10 Minute Rule
No, this doesn’t have to do with food falling on the floor!
It has everything to do with being productive.
I looked through my computer yesterday to clear out some unnecessary garbage. I kept running across unfinished projects. I always seem to have at least a dozen “kernels” sitting around. These “kernels” are projects and ideas I have that Im hoping will bloom.
About a month ago Deanna Swoboda (Prof. of Tuba, Western Michigan University) talked about doing something each week to advance a project no matter how small or large that one thing might be.
Similarly, I have a “ten minute rule” I use with myself and my practicing. When there was a true deficiency in my playing, I used the ten minute rule to keep me focused and not get bogged down beating a dead horse. The rule is this…
If you have a goal, pursue that goal for ten minutes each day.
Want to write an arrangement but finding it hard to devote time? 10 minute rule
Think your upper range needs extra work? 10 minute rule
Need to learn a new language? 10 minute rule
Ten minutes doesn’t seem like much, but sometimes it is the perfect amount of time! When you are working on something difficult, or something at which you dont sound great it is easy to get discouraged and just keep ignoring the issue. With the ten minute rule, after one month you will have spent roughly five hours working out the issue. Chances are, those five hours will be exceptionally high quality because your attention will not wander.
Be back in ten…