Originally Posted by: dustinrippetoe916

Yea for sure. Trouble for me is finding motivation. I really love playing guitar actually. I have trouble finding motivation to do anything lately. I'm trying my hardest to tell myself to practice at least an hour a day after work. Whether it be on Guitar Tricks or even learning a song on Ultimate Guitar.

When I started playing guitar at about 16 (this was 1981), I was very motivated and like any kid, I practiced a lot. I was 16 and no responsibilities. Now I have a job with big responsibility and though my practice focus after these years is to build in to my skills a little something new, it's still the same issue; sometimes you just want to collapse after a day of work.

Yet, I do get in practice time. For me, I don't do it in a structured way. I mean, I do practice in a structured way but that is more a function of having played for a few decades, so that means I don't think about how I practice, I just kinda do. Still, I find that now I grab what time I can and work on a little something I've been messing with.

If you are at more of a beginner stage, don't do what I just said. I can practice like that because I've been playing for a long time and have built in skills that make learning new stuff less challenging. If you're at the beginner stage though but also find yourself seeing a larger time committment to be more than your motivation is able to take on, then don't overcommit.

Ideally, sure, a structured hour a day will net results. No doubt. That is unless that hour is so daunting within the context of your life that you don't practice at all. If so, think in terms of micro-practices. Just take less time and work on a few skills, chords or song section. The difference between what I do now and what I suggest is that in such a micro-practice, you should have a specific focus and what that little practice will contain. Know what you want to practice.

Me? It's more mood oriented. I work from home and take small mental breaks and often pick up a guitar (that choice also a matter of mood...hehe) and just work up something that I wanted to get a little better at. It's only a handful of minutes but it's focused.

All that said, it's better to play a little bit than not at all.