How To Music Major

Sometimes you’re super busy. Sometimes you have the ten minute passing periods between classes as your only free time from 8 am to 9 pm. I’ve been there - it sucks. Here’s how to get yourself through the day when you just don’t have time.

• Eat something with nutritional value.
  
• Ideas to bring with you: an apple, a protein bar, a can of pop-top soup and a microwaveable container.
• Fill up your water bottle.
  
• Please, please hydrate! Dehydration headaches make life hard.
• Take a body-awareness break.
  
• Close your eyes and be aware of yourself. What hurts? What’s comfortable? What temperature is the air around you? Just be aware of yourself and your body for a moment.
• Text someone you care about.
  
• Tell your favorite relative you love them.
• Write down one thing you’re grateful for or happy about.
  
• “I’m grateful that I only have to be on campus another two hours” counts!
• Figure out something you can delegate.
  
• If there’s anything in your life that you can politely and reasonably ask for help with, do it. Sometimes you can’t pick up the milk on your way home. Sometimes having to send out the club email update today is just too much. Ask for help!
• Stretch and relax.
  
• If you write or play instruments, find a set of carpal tunnel stretches. Otherwise, just do some basic stretches for the whole body.
• Compliment yourself.
  
• Hey, you’re doing pretty good. Tell yourself one thing you’ve done well today - you remembered to bring a lunch, you got to class on time, you’re wearing your favorite sweater - whatever!
• Compliment someone else.
  
• It will make both of you happier.
• Doodle.
  
• Draw your favorite animal, or copy desk graffiti. Lose yourself in your sketch for a little bit.
• Look out the window and pay attention to what you see.
  
• Watch the clouds or the birds and remember that the outside world exists.
• Wash your hands with hot water.
  
• Honestly, hot water feels so good at 3pm of a 10 hours day. Also, it will help keep you from getting sick!
• Say no to something.
  
• “No, I’m not available to take that shift.” “Sorry, I can’t help you with your homework, I have to write a paper.” You deserve to have time to yourself - saying no to someone else’s request does not make you a bad person.
• Take some intentional deep breaths
  
• Breath in for 4, hold for 4, and breath out for a count of 8. Do this a couple times and you’ll feel calmer.
• Mute social media.
  
• When you’re super stressed is not the best time for your phone to be bleeping about your great-aunt’s instagram. Mute all notifications, or turn your phone off for a while.
• Do something small for someone else.
  
• Help someone pick up something they dropped. Hold a door for someone. Offer someone some gum or a cough drop. It’s a simple connection that helps shape the world to be slightly nicer.

Add your favorite quick self-care tips below! 

If this or my post “How to Handle Having TOO MUCH TO DO” has helped you, buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi or check out my Patreon!

Hello, yes, it is I, the grad student with probably 35 pages of writing left to do in the next 24 days, excluding responsibilities like, oh, the blogging and editing that is my primary source of income. It is Project Deadline Season, and today we are going to walk through the steps of actually finishing a project, so I can remind myself of what actually needs to happen in order to get to the end of semester intact.

Have a Plan. You need to know what you’re actually doing for your projects. I am a big fan of outlines, even for stuff as small as a blog post. Write out the three-to-seven main points you are trying to hit in your paper, or the important parts of your speech, or the necessary parts of your business plan - whatever. Now you’ve broken down the Big Thing into smaller things, that probably only require a couple paragraphs/pages each. With these, you can give yourself due dates or days to work on each section, and before you know it, you’ll be done.

Know Your Deadlines. Official deadlines are important! If you don’t know those, go find them IMMEDIATELY. Unofficial deadlines, such as the last date by which professors will accept drafts for review, are also important. So are your own, personal deadlines. If you know that you aren’t going to have time in the week before the paper is due, then guess what! You can decide that for you, it’s due a week early. Keep that kind of stuff in mind, and your last month will go much more smoothly.

Prioritize. The one-page paper due in three days that’s worth five points is probably a lower priority than getting enough sleep before a big exam tomorrow, or studying for the big exam in two days. You can use my guide to prioritization if you want to be really systematic about it.

