One of the best ways to find out if I’ve forgotten something important, (or seemingly important), is simply to try to go to sleep or try to stay asleep. 

At 3am, or before falling asleep, my brain will come up with the thing that I forgot to do. 

More on that later. 

I used to believe that being productive was all about maintaining a tight focus on what I need to do…and doing that thing to completion. 

So much so, that I often would eat while I worked, or skip lunch, to keep being productive. 

A funny thing would happen though: brain fog. 

As the brain fog built up, I would make more and more errors and mistakes, but I would feel guilty taking a break, so I would always be pushing, pushing, pushing. Needless to say, this was not my best work, but it felt hard and miserable, so it really comforted my ego. I knew for sure I was trying very very hard. 

One day, I decided to go for a short walk instead of pushing through…despite the guilt. What I found was that I remembered why I was working on what I was working on (which organized my effort when I returned) I reflected on what was wasted effort…and as my mind drifted to other topics on the walk, that little alert system in my brain that usually waits until 3am to burst forth with inspiration, reminders, etc…showed up ON A WALK INSTEAD! 

That’s the funny thing. If you’re willing to walk away from the thing you think is so important, so you can “take a break”...you’ll actually still be working. This work is what I call “passive work” and if you don’t take time for it, it WILL take some random time, like say, when you’re trying to go to sleep, or stay asleep or what-have-you. This work is effortless. All you have to do, is simply try to take a break, without filling your brain with screen time or other stimulus...and your brain will work on work in the background...and bring you random things about work. 

To test this…I went on a solo camping trip. Do you know how long it took before I officially felt totally, completely, out of work mode? It took THIRTY SIX HOURS. I wrote down everything in a journal, so I could “let it go”. And yes. That’s how much work I had leftover without remotely “trying” to work. 

I proceeded to work the following week...and it was much, much better. But it felt like I wasn't working as hard. In reality, I was not adding unnecessary suffering, or thinking every stupid task ever is the most important urgent thing ever. 

In piano lessons and voice lessons, we often start by singing or playing a phrase and noticing what it feels like, how easy it feels to play or sing. 

Then we go on what seems like a tangent not at all related…and then revisit the same phrase we had done at the beginning. 

Often, although not always (for reasons I won’t get into here) a student is surprised to find that, without knowing what happened, the phrase got EASIER! 

We do connect the dots and see the relationships...however the benefits play out before you know what happening. 

There are incredibly smart, complex living systems inside you that are learning things you don’t even realize they are learning. Even your breathing will sense if you are running and adjust the breathing automatically, or sense sleeping and adjust breathing for sleeping, or sense an injury by a rib and change the breathing to adapt. I call this “passive work”. The work that is done for you, when you’re not  looking, or even trying. Inspiration and talent often comes from this place.  

In his book, HyperFocus, Chris Bailey describes this function of the brain (that I call passive work)  and how crucial it is to actually being productive, (with all the science for those of you who need the proof 😉 

If you want to be creative, you better believe that you'll need some of this passive work as a part of it.  

To learn piano or voice, at least the way I teach it, you are going to train your attention to pay attention and then let go of paying attention. You’ll see how your voice, your hands, your brain, work for you even when you are trying not to work. 

And then my favorite part: The sigh of relief when you realize: you loosened the death grip on work (or whatever it is that you simply cannot let go of)  found a little space, just for you, to breathe, to be, to sing, to play, to explore, to learn, to feel.  And the bonus: you sing and/or play better in the process. yay! 

"Chris’ Adult Beginner Piano Lessons AND his singing lessons are incredible.

I have never played piano, and within the first five minutes I was comfortable, curious, exploring and having fun. The class was sweet, relaxing, and groovy, and by the end of my first class I was jamming with three other people, making musical jokes, and exploring this wonderful instrument at my own pace.

An incredible experience, and as a teacher myself, a masterclass in how to teach a scared student. Highly recommend to anyone with a love of music, especially if you have any fear getting started with piano. Chris makes it a joy." 

Joseph H.