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I follow Frugal Guitarist web site fairly closely to keep my finger on the latest and greatest in the electric guitar world. Once in a while Will Chan, the main man behind the site, posts these really short but useful articles, like the one below, discussing the five ways to keep your practicing productive and, more importantly, fun.

Below are some of the ways that Will recommends:

1. Physical and Mental Isolation – While strumming out some chords in front of the TV or while hanging with buds might be a bunch of fun, in order to fully concentrate on getting better isolation is necessary. Now this doesn’t mean you have to rent a practice studio or go out into the middle of the woods, but make an effort to get away from the distractions of the world. Also, check your life at the door. It took some practice but I found the most productive practice sessions to be almost Zen like where my mind had been completely and totally clear once I sat down to play. This is also great preparation for performing for those who suffer from stage fright.
2. Set it and forget it – I’m a tweaker. Guilty as charged. Something about the myriad tones capable from an electric guitar just seems to hypnotize me. If I don’t stop myself, I’ll end up twiddling knobs for the entire practice time! So, I only allowed myself five minutes to dial in a tone. During this time frame I additionally allowed one full practice session a week to twiddle until I couldn’t twiddle any more to keep things from getting too stale.

Read the original 5 Ways to Improve your Practice Productivity article to find out the rest of the tips. Please support frugal guitarist while you are on the site.