I interviewed piano singer and also known as song writer, Shihori!
Shihori wrote many songs for famous Japanese singers like Shoko Nakagawa, Nana Mizuki and many others. She is also famous for singing a popular TV commercial song called “Papapapa-n Song”!
Surprisingly, we found that Shihori is using MyStats and she loves it. So, here we are. This is Shihori’s case…
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Q: What were some of your issues with Time Management?
A: I didn’t know where my time went. I unintentionally would just waste time. Whatever I’m doing, I always get into things so deeply that I would lose track of time. As a freelance artist, I am my own manager. But I can’t manage my time unless I have a strong determination or something.
One example is music arrangement. To tell the truth, I don’t need that long of time for writing a song. It just comes to me. But music arrangement is different. It takes me so many hours. I get so into it that I forget about eating, sleeping and everything, and then I fail to keep myself in good shape.
I am the kind of a person who can get into things so much. This is the reason why I needed something for my time management.
Q: What was your first impression of MyStats?
A: “This is it!” That’s what I thought. A friend of mine Eri told me about MyStats, and I understood what it could give me right away. When Eri found out about MyStats, she immediately thought, “I have to tell Shihori about this!” I knew that I needed something to manage my time, and it seems Eri knew it, too. Haha!
Q: How did you get started using MyStats?
A: It actually took some thinking. It was like, “What are the classifications of my time?” But looking back at that moment, I think it was something really great that happened in my life. I can say that even only with this reason, MyStats is very valuable to me.
After a long time thinking, I came up with an Activity Set with about 10 activities. As I use MyStats everyday, I think I’ve changed some activities a little bit, but most of the activities that I defined in the beginning have not changed.
Q: What are the outcomes you get by using MyStats?
A: First of all, my mind has been changed. Now I am always aware of the kind, quality and meaning of time I am spending. I can say that I am now good at time management. For music arrangement, in order to avoid spending too much time, I first decide the end-time before I start working on it. I also keep my eyes on the amount of time I waste and reduce those “meaningless times”. I have two different activities for “Break Time”: Meaningful break time and meaningless break time. Since I gave them the colors pink and grey, I can see the ratio of these two break times on the pie chart anytime, and one of my goals is to have as little grey as possible.
Q: Have you tried the new function, Daily Activity?
A: No, not yet. I haven’t figured out how I can use it.
At this point, I explained how people are using it, and I gave her examples like Weight, Number of Sit-ups, Time Spent Practicing Guitar, Amount Spent on Groceries, etc. And her response was…
Wow, this is so cool! I’m gonna try it right now!
Immediately she started making her own Daily Activity Set. She got so into it that it seemed like she forgot that she was in an interview. Then I thought yeah, she really does need time management.
The following are some key points of Shihori’s case.
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- Her activity set has about 10 activities such as Song Writing, Arranging, Meeting, Transportation, Sleep, etc.
She colored activities with her own meanings. For example, red for music arrangement, blue for sleep.
- She does not record her activity for 24 hours, but it is close.
The percentage of recorded time shown on Bird’s-Eye view was 82.5%.
- Non recording time is time she thinks not worthy to be recorded. i.e. Changing Clothes.
- Two different activities for Break Time colored in pink and grey.
She occasionally checks the ratio on the pie chart.
- No activity for meals.
Since she’s usually doing something else while she is eating. Meal times are included in activities like Song Writing, Meeting Friends, etc.
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Shihori’s songs have both vigor and sensitivity. After meeting her in person, I see that she herself have both vigor and sensitivity.
While she is relaxed and talks personally, she gives an impression of being soft and gentle. At the same time, with her facial expressions and words, she showed that she also has a strong mind and heart.
Shihori, thank you so much for your time and for using MyStats. Next time, let me ask you how you use Daily Activity Function!
I also would like to thank Eri for introducing MyStats to Shihori! Eri is an artist producing mainly leathercrafts and illustrations. Eri’s works are available at her web site or at the shop called Garandou in Karuizawa, Japan. Take a look!
(Original article was written on June 21st.)
