I’ve been trying to cram lots of short sessions on lots of different things into each day. Every day in lockdown comprises at least 30 minutes each of yoga, piano practice, German, vocal warm-ups, score learning, vlogging, cycling/running etc.
The problem is, I was finding that I was making small gains in each task but not any truly rewarding achievements in any particular area. Therefore, I decided to experiment with a focus on one bigger project each day. Starting today, to celebrate five weeks since I began vlogging, I planned to refine the content I’m putting on my website, facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
It’s now 6pm and I’ve realised it’s quite a big ask. I still have a way to go to get everything in order. Perhaps this one is going to span a couple of days.
On the up-side, it’s remarkable just how much I’ve been sharing over the last five weeks – my daily routine, random musings and tips from my opera training. When I look back at the first few vlogs, I’ve learnt how to present my ideas and recommendations more concisely and I feel much more confident about appearing on camera (even if it is only a shaky, amateur iphone video).
Taking time to review and reflect on this stuff, as well as to organise everything, can seem like a waste, but I have to hope that stopping, evaluating and hitting reset is an important part of moving forward.
So, how am I moving forward with the blog? Here’s the plan:
On each of the weekdays when I’d typically work from home as a singer, IRL (in real life), I’ll continue to create a short ‘singing from home’ vlog post on a subject that’s pertinent to that particular day. You can expect to find four a week, Monday to Thursday, on YouTube and Facebook and I try not to bore on for more than 3 minutes. The vlog is about lifting the lid on my life as a singer in lockdown.
Fridays are typically performance days, IRL, so that’s a chance to do something fun. Something that doesn’t fit the standard mould for the vlog. I don’t plan what it’ll be from week to week so it’ll just take shape on the day.
The blog posts here on my website are a chance for me to wax lyrical about all aspects of singing. So I’ll think and write around the topic for the day, adding in some of the technical knowledge I’ve picked up during my training.
Some subjects lend themselves to a tip or trick that you can try at home. Whether it’s a vocal warm up, a breathing exercise or a stretch, these will be badged as ‘operacises’ and I’ll package them all up individually as short, minute-long videos for IGTV on Instagram.
That’s everything for today. A bit of a “blah blah blah” admin post but thanks for indulging me – it allows me to get on top of a bit of strategy and hopefully, vaguely more interesting service will resume tomorrow.
Stay cheered, especially since we’ve already smashed five weeks in lockdown, stay healthy and lots of love xx
Grace Lovelass 