Actually sit down and write, gdi. All the prioritization, deadline awareness, and other generalized planning in the world will do nothing if you don’t actually write. Close this tab, open up your word processor, and write the dang paper.

You got this!

First seen on my Patreon!

Something I’ve been noticing in a couple places in my life is that making and KEEPING friends is harder than it seems. What with moving to a new city, and all my friends doing the same, I’ve learned that I’m not necessarily great at making friends from scratch, or remembering to keep in touch with the ones I have. If you have either of these problems, that’s okay! Here are some tips on being not just friendly, but a good friend.

Be interested in what people say. Do you miss what people are saying in a conversation because you zoned out? Does everything someone else mentions lead to you telling one of your own stories? If so, you might want to try paying more attention to what others are saying, both your own friends and strangers. Try thinking of follow-up questions instead of stories to tell. People love talking about themselves (I certainly do). If you give other people a chance to talk about their lives, and show an actual interest, they will by at least ¾ths your friend already.

Try to reach out to one person a day. Send someone a question about a class. Call a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Invite someone out to study and get coffee. Reaching out to people makes all the difference! I spent a while being upset no one ever reached out to me, before realizing I never reached out to anyone else, either. It’s a two-way street! Make the first move, and the other people may follow.

Assume the best of people until proven otherwise. Don’t assume that someone is distancing themselves from you because they take a while to answer to texts. They’re probably busy, not mad at you. Assume tiredness, not irritation, when people turn down an invitation to go out. Yes, if you reached out and been turned down a couple times, you should probably chill for a while. However, assuming that a single “I can’t tonight” is a sign that the other person doesn’t like you is an overreaction. Ditto a single unanswered text. Take a hint, but make sure it’s a hint, and not just a coincidence.

Notice when people are trying to be friends at you. This is something that I, personally, am really bad at. If you want to be friends with me, it may take a bullhorn and shouting “Let’s be friends!” for me to actually notice. I’ve been trying to pay more attention to noticing when people reach out to me - keeping Snapchat streaks alive, sitting next to me in the lounge, asking me questions about my life. These are people who obviously want to interact with me! So now I’m doing my best to make them a priority in my life, as well. Just because one or two people may not seem to be interested in starting a new friendship (which, no judgement! School is super busy for everyone) doesn’t mean that no one is, and we should all treasure those who do reach out to us.

Social skills are hard. Friendships can be confusing. Let’s all go be confused friends together. We got this!

howtomusicmajor:

First seen on my Patreon and blog!

Juries are upon us. It is the time of panicking freshman, smug recitalists (because they don’t need to perform a jury), and general Stress in the music department. However, that doesn’t need to be the case. Juries are not a horrible trial placed upon innocent musicians - instead, they are a celebration of the hard work and learning you’ve done this semester. Here’s how to make sure you celebrate it well.

Remember you are prepared. Your entire semester has been you learning pieces and improving your musicianship. You are ready for this. Your goal in the week before the jury is just to polish your pieces and any technical requirements, that’s all. You are ready.

Set up your stuff the night before. Don’t run around the day of your jury looking for stuff. Set up everything you need the night before, including copies of your sheet music if necessary, all of the stuff you need for your instrument, the outfit you will wear, and anything else you want. This will reduce your stress on the day of your jury.

Don’t over-practice in the 24 hours before the jury. One of the best ways to psych yourself out before a jury is to practice a ton the day before, stressing over every mistake. That’s how you really pound the idea of making a mistake into your head. In the day before a jury, just practice a bit - maybe 30% of what you’d normally do - and focus on playing your pieces straight through without stopping to correct anything. You’re just polishing, remember. Performing straight through a piece is important to get you ready, and nitpicking at this point will just give you heartburn.

Don’t consume much caffeine before the jury. Do you want the jitters? Drinking a large coffee the morning of your jury is how you get performance jitters. If you’re a caffeine addict, sure, have a little to prevent withdrawal. However, don’t overdo it.

Breathe. In. Out. You’ve got this. You’re gonna be okay.

My jury is tomorrow wheeeeee

(via howtomusicmajor)

howtomusicmajor:

First seen on my Patreon and blog!

