To Practice or Not To Practice

That is the question. Sometimes it is just so difficult to practice in this era. With so many distractions, work, family, friends (the few I have), books! Yes books are such a distraction. I find the hardest thing is to just to sit down and start practicing. However, once I start I cannot stop. Of course it would just have to be like that. The hardest part about practicing is the volume of material to practice. Where do I start? With which song do I begin? Is that song even ready to study at the piano, or does it need more reading through. Reading through/analyzing is very a tedious process. I sure most musicians would agree that any form of practice away from ones instrument is very difficult. Insight #1, pianists procrastinate practice. It sounds like a tongue twister or someone learning words starting with "P". And, okay I know that not everybody is going to agree and that there are great piano students out there that practice all the time and enjoy every minute of it. I just have to say you must be quite the artist to never be frustrated by the black squiggly notes on the page. Musicians have to have one of the few careers where they self-inflict their own stress and frustration. Probably because we are our own boss. In fact we are our own teacher. My teacher is not much of authoritarian it seems. Since, I can obviously not discipline my inner pupil to practice!
Of course that is not completely true. If I did not practice at ALL, then I would be indeed a sad piece of work. I like to think that I at least play well and have the potential to play great. As an artist I must find the discipline to apply myself to my instrument. It is all mental after all. A tug of war with my mind. This is where life as a pianist becomes lonely. You turn down party invitations, can't sit down for dinner with the family, ignore phone calls, and work maybe one day a week if you can manage that. Then you spend your day practicing for 8-10 hours, then you sleep and possibly eat if you feel like it. People just don't understand it and why should they? It is manic behavior, definitely obsessive compulsive, and every bit egocentric. I certainly paint a ugly picture of a pianists personality. But why should I lie, we don't act normal. No normal person would practice to the point of having to soak their hands in ice water. No normal person would practice a glissando until their fingers bled. (Warning: I do not recommend doing this, it is very painful and you will not be able practice glissando's for a few weeks.) So what can motivate you to practice? Last minute panic. I should definitely find a better one, but right now it works. So today, remember "don't procrastinate practice" or play glissando's for too long, i will not be responsible for any injuries!