There was a great quote I found for a book on Amazon:
"Please also note, however, that the language (and this course) require a significant amount of attention and dedication. As stated, I have been following the course for 11 months while also working a full-time job (40 - 80 hours a week). While my life did not change dramatically, I did find that completing this course in a year required me to: (1) watch significantly less TV, (2) spend virtually no time reading other books, (3) find creative times to study latin (e.g. studying on airplanes, flashcards on the walk into work, etc.), and (4) put up with abuse from friends and coworkers who can not understand why."
It takes dedication and care.
I would start with being very mathematical about it in your case:
8 hours for sleep (ideally!), leaving 16 hours in the day, then 8 hours a day for work (if that's your amount). We're left with 8 'our hours' in a day.
Subtract 4 of that for chores and errands and eating. Yes, think about eating.
We're left with 4. Subtract 2 for misc. things and other small minutes that add up.
We're left with 2. Put aside 1 hour a day to play piano no matter what (doesn't have to be all at once) and try to stick to it.
The balance then comes as you become used to this schedule (or whatever the case may be). You can accomplish a lot of you are dedicated and smart with your time. If you work at home, this is great. But you left out "commute time". I considered that part of 'misc' stuff! Hopefully  Though I know many take a lot more than 2 hours. Unfortunately, I don't only teach out of my home. It takes a lot about planning, I think, and just trying to see where things can go before you find an acceptable pattern.
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,394
1000 Post Club Member
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1000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,394 |
I guess this is following on Para Otras's post, but always try to make sure your practice is efficient, so if you have limited time for it you will still get good results. So that means if you only have an hour to practice, for example, avoid doing a lot of playing through but instead focus on small and specific things (there are a million ways to do this -- learning how to practice well is a lifetime endeavor in itself).
It also helped me a lot when I realized I didn't have to do marathon practice sessions every day to make progress. I just do what I can, but do it every day even if it's just a few minutes. Good post. To build on the topic of efficiency further, Post Practice Improvement (PPI) is a very good (and short!) read. See the whole, free book @ http://www.pianopractice.org
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 194
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 194 |
I used to go to the gym everyday after work. I haven't been to the gym since I started taking piano in March. I use to watch a lot of political news on TV. Since piano took over my life, I've lost interest in politics just when its starting to get "interesting." My coworkers think I'm totally nuts because I get so excited when its piano lesson day and I'm sure my husband thinks its just a matter of time before this "piano fad" fades away. He's dead wrong about that.
I actually think having love for piano and an intense desire to practice helps me get the household chores done more quickly than before because I tell myself, no piano until certain chores are done so I work threw the chores much more quickly so I can get to the piano.
No at all sure, however, that my practice hours are spent wisely. I fear that I'm teaching and re-teaching myself how to play the piano incorrectly. I wish I could have the teacher standing over me in every practice session so she could keep me on the right path.
Virginia
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
J.Wooden
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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 4,765
4000 Post Club Member
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If you've found a way of achieving this I'd like to hear it please. I was just getting on top of my work/life balance until six weeks ago when I started piano.
At the moment it's more like Work/Piano and "Life" gets squeezed out somewhere. But if I have both Work and a Life, then there's not much time for piano. And I wonder when I'm suposed to find time for my family. And for cleaning. I'm not particularly effective at my job lately anyway, since all I can think about is when is the next time I can get back to the piano. I guess I'm lucky since I only have work, voluntary work and piano, so don't have to worry about family. Except the ones mentioned below. But friends and relatives tend to bother me a lot and I have previously been very active in another hobby, so people still expect me to take part in all kind of stuff or at least advice them. I think I have enough time to practice, but I just would like to do even more. The biggest problem is trying to concentrate on things that are not piano related. My work is such that sometimes it's really hectic, but sometimes I just sit and wait if I'll be needed. So the piano stuff creeps into mind... But it was worse in the beginning, so I think for you too things will balance out gradually.
I guess there's always the option to just lock myself in the house, start collecting .-. cats,...
I have 8! 
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 30
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I started with piano lesson after I quitted my demanding 24/7 job. It’s a huge stress reliever. I saved two hours a week going to psychotherapist and cut down on TV time. I’m averaging 3-4 hours of practice hours per week. I know it is not a lot of time, but I just hope that I can stick to my practice with or without much progress and until my 3 ½ year old goes to school age.
Playing since May 2011
Alfred Adult Book 2;
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Posts: 2,913
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I think "you" and "your life" grow into each other in different ways for different people. The characteristics of your family and/or those you live with have a lot to do with it as well.
Some things are, in your life, for you, essential and non-negotiable. This is and must remain a very small number of things, otherwise you'll go crazy - but they come first, and getting them accomplished and keeping them functioning are number 1. They may require negotiation and sacrifice to keep. In general, these essentials are about yourself, how you live and what you do, not about what others might do (whether for you or for themselves) or how they live. They are the things you are willing to "bend" on other issues in order to get. It's worth thinking long and hard about what these really are, for you. (If you have too many "essentials" then you're not being honest with yourself.)
