In previous posts, we discussed the importance of practicing regularly and ways to make sure you can get some practice in consistently throughout the week. If you haven’t read those, please check them out here.

Now that we are getting in that regular practice time let’s talk about the quality of that time! Yeah, it’s not enough to show up and noodle on your instruments; you must put in some good focused work! 

The best way to ensure we maximize our time practicing is by planning ahead, and a great way to do that is by keeping a practice log or journal.

Once you start a practice journal, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner! Yea, it’s that helpful. So let’s get into how it works:

1) Start by writing down your goals for the next practice session. If you have trouble coming up with concrete goals, check out my post on proper goal-setting. Remember, these goals should fall in line with a bigger-picture plan you have in mind. Also, ensure they’re feasible for the amount of time you have.

2) Once you have written down what you want to accomplish, allocate time to each goal you have for your practice. A great way to divide your time is to use the Pomodoro technique. You can also simply use a timer to separate your time based on how much practice time you have on any given day. 

3) After your session, write down what went well, what didn’t, and what needs improvement. This is also an excellent time to plan your next session so that you don’t overthink what you have to do and how long you have for each activity you set aside the next time you practice. 

4) Review your last entry to know what to focus on at the start of your next session. Then, rinse, wash, and repeat.

Simple enough, right? Well, let’s get into why these steps are helpful:

1) Having more minor “process” goals clarifies what we are working on during our practice session. We can waste a lot of valuable practice time just trying to decide what we should do, so taking the time to really understand our big-picture goals and what minor actions we can take during our practice time puts us on a path towards those big goals. And we don’t waste any time getting to work! 

Reflecting on the session clarifies what we can do to improve, what worked, and what didn’t. We also have an archive to refer to, so no crucial ideas are missed. This will eliminate any “dead time” we may have that could otherwise be spent wondering what to work on next.

Your journal can be physical, an online doc, or a note-taking app. I personally use Evernote, and a detailed description of how I use it, plus templates, can be found here.

Thinking ahead about our overall goals, breaking those down into smaller, actionable, process-oriented sub-goals, and blocking out time for the practice session ahead is a great way to make leaps in your musicianship. Combine that with a post-session review, and you have a solid daily recipe for steady growth.