Structuring Unstructured Time

[futuredrb]

Hey all!

I'm currently finishing my undergrad in music composition (the music section of this forum is unfortunately pretty dead so I figured I'd reach out here) and will be continuing onto my master's in the fall with the goal of getting a DMA and doing the whole professional composer and professor thing in the future. I thrive in school and having structure and have always had a very structured life, even (especially) in undergrad because of involvement in ensembles, taking lots of credits, etc. I find myself getting paralyzed in unstructured time. That's starting to happen now in my last quarter of undergrad, and since next year I'll only be taking 8 credits (as opposed to 18), I'm looking for advice on how to break up those long spaces of time so I don't freak myself out and end up squandering away all my time anyway. My assistantship is not very time-intensive, with only 6 hours of tutoring/grading a week. I will be aiming to be composing for 6+ hours a day. Plus other classwork, trying to do score study 1-2 hours a day, hopefully an internship with a contemporary ensemble, etc. Any advice for how to make a structured schedule and stick to it? Thanks!

 

TL;DR - young musician going into grad school and will have large chunks of unstructured time needs help how to structure it and stick to it as to not freak herself out and not do anything.

[MarineBluePsy]

I think the best way to make a structured schedule is to have a structured way of making it such as an online calendar, a to do list app, etc.  Then like any other commitment, stick to the plan.  Yes there will be days you don't feel like it, but you have to remind yourself of your end goal.  There will also be days when your plan goes out the window because something else happened.  You just adjust and move on.  There will be some trial and error while you figure out the best way to utilize those gaps of time and balance self care needs so that you're productive and happy.

[PokePsych]

I have a bullet journal which is increidbly helpful for me personally