My blog buddy IG, wrote this article today about the power of short practice sessions. I totally agree that short, daily practice sessions are a great way to keep your chops up. My only problem is that while I normally set a time limit of about 30 minutes to practice each day, my practice session oftentimes turns into a couple to a few hours. For instance, I was practicing arpeggios one day recently, and happened to do an arpeggio “run” in Am that sounded like it would fit with an acoustic riff that I had come up with a long time ago. I was having problems coming with suitable lyrics and a song structure, so I had just laid down the riff to save it for posterity and let it sit.
So I opened up the song in GarageBand, played the arpeggio run along with the acoustic riff, and voila! I had the basis for a new song. That turned into a two-hour recording session, but the result was a really cool instrumental.
The point to all the anecdote is that you can use your practice time to open up possibilities for new song ideas. The original riff for “RESOLUTION” was the result of practicing a rhythmic strumming technique and chord/picking pattern that I wanted to get a lot cleaner than I had played it in the past. It turned into a song.
So you never know what might come out of your practice…
Guitar Gear 
Thanks for keeping this conversation alive GoofyDawg. Nice.
I totally agree with you. And, as I said in the post, going over the allotted time (whether it’s 15 or 30 minutes or whatever) is totally fine. Frankly, I would expect that most people would go over, or would actually want to go over most of the time.
The thought is really about motivating yourself to practice and building the habit of being proactive about playing regularly. So, by limiting the time “expectation,” you have more motivation to do it and get yourself into the habit.
In your case, I think you’re an example of a mature player who has come to build the habit set by a limited time, but knows to recognize when it makes sense to continue in order to produce something creative or when to stop, if that makes any sense at all… 🙂
IG
ps, so bummed I didn’t get time to hook with ya during my San Fran trip. 😦 Next time…
Kinda figured your schedule would be full. Next time for sure!
I wouldn’t focus on the time aspect so much, unless other areas of your life are suffering from a lack of your attention.
Play as long as it’s fun but always try to end off at a good point in order to keep your guitar on the sunny side of life.
Time is a funny thing. Sometimes you can make lots of progress in a very short period, and other times the opposite is true.
As long as it’s flowing, it’s best to continue. Take a break if it seems like too much effort. More is accomplished in the no-effort zone– and it’s more fun.
Absolutely, Strato… I should say that I give myself “at least” 30 minutes a day – it’s my minimum. But if I feel like continuing, if time permits, I’ll keep on going.
That said though, I’m glad it’s summer because it means other than working out, I don’t have to be anywhere for school events.