Beethoven pacing, plus walking, plus content

First a quick note: Are you doing the September Reset? We tracked time from Sept 8-14. Then we’ve been going through several of my favorite time management strategies: setting a bedtime, planning on Friday, building in adventures, building in space, and setting evening intentions. Thanks for reading the emails! If you’re doing the Reset, please consider clicking through to the September Reset Online Portal in each of the emails. I find these questions are really helpful for me as I think through the strategies, and I hope they will be for you too.

Now, the post: Longtime blog readers know that this year I’m listening to all the works of Beethoven. I’m following a calendar at CompleteBeethoven.com. Last year I listened to all the works of Bach, and I constructed a calendar myself. It’s obviously a lot less work just to follow a calendar that someone else (Charles Petzold) has created with notes and a link to what he believes is one of the best recordings of a particular piece. So I am grateful for that!

However, Mr. Petzold does not seem to be a big believer in pacing. When I did Bach, I would aim for 30-40 minutes of listening a day. If I was listening to a 1-2 minute chorale, that meant I could listen to 20 a day. If I was listening to something like the Christmas Oratorio, which can clock in at 3 hours, I would spread this over 5-6 days.

This calendar does not do that. Some days we get just a 2-minute vocal piece because there is something particularly interesting about that piece to be highlighted. And then other days you get Fidelio. Literally, all of Fidelio. Assigned to one day.

That was Monday this week. So here’s an interesting time management question for you: could you fit listening to a 2-hour opera into your Monday? While the linked YouTube video was, in fact, a staged performance, I decided I wasn’t going to try to watch it. I would just listen.

And it turns out that I can, in fact, listen to almost all of a 2-hour opera in a random day, even if I wasn’t planning on that much listening. I listened to a little bit while puttering around in the kitchen in the AM. I listened while driving back from the high school after dropping off my son. I listened on the drive to cross country practice in the afternoon (I did not listen on the drive home, as we drove one of son’s friends and that seemed like a bad idea to force opera on people). I listened while making dinner. I listened on the drive home from choir practice at night.

(I did not listen on the way to practice as I was trying to listen to one of the pieces my choir is singing.)

I got to 20 minutes before the end, and then I decided that I could just listen to the rest the next morning, since the next day’s Beethoven selection was a performance of just the Fidelio overture (a slightly different version). Since that’s like 8 minutes I did my own little version of pacing.

Anyway, the experience was fun, but also reminded me to look ahead on the calendar as I’m thinking through my weeks. Though I do know I have a little bit before the Missa Solemnis and the 9th symphony…

In other news: Do you like to walk? And read blogs? Elisabeth Frost of Optimistic Musings is hosting her annual October walking challenge. Participants pledge to walk 10 minutes a day through the month of October (and share pics and stories of their walks to encourage others!). You can read more about her challenge (and get a printable tracker) here.

In other other news: Here’s this week’s content! Over at Before Breakfast, I decided it was a good idea to “Get out of the house.” There’s been much written about the importance of a “third place” beyond work and home where you build community, but since many of us work remotely these days, a third place is really a second place — and definitely needed! I noted that “Appreciation helps, even when you can’t.” Sometimes work is not equally shared, but it turns out that sincere appreciation goes a long way. So it is wise to acknowledge that someone else is doing more than their share, especially of low-visibility work. Speaking of such work, I’m also interviewing Allison Daminger on lightening the mental load.

If you haven’t checked out my interview with Jen Hatmaker for Best of Both Worlds…please do!

Over at Vanderhacks, my Substack newsletter, I wrote that “You have free time — here’s where to find it.” This is a road map of how to identify and notice potential leisure time in a busy schedule. I also suggested that we “Get curious when things don’t go as planned.” A problem-solving mindset is often more useful than berating oneself. Behind the paywall, I talked about how to “Build your break portfolio.” Well-chosen breaks during the work day can feel like mini-vacations. These are excellent additions to the schedule!

Thank you for supporting me and my work.

Photo: Why yes, I do now have a 16-year-old! The kids are growing up.