33 Ways to Make More Time in Your Life For Music-Making

1. Disconnect. Power down your computer–or if you absolutely need the thing for some reason related to your practice and studies, sever it from the internet. Switch off your router. Close all unnecessary windows. You might even consider setting up a new user account with a bare-bones desktop and easy access to the tools you need, nothing else.

2. Banish Television. On your deathbed, will you regret not seeing this particular episode of “Generic Man and his Comical Family”? Alright then.

3. Timer. Every day, set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Within that time, work on a particularly mundane task related to your instrument or music theory. This is perfect for memorizing dry material inside and out over a long period of time, in small daily installments.

4. Noodle Control. This one’s for guitarists: lay the guitar down on your lap to avoid the temptation to noodle while you’re supposed to be learning chord forms, scale fingerings, or the note names on the fretboard. Thanks, Ted Greene. Again, just a few minutes of this every day will advance you.

5. Shut off your cell phone. You don’t need the added distraction of incoming texts from National Geographic’s Twitter account. Unless you’re writing about giraffes or the indigenous peoples of New Guinea.

6. Take Your Song to Lunch. Seal off your office during your break or take lunch at a weird hour so that you can work on some music. If you work a conservative day job, just imagine how cool this’ll make you look to your staff or coworkers: guitar on one knee, tie roguishly thrown over one shoulder…

7. Refuse Dead-End Gigs and Mind the Big Picture. If you’re out there churning out cover songs, you’re not working on the original material that has the potential to actually form your legacy. Say no to gigs that don’t pay enough, that aren’t fulfilling, or that don’t advance you down the path of what you really want to do. Stay true to your talent.

8. Purpose. Before you pick up your instrument, ta

ke a moment to decide what you’ll be practicing. Fix it clearly and firmly in your mind. Then get to it! Stick to your plan and don’t allow yourself to wander.

9. Sufi. Sit down and do not get up until you’ve completed one specific task or goal: 2 chapters from a music theory book, for example, or a new chord progression for songwriting.

10. Set a timer for 15, 30, 60, or 90 minutes… however much you can stand. During that time, chip away at the tiny corners of a big, intimidating project. Don’t think about how much or how little progress you make. The goal is not to finish anything in that block of time, or to achieve perfect results—just spend the time.

11. Want the Worm? No need to fish around in the bottom of a tequila bottle. Instead, try waking up just ten minutes earlier to warm-up or practice before breakfast. Even ten minutes is enough to awaken your writing, composing, or performing instincts… and leave you thinking about art all day long. Pat Pattison, Berklee professor (and Gillian Welch’s lyric writing teacher) recommends writing first thing every morning in his excellent book, Writing Better Lyrics.

12. Redecoration. Try making musical instruments, music books, and recordings focal in your home. This is sometimes a process of cleaning up all the other clutter and sometimes a process of putting your instruments, books, or notebooks where they’re easiest to grab and easiest to use. If you suddenly find your banjo in your hands every afternoon when you get home, you’re doing well with this.

13. Reclaim Your Loose Change. Our lives are pecked away one dime at a time: long checkout lines, waiting rooms, commercial breaks, rambling and unclear public speakers. To counter this, carry a tiny notebook full of little factoids, scales, chords, etc. that you need to memorize. Whenever you’ve got a spare moment—in line at the store, etc.–pull out the notebook. Memorize concepts. Visualize certain scales and chords as though you had your instrument under your fingers. Take back your time.

14. Pavlov’s Dogs. Give yourself a treat every time you complete a task or goal. The road to advanced jazz harmony is paved with honey-roasted peanuts.

15. To be Continued. Don’t stand up from any practice session until you’ve jotted down some notes on what you’d like to do and learn next, what you need to work on, any questions you’d like to investigate, etc. Take a moment to reflect, review, and apply what you’d learned.

16. Make Yourself Want it. Write inspiring quotes from musicians you admire on your walls. Post them above the shower. Listen to favorite recordings and see yourself on stage performing them. Play air guitar (even if you play real guitar). Imagine how amazing it will feel to be able to fluidly and easily execute the level of technique and artistry that you desire. Make yourself want it.

17. Consolidate and Review. Put everything you need for practice and creative work together in one place. Songwriters: pick up every scribbled idea and loose line, gather them all together in one box, and glue or copy them into a specific notebook or computer file. You can’t build on an idea if you’ve forgotten it exists, and if you suddenly get an idea for developing one of those little seedlings, you’ll want to be able to find the original before the new spark burns out. I also did something similar with my recording setup: gathering all the cables and equipment together on one table significantly boosted my recording time. Make it as logistically easy as possible to do what you find most fulfilling.

