This is why you don't practice (me too)

I have a soloist job coming up next weekend, and I've had the music over a month. I started practicing in earnest yesterday.

I've procrastinated worse in the past -- showed up for jobs not quite knowing that descending interval or feeling wonky about an entrance. Or there was the time the conductor had to feed me the lyrics to "Never Had a Friend Like Me" at an orchestra concert in Temecula. Joops.

I made myself go downstairs to the in-transition studio today -- needs a new floor now after a furnace leak :/. I got going on the material, and I was like, "Oh, this is totally doable. I just need to do like 25 minutes a day."

I don't know why I'm such an avid practice procrastinator -- this is one huge reason why I have to put my ass on the line, though. If I don't have to show up in front of people, I don't get to work as well.

But practicing technique, I think, can be even harder. Number one, the outcome seems questionable -- will I ever get this coordination or make the sound I'm wanting to make? Not sure. Might as well not practice rather than confront the pain of never getting there.

But if we have tools that we know will yield results, that's a different thing. It sucks, and you have to trust that if you do x for y amount of days or weeks, your body and mind will map new pathways, and you'll do it. But it's the TIME. And the TRUST!

Hard to to.

I've found success with saying -- FINE! I'll do 3 minutes. That's it. 3 minutes. Here. FINE. I start, and usually, flow takes over.

What are some things you're procrastinating or avoiding? And if you could find the microwave fix for it, what would that look like? Share it! I may have a straightforward plan or system I can give you for your solution.

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Dan Callaway Studio

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