Tartellog

Now that school is back underway, it’s time to get to work.  And that means practice.  And practice means concentration.  And concentration means focus.  And focus…focus is hard.

Anything that gets between you and your work is a distraction.  This could be some of the obvious suspects- checking FaceBook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Reddit…even Google Plus+(okay…not Google Plus+).  Another prime example is the diversion- “I can’t practice in this room…it’s a mess…I should clean it up first.”  Then you spend the next 90 minutes looking through old pictures and books, not even getting the room straightened.  For some, the most difficult distraction is internal.  You get to the practice room, get your instrument out, open up a book, and think- “Hey, I wonder what my friends are doing later…we should probably make dinner plans…I’ll text them…then right to practicing.”  Then you’re texting for the next 30 minutes, getting nothing done.

So what should you do?  Good question.  First:

Set aside reasonable amounts of time each day where practicing is your only job.

These do not need to be long periods of time.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say some variation of, “I was in the practice room for 8 hours straight yesterday.  I am so awesome, and obviously vastly superior to everyone else on the planet.”  I’m always dubious of claims of number of hours practiced, as it’s an odd thing to brag about.

Second:

When you close the practice room door, know exactly what you wish to accomplish.

Too often people go into a practice with little or no idea of what they want to get done.  They walk in knowing they’re supposed to practice for a certain amount of time, so they’ll look at the clock and make sure that much time is spent in the practice room.

Try setting a goal.  It could be as simple as: “I want to be able to play this etude through without stopping,” or “I want to play this exercise 1 metronome marking faster than yesterday.”  Should you achieve your goal, leave the practice room.  If you still have mental focus and time, make another goal and get back in there.  If not, that session is over.

Lastly, and this is important:

Make time for your distractions.

I hope that you have interests other than practicing.  Set aside time for those as well.  I have a number of puzzle games on my phone that I enjoy.  I’m also a sports fan (Go Spurs Go!), so watching, reading about, and discussing sports is something that I somehow manage to find time for.

The beginning of the school year is a perfect time to build great habits.  Take the opportunity to set aside the times when you know you can be really productive.  And don’t forget that you also need time that’s just for fun.

Please let me know how you’re doing.