18. Earbuds. Fill up your iPod or similar device with inspiring and informative material to listen to while you shop, mow the lawn, shower… etc. If you’re looking for something to listen to, what a coincidence! I’ve got a new podcast launching later this week! Oh happy day! (UPDATE: a few songwriting audio programs are now up)

19. Ditch Eeyore. Hang out with other creative types and positive people.

20. Groupies. Imagine how cool you’ll look rocking out in front of all those cute boys or girls. If you’re a more subtle, sensitive performer, imagine the starry-eyed admirers who’ll hear your songs and think you’re a true poet and ask you to sign their copy of Anne Sexton’s complete works. Whatever.

21. Geek Out with New Tools and Toys. Buy a new piece of gear or a book about your art.

22. Slow Down. Oddly enough, it’s typically more efficient to slow down and develop accuracy and knowledge before speed. Don’t rush through things; make sure you understand each new concept or can play each new musical phrase cleanly and in tempo before moving on. In the long run, this can streamline your entire course of study.

23. Don’t Hide Behind Your Day Job. Unless you really want your day job more than you want your dreams. I work full-time, write all the content on this site, practice guitar, write songs, and study—and I still have time left over for a social life. Practice whether you’re tired or not. Write lyrics whether you want to or not. Think long-term.

24. Use Ben Franklin’s method for tracking adherence to desired habits.

25. Find a practice buddy. Hang out frequently with musicians and other creative types—you’ll find yourself thinking about your own art much more often, since it’s more likely that such topics will come up in any group of consciously creative people. Share what you learn with one another and the whole group will be better for it.

26. Create a Points System. 5 points for a new chord form! 10 points for a new scale! 5 points for an idea for a song title! 7.23 points for a verse written! Set yourself a particular number of points that you must fulfill every day. Having a menu of choices will help you sustain some momentum while giving you freedom to pick and choose what you feel like doing on any given day. This is great for inspiring healthy competition against your own high scores.

27. Reverse Psychology. Set a strict rule for practicing (see #26, immediately above). You are not allowed to rack up any more any more than 30 points’ worth of music every day. Nope, not even 31. No more than 30 allowed. If you’re like me, you’ll soon start bargaining with yourself: “Well, that song idea isn’t that great. Really it was just worth 3 points, not 5…humph.” Or you could take suggestion #3—setting a timer—and tell yourself that you have only that much time to learn something new.

28. Quit Hitting Yourself. Fellow music teachers have given me funny looks for this one, but I stand by it: do not guilt yourself if you skip a session, and do not make yourself do double duty next time—instead, just consciously choose not to practice today. Look your piano right in the… keys (or look your guitar right in the soundhole) and choose to do something else instead. And if you do have to fulfill obligations or do something fun instead, feel good about it. If you torture yourself about lack of self-discipline, you’ll come to associate music-making with guilt and feelings of inadequacy. What good will that do? This goes for my students as well: when you don’t practice between sessions, I’ll always be able to teach you something cool or interesting regardless. Hopefully you’ll be left feeling a little more inspired this time…

29. Integrate it Into Your Existing Schedule. Chip away at a few things while dinner’s cooking every night. Leave time for songwriting right after every workout. Sit down in your pajamas with your instrument every night right before bed. If you embed a new habit into an existing one, you may find that the new one is easier to maintain.

30. Keep Out. Post a skull and crossbones symbol on the door to a quiet room, lock the door, and make sure everybody else who lives in your home understands exactly what you mean when you hang that sign.

31. Books, Videos, Lectures, and CDs. Fill up your shelves with media related to your art. Bookmark helpful websites (cough cough) and make sure the shortcuts are visible in your browser or on your desktop. Take pleasure in reading the RSS feeds of music blogs or scan a page in a songwriting book when you’ve got a spare second.

32. Rig the Game. Here’s a particularly evil, self-flagellating, and ridiculously elaborate tip: to enhance your points system (see #26 above), give your favorite tasks odd numbers of points that won’t quite add up neatly in the daily sum. When you’ve set yourself a goal of fifty points per day, and on Wednesday night you end up with 47, the desire for perfection might spur you to do something extra that puts you well over your daily benchmark.

33. Goals and Deadlines. Set yourself a measurable, tangible goal: brainstorm ten song ideas, write the full first draft of a song, and so on. Short, medium, or long-term goals are all fine—but choose only one, make it manageable, and do whatever it takes to get that goal completed. Write reminders on your calendar. Program them into your cell phone, complete with irritating alarm tone.

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