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Supercharge your Practice: Time

Writer's picture: Alistair SmithAlistair Smith

Time. Time is our most valuable asset. It’s the one resource that isn’t renewable, extendable or replaceable. The moments we have here and now, will never exist again. 


In today's blog, we are continuing our series on “Supercharging your practise”.This week we are looking at a method to maximise our use of time when we practise. It won’t give you more practice time, but will help use the one you have more effectively. 


“I don’t have time to practise” is probably the most common thing music teachers hear from students. Whilst making time for practise is important and more a matter of priorities, making the most out of what time we do have to practise is highly important. One simple method we can use to maximise our time in the practise room is to use a timer. 


It’s not sexy. It’s not glamorous. It’s not complicated. It’s so simple that a child can do it. 


Why use a timer? 

It can be really easy to get lost in thought when practising or think we’ve spent 5 minutes playing something but it’s only been 90 seconds. Why spend the time thinking about how long you’ve been practising when you can just focus on actually practising! 


Using a timer will allow you to forget about time and focus deeply on what you are trying to accomplish. You won’t run over or under the time you’ve planned because the timer will tell you when it’s finished and time to move on. Focussing like this is a very powerful method for internalising and improving on skills as our whole attention can be used for the activity. This results in deeper & more effective practice and therefore growth. 


How to use a timer

Using a timer involves a little bit of planning ahead but it saves you time in your practice sessions. 


Here are a few simple steps to follow to implement a timer into your practice. 

  1. Plan ahead. You have to decide before you start your practice what you’re going to work on. Knowing what exercises, pieces, techniques etc. you want to look at and having them ready to work on is important. 

  2. How long? Decide how long your session will be and how much time you want to focus on the things you’re working on. * Pro Tip:: we’d also suggest creating a loose priority to these exercises. Sometimes life happens and we don’t have all the time we need to do the things we’ve planned. So if you could only work on elements of your plan, what would it be?

  3. Use the timer. When you’re ready to practise, put your timer on and start with your first element. Keep working on it until the timer goes off. Then move on. 

It’s so simple. You can use an app on your phone (most phones have timers built into them these days too) or you could use a physical timer. Whatever you use, choose something that has an alarm or sound that goes off when the time is up. This alert will allow you to forget about time. 


Next time you practise, try using a timer. It may seem too easy to start off with, but once you get into a deep concentration or flow state you will feel the benefit of not having to worry about time. Small, concentrated efforts have proven results for producing growth and improvement in skills. Why not take the timer challenge today?


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