Ah, yes. The all too familiar sense of undeniable guilt when consuming any form of media that isn’t extemp-centered. Chappell Roan’s ‘The Subway’ was just released? So was the newest episode of ‘The NPR Politics Podcast’! The newest episode of ‘Love Island’ is airing? So is MSNBC- plus it has 24/7 coverage. You’ve just bought the latest #BookTok novel? You could be reading Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky’s ‘How Democracies Die’. Though it is crucial to stay informed, hyper-fixation can quickly lead to burnout and frustration in the midst of a season. Making time for both personal and academic needs is a necessary tool to stay sane throughout your extemp career.
Set Realistic Goals
It can be easy to practice so much that you forget exactly what you’re practicing for. Instead of recklessly and obsessively reading articles, listening to podcasts, and running drills, take some time to think through and break down what you’re trying to achieve. Analyze your own strengths and weaknesses- instead of studying everything, focus on specific target areas. For instance, if you find yourself at tournaments stressing over certain topic areas, only focus on reading up on those for a while. If substructure is what you’re aiming to improve, work on prepping without the delivery aspect- give yourself 15 minutes to write, and then analyze your thoughts. If fluency is your biggest downfall, give speeches with no prep time. Instead of running full preps, run drills based on what your speeches need.
Make a Schedule
Just as a practice schedule is necessary to ensure the fulfillment of your competitive goals, making time in your schedule for personal needs is just as necessary to prevent burnout and garner mental stability. Set aside time in your schedule for things such as meditation, deep breathing, and even social media! This will help you to structure your daily routine in a way that ensures a healthy extemp/life balance.
Listen to Yourself
Speech- extemp especially- can be draining. If you commonly find yourself experiencing fatigue, changes in performance, or brain fog, change is necessary. Even if a certain practice routine (or lack thereof) has worked for you in the past, your needs will change as your abilities grow and responsibilities shift. I’ve commonly found myself in scenarios where I practice tirelessly just to accomplish worsening results- I now know this was due to an excess of practice, which led to exhaustion. In this context, listening to myself meant taking a break. I didn’t run a full prep for nearly a month- when I returned, my fluency, content, and speeches overall were significantly better.
Balance
Ultimately, there’s no one routine that will work for every extemper. Additionally, success isn’t granted by how much time you dedicate to practice- it’s granted by how you spend your practice time. Allowing yourself to indulge in the things you love- no matter how mundane- will have a direct impact on the work you produce. Address your extemp-guilt directly: appropriately balancing your time may seem challenging or counterintuitive at first, but the positive effects will be seen soon after!