Tips for Self-Motivated Practice
Are you sitting on your couch thinking about how you should be practicing but knowing you probably won’t do it? Try these 5 things to help you get going!
Just do it.
This one is exactly the same. Again, this might sound reductive, but just go do it. Once you get to that practice room or at the piano, motivation will come, you just have to get your body there.
Remember your “why”.
Remember that feeling when you heard that amazing singer or saw that incredible production and it lifted you outside of yourself and made you want to be better? There is a reason we are working hard to accomplish our goals, a reason we show up to get better and dive deeper. Remember why you sing and what you have to gain by consistent practice.
Take an honest look at how you work best and plan practice accordingly.
Every person is different and what works for one person may not work for another, so come up with a plan that is right for YOU and stick to it. Not a morning person? Practice in the afternoon. Do you always feel absolutely exhausted after a day of work? Schedule your practice before work. Does your voice get tired easily but you just keep pushing? Do two little practice sessions throughout the day to ease the vocal fatigue. Figure out what you need to succeed!
Set a timer and don’t practice any more or less.
Ok this is one for people like me who get big ideas in their head about how much they’re going to get done and then don’t do ANYTHING because the goal is too daunting. Set a timer for literally as little as 5 minutes and practice for at least that amount of time. Usually you’ll go longer, but start small and build a habit.
Start from a place of grace.
You probably already feel guilty about not practicing or working as much as you should. But what you don’t realize is that the reason you feel this way is not laziness, it’s the amount of emotional, mental, and physical unpaid work you do every day to make your dreams a reality and the sheer amount of effort you have to put in to succeed in your field. You’re not lazy, you just picked a really hard career path! In fact, you probably work harder than many people you know in other disciplines. So knowing this, keep up the hard work and also give yourself grace as you hone your instrument. You are working so hard and you deserve rest, but sometimes we have to do all the hard things first to actually feel at rest.
I hope this helps some of you who are having a hard time motivating yourself to practice! We are always a work in progress and the way we think about practice really affects our ability to practice consistently. Keep up the good work!