Kody Myhra January 29, 2022
As a beginning clarinet student, my band teacher always made us fill out a spreadsheet with the amount of time we practiced every day. These logs started off as just writing in a time and having my parents sign off saying I did in fact practice, then escalated to a more rigorous practice log, requiring me to write in a time that I practiced and write a one-page reflection each week on how I structured my practices. While both of these methods got me to do my practicing, it definitely got me thinking: do practice logs work for everyone? Am I the only one who is benefitting from this?
A few years later when I entered high school, I had tried going back to reflecting on my practice sessions and tried to create a practice log. Being in high school, I had already aspired to be a musician in the future. Little did I know, the practice log grind would quickly come to a halt. I wondered to myself “Why isn't this working anymore? Am I not good at practicing?” To me, practice logs never really put me in a position where I felt like I wanted to push myself further than I did in previous practice sessions. While I do like to set goals, I never really wanted to exceed further than where I had to. I finally decided that writing practice logs was not my most favorite thing about playing my instrument, and immediately resorted to simply writing down the minutes I practiced.
The truth is that practice logs aren't going to work for everyone, and that’s okay. We all work and learn in different ways, making practice logs more beneficial to some than others. I find that practice logs more commonly work for people who are driven by previous success and by exceeding their previous goals. Progression is the stepping stones for every musician, and some people prefer to view their progress differently than others.
If you are thinking of going the practice log route, here are a few suggestions to get you started:
1: Find a format that works best for you.
Practice logs can come in all sorts of formats: making a graph, an online spreadsheet, or even a sticker chart! The possibilities are really endless as long as they motivate you to go out and play to your heart's content. I personally prefer a hand written graph or chart do depict my daily progress (plus, I get to go out and buy new pens and stickers!). Whatever you choose, stick with it on the daily. On average, it takes a person a few months to form a new habit, and by logging your practice daily, you are already on your way! If you end up not liking the format you chose (I do this from time to time) try another! The possibilities are endless. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Bar Graphs
Line Graphs
Habit Tracker Charts
Journaling
Making a Spreadsheet
Goal Setting
To Do Lists
Sticker Charts
Graphic Organizers
Video Diaries
2: Be patient with yourself.
Forming a new habit is hard. You are fitting something into your daily schedule that you haven't had to do before. Make sure you are watching out for yourself while keeping track of your progress. If you are not enjoying your results, then ditch the log! Logs won't work for everyone and that is OKAY:) Here are some examples of my practice logs from the start of college:
Some months, my practice logs looked like this:
Other times, my logs ended up looking like this:
Whatever your case is, don't be discouraged if things don't work out how you wanted. You can always restart and try again!
3: Get creative!
Since our logs can come in many different formats, we have creative liberty to make them look however we want! Add some stickers, use some markers, or go out and buy a nice notebook! Whatever you decide to do, make it your own. Some people prefer to journal what they practiced, or graph, or click a check box. This is your personal log to get fun and creative however you want. Making new habits fun is one step to further taking action on those habits.
Practice logs take time and effort to keep up. The easy part is that it is on you to keep up the practicing and seeing improvement. I hope these 3 tips can help you to become better at practicing and managing your practice time. As always, happy practicing!
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