2 Simple Principles To Help Motivate Musicians To Practice

1. Detox

If we want to create something constructive or artistic in a given day or hour, we have to eliminate all the pitfalls, especially of the online world. We turn off our cell phones, we don't deal with emails, we don't look at social networks, and most importantly, we don't click on the most attractive-looking video. Many of us procrastinate for the sake of "analysis" or "self-education," in which case we're just hiding behind academically-sounding terms to turn up the stinking heat of procrastination.

No, we actually don't need to devour the latest news, watch another video on fuzz effects, or hear our favorite YouTuber's opinion on Justin Bieber's latest album. If we're going to venture into the chaotic and highly addictive waters of the internet, let's have one clear goal—for example, to learn a given song by following a video tutorial. And let's stick to that goal like a tick.

The most critical is the first half hour, which we want to devote to a given pious activity (practicing an instrument in my case). If I can concentrate on one task for that time, I've already won—and I usually finish after two or three hours of concentrated activity, by which time I might give into the temptation of food or coffee.

To get started, try the extremely simple but very effective Japanese method of "kaizen": devoting just one minute of your precious time to your chosen activity. This one minute of concentration can easily grow into two, three, ten, and so on.

2. Gentle push

Gentle push is an assertiveness tool where you gently, lightly, and gracefully "push" your agenda. You can also apply it to your everyday goals. It's better to be consistent in taking small steps than to be stressed out by being overly ambitious  or even burned out from constant running.

If our daily objectives are too large and complex, we create undue stress and a sense of permanent failure. We won't be successful in meeting them and, in turn, we are more likely to be discouraged from creative activity. But if we leave everything to "inspiration" and too loose a regime, we won't achieve the desired results either.

In my opinion, the gentle push is the most effective method: working on what is important to us every day, one step at a time. It's easier to decide to practice your instrument for fifteen minutes than to crank out a three-hour shredding marathon. As with the kaizen method mentioned above, fifteen minutes usually becomes half an hour, then an hour, and so on.

Let's work on our dreams gradually; let's not get distracted; let's trust our intuition without underestimating our analytical and reasoning skills. And above all, let's be consistent and patient. The results will always come.