Choir directors suffer from long-term project overload.
Think about it: every one of your projects is a delayed-gratification project. Concert days are eight weeks in the making. You start planning and prepping your musical months before it opens. Even your educational goals can be years in the making – giving a freshman all the experiences she needs over four years.
This seems normal, but in fact most professionals work with projects that have different time horizons. They might have some long-term or medium-term projects, but they also have projects they start on Monday and finish on Friday, or projects that they finish in a day.
So I say again, choir directors suffer from long-term projects overload, because in the midst of long-term projects, we don’t get the satisfaction of finishing. Checking off intermediate steps doesn’t count, and the big check mark that comes after months is insufficient as a emotional lift.
I think it’s worth thinking about this and asking whether you can add some projects that are very short-term. If you’re looking for a hobby, find one that you can practice in an hour or an afternoon. If you’re adding a volunteer job or some other time commitment, select something with different time horizons than your long-term work.