The Most Common Excuse I Hear from Adults for Not Practicing!
Let’s face it – they have long passed the old excuse, the Dog Ate My Homework. However, they still feel guilty about not practicing. The first sentence out of their mouths is usually, “I was so busy, I only practiced once this week!” They feel they have to justify their lack of practice, so being busy is what they use.
This is the single biggest practice challenge for adults learning guitar. Being “busy” really boils down to a core belief that there is not enough time. We all say it. I know I do. I tell myself I don’t have enough hours in the day to do all the things on my list. So this week, I decided to try an experiment. I decided to do everything on my list for one week, no excuses. And guess what? I got everything done, with time to spare. That’s the time I am using now to write this blog. The house got cleaned, the laundry got done, the grass was mowed, my personal practice time was met, I went out to lunch several times this week, met with my marketer consultant, hung out with my friends, caught up on my reading, played at an Irish session and planned and gave lessons to all of my students. Gee, I was really busy. I even had time to waste watching television! Which goes to show – there was enough time!
The best thing to do to work around this belief is to add practice time into your daily routine. It doesn’t have to be an hour, or even half an hour. Try for ten minutes. Just ten minutes. You can fit ten minutes into your routine somewhere. Look at your routine, and determine where the best time would be. If you are a morning person, maybe you can find your ten minutes while you are enjoying your morning coffee. Are you exhausted when you get home from work? Taking ten minutes for yourself before you get immersed in everything at home, can be refreshing. Spend ten minutes with your guitar, and you will find it easier to leave work behind and enjoy your home life.
Try it! Ten minutes a day, and you will be amazed at how much better you will do at your next lesson!
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