Not Enough Time To Practice Part 2: What to do when you feel like you have too much on your plate to practice your music

In today's busy environment, we run out of time for just about everything. Many times it can feel like there are not enough hours in a day to do the things that we really want to do or even things that we need to do.

Practicing your instrument may even seem to always find its way to the bottom of the to-do list. Having a family, running a guitar school, being in two bands and being head of the ministry at my church, I understand just how busy life can be.

So how do I find time to practice? I'm going to give you a few of my best tips on how to become the guitar player you want to be with just a little bit of practice time each day that just about everyone has and doesn't realize.

We will start here:

Keep the guitar out at all times

Your time is short. you have a lot of things on your plate. But you want to practice guitar.a guitar put away will never see the light of day. If it's out of sight it's out of mind. You need to have that guitar out and ready when you have a moment of inspiration. When creativity strikes, having to go through an entire ritual to get the guitar out in the open is going to hamper that. My advice? Get a guitar stand and find a place you can put that guitar we can grab it whenever you want, play for a few minutes and then put it back down to go about your day.

Practice while you unwind

Do you like to watch random YouTube videos? Netflix? Amazon prime? Disney+? Practicing guitar never has to be a chore. I've had some of my best practice sessions while watching a movie at the same time. If you're watching something with commercials in it, even better! Practice lately during the movie or show, and more intensely during the commercial breaks. Your skills will thank you!

Your guitar doesn't care about morning breath

Normally wake up at 7:00 a.m. to get ready to go to school or work? Get up at 6:55 instead. Grab that guitar for 5 minutes and then put it back down. What a great, fun, happy way to start the day!

Have insomnia? That's the perfect time to practice

If you live alone, you won't be bothering anybody by practicing as a way to fall back to sleep. If you live with someone else, they may get annoyed at the tinkering of your strings, so I would recommend either finding a quiet space in your house to practice, or going online and studying things like how the fretboard works, note locations, chord possibilities, what makes a good song, and any number of a hundred different possible subjects that can keep your brain activated and engaged long enough to wear you out a bit so you can get to sleep happy in the fact that your brain is now better at music.

Have zero time to practice during the week? That's what training events are for!

If you are a current student here at Master Your Guitar Music Academy, you already know that the heart and soul of getting better at your guitar is hidden inside of our training events. This is where we go over ideas potentially hundreds of times. Just one training event guarantees you get more practice in then 99% of guitar players all over the world. Come to one training class and you don't even have to practice all week! Now practice becomes something way more fun because there's zero pressure on you. Now you practice because you want to not because you have to.

Find a guitar teacher that can make you a better player whether you practice during the week or not

Combining all of these ideas together, you are guaranteed to become a better guitar player even with severely limited time, even if you don't get to practice at all during the week (that is, if you're a student here)!

Happy Practicing!

Let me know how these tips work out for you and watch for the next installment!

Written by: Marcus L. Diaz
Owner, Mentor, Trainer, Coach
Master Your Guitar Music Academy
marcus@masteryourguitar.net

Here’s an extra tip:

The typical, average, logical approach to learning guitar that most instructors follow is NOT the best way to learn to play. My students come to me week after week because they learn faster with me than with any of their previous instructors! Why? Because there is madness in my method and a method to my madness! Learn how to prevent YEARS of frustration when you...