1. Man, I wish I had someone to play this duet with me.

2. Is it the soundproof walls or do I just really lack depth today?

3. I want banana bread

4. And coffee

5. I wonder if my piano professor will notice these video clips are from two different days... I guess the different shirt might give it away

6. Oops, I never asked for a key to the double reed room. That's kind of important

7. Thank goodness for 24-hour access to the music building or else I would never get this done

8. I should make more reeds

9. Is a hurricane a valid excuse for not getting to practice as much as you wanted?

10. Maybe I could hide in here for a couple more hours and get my biology homework done too.

11. Oh. I have to ride my bike back to my dorm. That takes a lot of energy. Maybe I'll just sit here a little longer

12. I hope no one notices the cane shavings on the ground. I really need to get the key to the reed room.

13. I need to start looking at recital pieces.

14. Correction I need to start learning recital pieces.

15. And get a pianist to play with me. And order music. Wait music is expensive. Hmm.

16. Shoot I still need to send my contract in for my Christmas gig.

17. And figure out how to get home

18. I could ride the bus... buses aren't too scary.

19. I need more sleep.

20. I need more than 24 hours in a day. That would be nice.

21. Laundry. I need to do that this weekend or I won't have anything to wear to class.

22. I should get home. It's getting late.

23. But I could stay here. It's nice here. The music building is cool and quiet.

24. Should I make more coffee? Probably not. I should just get stuff done and go to bed. Or else I'll be making lists of my thoughts all night long.

So after all that brain clearing, I am usually able to have a pretty useful practice session. This is an exercise that I often have to do. I have found that if don't go into a practice session with a clearer mind, I usually don't retain much of what I have practiced. If you aren't retaining the information, what's the point?

This can be applied to studying too! If you haven't purposefully cleared your mind in preparation for studying, your mind will often wander and you are less likely to hold onto the information (especially longterm.)

So, two things to do that might help you stay focused:

1. Exercise before a long period of focusing. This often helps people clear their heads and it will put you on an endorphin rush so you go into the time of focus in a good mood!

2. Make a list like me! Sometimes the act of writing things on paper will help you "remove them" from your head and place them on the paper for you to revisit later.

The most important thing, in the end, is making the best use of your time! Set yourself up for success so you can use your time doing things that are valuable to you!