It’s every piano teacher’s dream. To have their life put together… all the time. But one thing the last year has taught me is that no matter how much we think we have it all together, we don’t.

And there is certainly freedom in being at peace with that. But there’s also freedom in finding new ways to organize your life in a way that works for you! This year I am committing to help you find ways to do just that – organize! We all have rhythms, rituals, and everyday habits that aid our day along. But have you thought through them lately? Have you sat down and decided which rhythms work and which stress you out or have other harmful effects?

Changing one habit or trying one new ritual has the ability to redirect not only small parts of our days, but our entire lives! Because “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our entire lives.” (Annie Dillard)

I am classified as Type A. But I also am one of the least organized Type A people I know, in part because I’ve had to learn to deal with the stress of things when they’re not in order. And sometimes things just aren’t in order. I also like to pretend I’m organized even if it’s not quite that way, but that’s not really the point of this blog post 😉

I’ll be sharing from things that have worked for me, along with new tips I’m trying. You may find they work for you- or they don’t. You may find they work if you modify them. But I do believe that all of us have a responsibility to our families and to our students to be organized enough to make life and learning as easy as can depend on us. Everyone will have more fun!

Without further ado, our first tip of the year is something I refer to as keeping a backwards planner.

Step 1: Keep a planner. I don’t care if it’s on your phone or a book that you carry around with you. But the reality is that life goes by too fast in our culture (or too slow if you’re living in a pandemic) to remember and keep up with everything that goes on. You may have an amazing memory, but at some point it will falter when you try to remember if Jane missed her lesson in December or January.

Step 2: Write down things that have already happened! I’ll be honest, as supporting and loving as my husband is, he thinks I’m crazy when I pull out my planner and write down something that occurred yesterday. I do this in all areas of life – a workout, an impromptu coffee date with a friend, or a student’s missed lesson. It all gets written down … especially after the fact!

A simple tip? Yes. But it has saved me oodles of time in trying to figure out exactly what happened and when. Taxes become easier, important dates are documented, and my brain doesn’t feel like it has to even attempt to keep track of it all. This means I can dedicate more brain power where it’s really needed!

Do you keep a planner? Do you backtrack with it? Give it a try (now is a great time to make sure January is up to date!), and enjoy the beginning of an organized year 😊