When you set your mind to do something you will do it. If you really want to practice on a regular basis, then settle it in your mind to do it and you will. That applies to anything you want to do, even quit bad habits.
I recently got back into playing after a long layoff, & I'm going though the "no place to practice" thing as I live in a condo, & don't have an e-kit. So, I ordered a practice pad from Amazon, & currently practicing consistently. What helped motivate me was, I ran across a video regarding the 100 hour rule. Which states if you spend 100 hours in year, which is 18 minutes/day, in any discipline, you will be better than 95% of the world in that discipline. That kind of hit me.
I used to think this way, and what solved it were 2 tactics that changed my mindset on a fundamental level: *1. Schedule a regular day on paper:* write down how much time you spend doing the essential things in your day, including traffic, eating, sleeping, etc; then add up the amount of hours it all takes. This will reveal two things: the gaps in your schedule and what your priorities are. You will prove to yourself that you waste a lot of time doing non-essential things, like social media or just suboptimized routines. *2. Remove friction/make it fun:* we don't practice during these time gaps because we probably don't have a lot of fun doing it, so we would rather do something else. That's your own fault! Removing friction means recognizing what makes practice boring and changing it up. You have to be creative to make it fun (what worked for me was displacing the metronome), and if you do, even practice pad sessions will become addictive. Learning and improving is almost never boring. Building habits is actually not that hard once these are implemented. After 20 or so days it actually feels horrible *not* to sit on the drums.
The comparison to brushing your teeth is spot on! If you want to constantly improve and see a big difference over time, practicing has to happen every single day without exception, but every time I hear someone comparing it to eating I feel like that's such a gross exaggeration that it doesn't really drive the point home. Most successful people have routines, consisting of things they do (usually when they wake up or before going to bed) every day, such as going for a walk, meditating, or working out in the morning, or turning off electronic devices an hour before bed and reading a book at night. Adding some practice time to those routines will make it feel like second nature over time, and it won't feel like a chore when you are tired or not in the mood.
Good topic, As someone who practices regularly , I would say I have had "bad" practice sessions but it's normally as my body is slow/stiff/tired but I also force myself to finish the practice session. I would say 90% of the time I am glad I pushed through it instead of stopping early.
For me, trying to make the time to drum is a struggle. I work full time from 6:00am to 2:30pm most days, rest, go to the gym for a couple of hours, and eat. By the time I get home, it's roughly 7:00pm, so it might be too late for me to play drums and practice. Sometimes I would replace cardio with drums instead or use my rest days to play drums. Most I have on me is a practice pad while my drum set is about five minutes away from my apartment since it's at a band member's garage that his parents allow me to have access to. I feel like as long as I'm not too busy during the week, I can squeeze in a few drum practices a week and try to work on stuff.
Thanks for commenting Kevin. That's a super relatable scenario. For what it's worth, if it were me, I'd set small measurable goals to chip away at a little bit at a time every day on the practice pad (new rudiment up to a certain BPM, etc.) and save my limited time on the kit for working on songs, improvising, and otherwise having fun.
I really have to do a better job at making time to practice. Life some times throws us curves.! People are so busy in there everyday lives,they forget to stop and do things that bring them joy,such as getting behind the kit.
When you set your mind to do something you will do it. If you really want to practice on a regular basis, then settle it in your mind to do it and you will. That applies to anything you want to do, even quit bad habits.
I recently got back into playing after a long layoff, & I'm going though the "no place to practice" thing as I live in a condo, & don't have an e-kit. So, I ordered a practice pad from Amazon, & currently practicing consistently. What helped motivate me was, I ran across a video regarding the 100 hour rule. Which states if you spend 100 hours in year, which is 18 minutes/day, in any discipline, you will be better than 95% of the world in that discipline. That kind of hit me.
I used to think this way, and what solved it were 2 tactics that changed my mindset on a fundamental level:
*1. Schedule a regular day on paper:* write down how much time you spend doing the essential things in your day, including traffic, eating, sleeping, etc; then add up the amount of hours it all takes. This will reveal two things: the gaps in your schedule and what your priorities are. You will prove to yourself that you waste a lot of time doing non-essential things, like social media or just suboptimized routines.
*2. Remove friction/make it fun:* we don't practice during these time gaps because we probably don't have a lot of fun doing it, so we would rather do something else. That's your own fault! Removing friction means recognizing what makes practice boring and changing it up. You have to be creative to make it fun (what worked for me was displacing the metronome), and if you do, even practice pad sessions will become addictive. Learning and improving is almost never boring.
Building habits is actually not that hard once these are implemented. After 20 or so days it actually feels horrible *not* to sit on the drums.
Great tips Kirjian!
The comparison to brushing your teeth is spot on! If you want to constantly improve and see a big difference over time, practicing has to happen every single day without exception, but every time I hear someone comparing it to eating I feel like that's such a gross exaggeration that it doesn't really drive the point home.
Most successful people have routines, consisting of things they do (usually when they wake up or before going to bed) every day, such as going for a walk, meditating, or working out in the morning, or turning off electronic devices an hour before bed and reading a book at night. Adding some practice time to those routines will make it feel like second nature over time, and it won't feel like a chore when you are tired or not in the mood.
Good topic, As someone who practices regularly , I would say I have had "bad" practice sessions but it's normally as my body is slow/stiff/tired but I also force myself to finish the practice session. I would say 90% of the time I am glad I pushed through it instead of stopping early.
Good advice! The habit is all! And the 2 minute rule really does work. Even that minimum gets your brain programmed.
I don't play on my work days as I work till 11pm, but on my two days off i play 3-4 hours a day off
For me, trying to make the time to drum is a struggle. I work full time from 6:00am to 2:30pm most days, rest, go to the gym for a couple of hours, and eat. By the time I get home, it's roughly 7:00pm, so it might be too late for me to play drums and practice. Sometimes I would replace cardio with drums instead or use my rest days to play drums. Most I have on me is a practice pad while my drum set is about five minutes away from my apartment since it's at a band member's garage that his parents allow me to have access to. I feel like as long as I'm not too busy during the week, I can squeeze in a few drum practices a week and try to work on stuff.
Thanks for commenting Kevin. That's a super relatable scenario. For what it's worth, if it were me, I'd set small measurable goals to chip away at a little bit at a time every day on the practice pad (new rudiment up to a certain BPM, etc.) and save my limited time on the kit for working on songs, improvising, and otherwise having fun.
I really have to do a better job at making time to practice. Life some times throws us curves.! People are so busy in there everyday lives,they forget to stop and do things that bring them joy,such as getting behind the kit.
You'll never regret it!
UNIQUE
Great ideas!
I dont bother brushing...
Talk to much.Boring
The video is literally only talking. What were you expecting?