YOU ARE THE EXPERT FOLLOWER...WAIT WHAT?
I had a heart-to-heart with a client last week, and it really stayed with me. She's always on point for rehearsals, impeccably prepared. She's really a musician of the highest professional caliber, but when it comes to pushing her own growth, stepping into new challenges... she finds herself at a standstill.
It got me thinking about how often we are trained as expert followers:
- the rehearsal schedule
- advice from our mentors
- the conductor/principal
- what success looks like
Most classical musicians perform in environments heavy on structure and hierarchy, and they come to me because they have trouble designing and managing their careers.
But here's the million-dollar question: WHEN DO WE LEARN TO LEAD OURSELVES?
How do we transition from reacting to creating?
From the Music Technician to the Artist CEO?
The answer is TIME BLOCKING.
Time blocking is a productivity technique where you divide your day into blocks of time, each dedicated to a specific task or group of tasks. This method helps you focus on one thing at a time, reduces distractions, and makes it easier to manage your workload and priorities.
And if you struggle with ADD, ADHD, or limitations on executive function, this is THE tool for you.
Some of it is familiar:
- Mondays are my teaching days
- Friday-Sundays are often concert days
Some of it is missing:
CONTENT CREATION BLOCK - time to create new resources, tools, videos and docs for your students/clients. Don't let this spin out into 6hrs of planning and perfecting. Create a 'syllabus' for your content, execute, and then refine.
MANAGEMENT BLOCK - time to think about the process and flow of your work life. Who can take over this work for me? What should my Virtual Assistant or team be doing, what should I NOT BE DOING, when is my practice most effective?
STRATEGY BLOCK - the time when you zoom out and think like a CEO. Where is my career going, what new opportunities do I want to pursue, what new income streams can I generate?
But none of this matters unless you take some action, so here we go……
SCHEDULE IT LIKE A REHEARSAL OR CONCERT. Like right now.
Then all you have to do is show up.
So let’s take some action and start Time-Blocking. Let’s become EXPERT SELF-MANAGERS instead of followers and start moving towards that career, business, and life you want.