(I'm a piano teacher.)
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,446
5000 Post Club Member
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5000 Post Club Member
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Posts: 5,446 |
Well, piano is part of my life and all of my work, but considering the hours I devote a day to it, we can look at it relative to what you do. There was a great quote I found for a book on Amazon:
"Please also note, however, that the language (and this course) require a significant amount of attention and dedication. As stated, I have been following the course for 11 months while also working a full-time job (40 - 80 hours a week). While my life did not change dramatically, I did find that completing this course in a year required me to: (1) watch significantly less TV, (2) spend virtually no time reading other books, (3) find creative times to study latin (e.g. studying on airplanes, flashcards on the walk into work, etc.), and (4) put up with abuse from friends and coworkers who can not understand why."
It takes dedication and care.
I would start with being very mathematical about it in your case:
8 hours for sleep (ideally!), leaving 16 hours in the day, then 8 hours a day for work (if that's your amount). We're left with 8 'our hours' in a day.
Subtract 4 of that for chores and errands and eating. Yes, think about eating.
We're left with 4. Subtract 2 for misc. things and other small minutes that add up.
We're left with 2. Put aside 1 hour a day to play piano no matter what (doesn't have to be all at once) and try to stick to it.
The balance then comes as you become used to this schedule (or whatever the case may be). You can accomplish a lot of you are dedicated and smart with your time. If you work at home, this is great. But you left out "commute time". I considered that part of 'misc' stuff! Hopefully Though I know many take a lot more than 2 hours. Unfortunately, I don't only teach out of my home. It takes a lot about planning, I think, and just trying to see where things can go before you find an acceptable pattern. I kind of figured that.. it was a lot of MISC stuff!  I believe in planning out yours days as well. Mine used to look like this until recently: 6am - get up 715 - be at work 730pm - get home, make/eat dinner 830 - work out 930 - write/piano/read/decompress 1030 - go to bed, to repeat the next day I almost never watch TV. Two reasons: 1) I don't really like the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, or any other reality TV show (I have my own problems, why do I need to watch other people complaining about theirs while getting paid millions to do it?); 2) I don't have time.
Every day we are afforded a new chance. The problem with life is not that you run out of chances. In the end, what you run out of are days.
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That is a long work day! It amazes me how we are furthering ourselves into such a stressful amount of work. But it sounds to me as though the scheduling is almost what helped you keep it all together. Otherwise, we find ourselves more and more into work and sitting and watching TV as opposed to doing things we enjoy! (I have my own problems, why do I need to watch other people complaining about theirs while getting paid millions to do it?) 
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Saturdays are for shopping, doing something with family, tidying etc, all the stuff there's no time for during the week basically. Sundays are generally for catching up on work. I think the culture of my workplace breeds workaholics. I live by myself and you would think I have a lot of free time. Between the weekly homestead things that have to be done, traveling to/from workplace and often having to bring work at home to do evenings & weekends, that doesn't really leave a lot of free time. I usually end up cutting back on sleep a little but more often than not, it catches up to me on weekends so I sleep more. Still, now out of my temporary discouragement phase, I can say that I also usually make as much time as I can to be studying music and being at the instrument. My friends find me a bit boring at times because of this, sad that we don't see each other so often. Life is full of choices, not always easy and clear cut. I often say that 24 hours in a day isn't long enough for all the things I want to, and have to, do. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to sleep, I would have 6-7 more hours available! John
"My piano is therapy for me" - Rick Wright.
Instrument: Rebuilt Kurzweil K2500XS and a bunch of great vintage virtual keyboards. New Kurzweil PC3X.
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Joined: Jan 2011
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I totally understand the workaholic nature of work. Most of my co-workers will respond to email up to 9 or 10 at night. We live in a never off society; just have to get used to it or become obsolete. I feel that I would rather become obsolete and enjoy making more music and living a more simple life. "Welcome my son, welcome to the machine" (Pink Floyd) John
"My piano is therapy for me" - Rick Wright.
Instrument: Rebuilt Kurzweil K2500XS and a bunch of great vintage virtual keyboards. New Kurzweil PC3X.
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 403
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Thinking about piano does distract me from work a lot, though. This isn't good as my job is rather demanding. I think this comes and goes in waves, though, and it was especially bad in the beginning. I.e., it does get better... Same situation for me. Hasn't gotten better though, I still have to fight to put piano out of my mind during work hours. John
"My piano is therapy for me" - Rick Wright.
Instrument: Rebuilt Kurzweil K2500XS and a bunch of great vintage virtual keyboards. New Kurzweil PC3X.
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Joined: Jan 2011
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Some things are, in your life, for you, essential and non-negotiable. This is and must remain a very small number of things, otherwise you'll go crazy - but they come first, and getting them accomplished and keeping them functioning are number 1. +1 
"My piano is therapy for me" - Rick Wright.
Instrument: Rebuilt Kurzweil K2500XS and a bunch of great vintage virtual keyboards. New Kurzweil PC3X.
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