His teacher observed that Kourosh was struggling to find time to practice. So she encouraged him to, at least once a day, just walk by the piano and merely touch the keys. That’s all he had to do. Just touch the keys at least once a day. He said that this simple act dramatically increased the time he spent practicing.
I thought this was fascinating, and potentially something I should consider Beeminding (for lots of things)!
I’m curious if anyone has tried “just touch the keys” goals? Have you found success with them? Where have they helped? Where have they been less helpful?
I’ve been using this lately for an Anki goal. I just have to do a card! Just one! But by the time I do one, another one is right there, and, before I know it, I’ve done a lot more than one!
(Anki is historically painful for me, but quite helpful and important!)
I use this for tooth brushing. I’m not used to brush after breakfast or lunch. Knowing that I don’t have to keep brushing for three minutes helps. It wouldn’t make sense to just put the toothbrush in my mouth and then log.
For choir practicing, I try this too. But it’s partly demotivating and too easy to feel urgency.
Demotivating:
No matter if I practice 15 minutes or 45, I can only log one unit - that won’t even sum if I practice twice or more on a day. So in order to generate buffer, I need to practice more days. Which is good, because it won’t stick if I just have one session and then do nothing until next rehearsal.
Too easy:
Every time I think: yeah sure I should do this. But I don’t want to right now. And I could always do it later - right? Just listening to one audio file while in public transport does the trick.
However - if I go back to time logging, I could either create infinite buffer or feel to much pressure. With both a lot more administration. So - still working on this.