The Corona has caused a lot of changes in my life, some positive, some negative.
I'm a band director normally, and that is not something that translates to online well. I get tons of people telling me "just make a virtual ensemble" or "use this time to teach theory or production" at which point I point out that I'm not the only band director in the district, and I am in charge of the remedial kids. IE, a middle school band made up of mostly 7th graders that were at the bottom of their beginner classes the previous year. So the online transition has not been easy, fun, or productive. I feel like such a lazy POS, because I have tried to do the absolute minimum amount of work as a teacher, when in reality I know that a lot of the kids I teach are not self motivated by any stretch of the imagination. I can give playing assignments, etc, but does that actually teach anything? The district policy is one assignment per week, and you have to balance that with the core classes, which take priority. So I can't really teach much during this time. That is a lot more stressful than you would think.
Because of that, I've gotten time to do other things that I haven't had time to do. My workload dropped from 80-110 hours per week to about 10, which is pretty much 2 full time jobs' worth of time. So what have I been doing with it?
I've started producing more music. Original music, VGM arrangements to be released on a YouTube channel starting at the end of the month, writing scripts for some educational theory content I want to produce, etc. I've also been able to practice horn as much as I need to (2 hours per day minimum). I've been able to start walking again, and do 4-6 miles per day. On the walk I answer emails from my phone if needed.
I've also started studying Japanese again. I've missed doing that a lot, and it's nice to be back.
This all sounds like a lot, but it actually gives me a routine to use -
Wake up 8:30, walk 8:40-10:15 or so.
Study Japanese from then until right before noon, then check morning turnip prices in AC.
Short lunch, then practice until 2 or 3.
From 3 to 10 is whatever else I feel like doing. Sometimes arranging, sometimes streaming, etc.