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5 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SO MUCH TIME TO PRACTICE AS YOU NEED

Written By : Tom Sklenar 

In today's fast-paced world, most of us musicians suffer from the problem of rarely finding as much time to play as needed. Personally, I could definitely play 3-4 hours a day, because when I pick up the guitar, I get hooked and have a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I rarely have that much time, or rather rarely since my son was born (parents of children understand me). I see around me that I am not alone in this. Finding time for your hobby is simply common problem, that applies in general.

I don't think we have to complain about this because it won't help us in any way. We would rather deal with this situation, accept it and try to work with it. In this article, I want to summarize my knowledge and experience so far and share them with all who are interested.

I would like to introduce you to the most important principles that will help us with practice when we have limited time for it. Thanks to them, we will observe much faster progress on ourselves than ever before, even though the time we spend on it will remain the same. My goal is also to guide you on how to better manage your guitar practice time. I firmly believe that after reading this article, you will think of many other options how to manage your time better.

1.       CONCENTRATION

A very basic and at the same time essential thing. If I'm practicing the guitar, that's all I have to do and I won't focus on anything else at that time. When you play, no one and nothing should disturb you. No TV on, no Facebook, not talking to someone else, interrupting my practice to check what's in the fridge.

Just none of that.

If I have, let's say, less than 40 minutes to practice, trust me it's manageable. Remember that back in elementary school we had to concentrate for 45 minutes, so now we can do it too. (On the other hand, if we exercise for a long time, it is, on the contrary, suitable to schedule short breaks.) This may be obvious to some, but I know that for many don't, so I can't afford to miss this point.

2.       SET LONG TERM GOALS

The common problem is to take your guitar and not know in advance what to practice. Many people “just play”. They do not think WHAT and WHY they should practice. The core problem is they do not have a specific goal they would be heading towards. Ask yourself where do you want to be with your guitar playing in 6 months, one year, two years…

Imagine the athlete who would like to be on the Olympics. It´s his goal and he needs to reach some partial goals on the way in order to achieve that big one. Without a bigger vision, he would have no clue about his direction. With this long term goal, he knows what to achieve and therefore he can plan his training in advance and it motivates him to take action.

The same principle is applicable on guitar. Set your long term goals. Be specific. Set deadlines.

3.       SET SHORT TERM GOALS

If we know our long-term goal and know where we want to go, we can plan our journey, how to make it happen. Write down the points that you think are needed to be accomplished in order to reach the goal that you have set. Complete these sub-goals. This way you can get to what you should be able to do in a month or a week. And if you already know what you need to learn in one week, set very specific micro goals every day that you must fulfill during your practice. That way, you'll create a schedule of what to practice and you'll never waste time thinking about what to play now.

4.       DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME

Stick to your goals and practice just those things which lead to achieving that goal. Do not waste your time with playing other things which are not needed now.

5.       PLAN YOUR PRACTICE TIME

Plan in advance and write down on paper when to practice guitar. Stick to the plan. Do not wait for practice until “you will have time for it”. When you set it in advance, your brain will subconsciously prepare for it which will help you with motivation and concentration.

About the author: Tom Sklenar is the professional musician and the teacher in the Guitar School of Chropyne (Škola kytary Chropyně), Czech republic.