This is nuts. I bet you’re in a similar situation as me right now - a little , or maybe a lot of, extra time on your hands! What have you been doing with it? Netflix? Disney Plus? Checking the news WAY more often than usual? Walking the dog more? Spending more time reaching out to friends and family? Learning how to bake bread?
What about practicing your instrument? This is by no means a slap on the wrist kind of thing - I have been doing all of the above lately with the novel Coronavirus dominating the media, social media, and many of my conversations. It’s necessary to engage with as well as get away from all of the crazy that’s going on right now.
As someone who teaches multiple instruments at a home studio, this has been a huge opportunity for growth as far as my business AND musicianship. I’ve gone completely online, using Skype, Zoom, shooting extra videos for students (these are really coming in handy so that I can get into the specifics of some things from lessons - online is working well, but it is NO substitute for in-person lessons!). I’ve been practicing multiple times per day doing new exercises, learning new songs, recording, etc.
Maybe that was you when this whole quarantine first started. But have you hit that wall yet where you just aren’t motivated to practice? You KNOW you should be thankful for and utilize the extra time…you KNOW you should see the silver lining of being stuck at home…and you KNOW that extra practice time won’t numb your mind like binge watching Tiger King.
It comes and goes for me. Some days I can REALLY schedule out multiple times to practice and hit all of them and feel so successful and know that I’m improving - there’s nothing like it. But some days I pick up a guitar, I run through a couple scales that I want to master, play through a song or two, and the whole time I just feel “bleh”. What I want to share with you today are a few things that have helped me get motivated, STAY motivated, and sometimes just lean in to the times when I have NO motivation. Check out this list and see which ones might be helpful for you:
Schedule out a practice routine for the upcoming day, morning/noon/evening for 30 minutes each.
Plan EXACTLY what you will practice for each session. Keep it simple: 3 exercises or songs for 10 minutes a piece.
Schedule down time. Watch the news, check your phone, stream JUST ONE episode of Atlanta…ok maybe two because they’re short, but limit yourself a little so that you DO have breaks but avoid becoming a blob!
Spend WAY MORE TIME connecting with other musicians via social media. Reach out just to say “hey, how are things going for you? What have you been practicing?”
Ok now for something I’m not good at - annoying motivational speakers call it “celebrating the win” - I call it looking back on what you HAVE accomplished and not getting bogged down by all of the things you didn’t do on a particular day. Oof.
Let yourself off the hook. You probably already know that learning an instrument is incredibly fun (I hope you know!), but that it’s a long journey to master your craft. Especially now during this crazy time, don’t worry if you set a schedule and didn’t follow it perfectly! You’ll likely have more time…now. Or now! Or…now.
Last thing - connect with me and let me know what you’re practicing! Drop your name and email below with a quick message - I’ll send you updates on when new blogs and videos go live (which you can, of course, opt out of if you’d like!), but more than anything, I want to help you be as successful as you can during this time.