Juries are upon us. It is the time of panicking freshman, smug recitalists (because they don’t need to perform a jury), and general Stress in the music department. However, that doesn’t need to be the case. Juries are not a horrible trial placed upon innocent musicians - instead, they are a celebration of the hard work and learning you’ve done this semester. Here’s how to make sure you celebrate it well.

Remember you are prepared. Your entire semester has been you learning pieces and improving your musicianship. You are ready for this. Your goal in the week before the jury is just to polish your pieces and any technical requirements, that’s all. You are ready.

Set up your stuff the night before. Don’t run around the day of your jury looking for stuff. Set up everything you need the night before, including copies of your sheet music if necessary, all of the stuff you need for your instrument, the outfit you will wear, and anything else you want. This will reduce your stress on the day of your jury.

Don’t over-practice in the 24 hours before the jury. One of the best ways to psych yourself out before a jury is to practice a ton the day before, stressing over every mistake. That’s how you really pound the idea of making a mistake into your head. In the day before a jury, just practice a bit - maybe 30% of what you’d normally do - and focus on playing your pieces straight through without stopping to correct anything. You’re just polishing, remember. Performing straight through a piece is important to get you ready, and nitpicking at this point will just give you heartburn.

Don’t consume much caffeine before the jury. Do you want the jitters? Drinking a large coffee the morning of your jury is how you get performance jitters. If you’re a caffeine addict, sure, have a little to prevent withdrawal. However, don’t overdo it.

Breathe. In. Out. You’ve got this. You’re gonna be okay.

howtomusicmajor:

Finals week is almost here and I, personally, am sick as a dog. It is Not Good. However, this being ill thing has shoved me into survival mode, which has reminded me of the important parts of surviving finals week!

Drink lots of water. Water is good for you. Dehydration leads to headaches, and constant sugary drinks lead to sugar crashes. Both are sucky, so just drink water!

Don’t come within five feet of me. I am currently a hive of filth and disease, laden down with most maladies known to man. Just stay away.

Remember sleep is your friend. Sleep is so good. Start studying NOW, so you don’t feel the last minute urge to ignore sleep in hopes of getting two more facts to stay in your brain.

Remember real food is your friend. Eat a vegetable that hasn’t been fried, you heathen. Your body will thank you and you will not feel like a garbage dump.

Try to start papers at LEAST three days before they’re due. There is NOTHING worse that trying to write a paper the night before it’s due, especially if it’s more than five pages long. Start early!

An uneventful finals week is a good finals week. Just because your friends are going to Walmart at 2 am to bother people does not mean you need to go with them, ESPECIALLY if you have a final before noon. Sometimes, being bored during finals week is the preferable option.

Go forth and make good decisions.

Finals are approaching. Projects are getting assigned, concerts drawing near, and cold dark weather is making it harder for anyone to have any motivation. With all of this, how is a poor college student supposed to rock their finals??

Like this!

Organize ALL your deadlines. Post it notes are your friends here. Get a nice chunk of wall and write a post-it for EVERY DEADLINE OR PROJECT OR PRESENTATION between now and break. Put them up in order. Take extreme satisfaction for every post-it you get to take down and destroy. The wall gives you a good visualization of how to prioritize your time, as well as a visual progress reminder. If post-its don’t work for you, then just write a big long list in your planner. Just make sure you know EVERYTHING that’s coming up.

Get everything started the day it’s assigned. Or at the latest, now. Seriously, get your projects or “cramming” started now. Tonight. I spent my first full day at home during Thanksgiving break, my anniversary, hauling together a draft of a final that I had hardcore procrastinated. Don’t be me. Get your stuff at least half finished or half revised early, and it will be MUCH easier during finals.

Start taking care of yourself now. On a similar note, start really focusing on getting enough sleep and eating right. That means eating a vegetable and going to sleep before one. Even (especially!) if you know you’re going to throw all that stuff out the window during finals, you’ll feel better if you’ve been taking care of yourself prior to that.

Ask professors for help if you need it. There is no shame in asking professors for help. That’s literally a teacher’s job. Asking about test formats is okay! So is asking for clarification on certain subjects! As long as you’ve double-checked that the information isn’t in the syllabus, feel no fear when you go to a professor’s office hours. It shows that you’re doing your best!

You’ve got this!