Pictured: visual schedule from a preschool classroom, found on Pinterest
When my son started preschool, I was impressed by how well visual schedules worked at keeping things in order and on schedule, with a minimum of chaos. So I wondered, would a visual schedule help me keep my music practice in order like that?
I made up business-sized cards with a title of a song on each one (songs that I want to learn, or keep in memory). Then I laminated the cards. Then I put a piece of rough sticky back velcro on each card. Then I attatched a strip of the soft sticky back velcro onto a long thin piece of wood- something I borrowed from my weaving supplies. The finished system looks similar to one of the visual schedules above, but not as colorful.
But then I set my visual schedule aside for a time I would have time to figure out how to implement the system and get it working. Then I moved, and put the visual schedule away in a safe place where it wouldn't get lost. There it sat for several months, set aside till now.
I generally don't have a lot of time all at once for practice. My idea is to divvy up the songs I have learned (or am learning) into six sections. Each day, put up one bundle of cards. Then, as I have a chance to work on each one, put the card into the 'all done' basket. At the end of the day, I will be able to see what hasn't been practiced, and do that just before bed.