music, therapy, and me

My to-do list is getting smaller. I like to cross things off my list of things that I need to, have to, should finish up, and this morning, I can cross off the biggest task that I had in front of me. That makes me feel so wonderful! This is one of the reasons that I use a planner to organize my things to do and things done. I can see when I've made progress on a project or task, and I can also see what I need to do next. This visual representation is the way I can organize my self and my progress best. For some reason, electronic tracking systems are not good for me. I need paper and pens to keep track of what I am doing. It is time for a goal check. This is something that I do every so often to keep myself on track for things that I want to do and for things that I have done. My most immediate goal for today - that of finishing a project for my business - is finished for this month, but it is not over. This is an on-going type of project. Now that this month's contribu...

In the hour since I've been awake this morning, I've finished up the last bit of the laundry, finished two tasks on my to-do list for the Online Conference for Music Therapy (did you know that we're having a short event on mental health, trauma, and addictions this upcoming Sunday? Check the details here !), and now I'm staring at my blogger screen, wondering what is next for this morning and wondering what topic I should write about. I do this on a pretty regular basis - the staring thing, that is.   There really isn't anything very striking on my social media feeds. Most of the discussions happening right now are requests for intervention ideas, discussions about how difficult it can be to be a music therapist (not really my situation, so I'm not participating), and information about the World Congress which starts a year from now. Nothing is fueling my writing stream, so I sit. Sitting with nothing to do or nothing to write about is not something that...

I've been reading some of my Kindle resources lately. (Just a side note, I'm a bibliophile, and this trend is happening for me in the form of free Kindle books - the more, the better!!) I found a collection of essays, chapters, or thoughts about being productive in these days, and I downloaded it. It's called, Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind. (Can you see why it interested me?). It is edited by Jocelyn K. Glei, and is published by 99U. I found it on Amazon. I'm spending some time at work (while my intern is using my computer), sitting in the window, reading these recommendations, and then taking notes in my traveler's journal. This is part of my "use work hours for work" focus, and it's been interesting to read through some of the resources that I have available to me. This collection offers ideas from many different people. The "chapters" are quick reads and take many diff...