How do you find motivation to play after work?

[AussieTerry84]

I work in retail n dont get home til 11pm and i have NO motivation to play :-(

im gonna look into getting a better job but anyway how do u guys find the motivation after work?

[CowboyFromHell]

Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I don't need to "find" motivation to play. I recently went back to school (yes, I'm 43) which added another 4 hours just in class time, not counting time for homework, so on top of everything else I still have to find time to stay in practice. I guess it just boils down to how bad you really want something. My shortage is time, not motivation. There's just not enough hours in the day sometimes.

[Newc]

I work 12-hour shifts in a factory, but it's broken up into 48 hours one week, 36 the next, so I'm off Mon, Tues, Fri-Sun one week, but work those days the next, though I'll occasionally pick up the guitar when I get home, especially if I've got a riff in my head or an idea for something I've been working on recently.

A while back, I took one of my guitars to work so I could noodle at breaks and lunch, outside in the smoking area with my laptop. I was able to cut a few tracks, and lay down some rough sketches, because I kept thinking of new things between breaks.

It's not that I can't find the motivation on most days, I just spend a lot of time going over stuff in my head, piecing it all together, visualizing it, so that when I do pick up a guitar I have a clear picture of what I want to play, rather than just bang out riff after riff of "oh hey, lemme develop that further" and end up with another 50 riff ideas
Or worse, rehash the same old stuff I've already finished just because it's finished. Good for the chops and recall, as well as good general practice, but I spend more time on "the easy stuff" than I do actually working on the stuff I intended to work on.

[DonP]

When I work from home every other week, I play on my lunch hours. It's "me" time.

When in Nashville, I get off at 5 to 6pm and go screw off at GC, Sam Ass or other places.

[ginsambo]

Damn. Every time I play it's like the best christmas I ever had as a kid, or getting laid for the first time. This is no lie, as soon as I get in, usually around 8, I put the marshall on standby, whether I play it or not. Then it's like calling me with this hum. Then when I look at the time, it's 11 already and I still haven't eaten.

I don't watch any TV at all or read newspapers, all that time is taken playing a strat and a Marshall or checking my email or quoting/invoicing for work. I don't think it's a question of motivation. For me playing is like smoking, you know you could be on your death bed and you'd still be craving for one more cigarette, no matter how tired I am, it's addictive. But I'm lucky as mentally I am not usually all that exhausted after work, only physically. But I think the trick is that you have to be making music and not just practicing. That way you relax and your rhythms get tighter and your dexterity gets better and I find I remember more that way too, rather than approaching it technically.

When I don't feel like playing I don't, but that usually only lasts for three days a month or so. If you could hear my EJ wired Strat bounce through my Marshall, you'd play every night too.

I could never take a guitar into work though, I'd have no desire to play at as my mind is focused on other things and my brain is too full as that is creative too, but at home I think the secret is to mix it up and play real music, not bitty diddies. Practice runs and patterns in a context of a jam without much gain on a strat, loosen up, play rhythms, Jimi and RHCP's then go back to that I'm insane Ratt solo part up to speed and your muscle memory has established itself and it's easy. I can't play rock or HM alot weekdays as it does wear me out, mostly I just chill out to the bounce of my tubes with a Strat and practice singing a bit. I know as soon as I touch that Charvel it will be a hell of a morning the next day with what little sleep I get with my adrenaline still pumping and I'II still be sweating. That is like smoking three packs a day for me with ten pints. Too much on a working weekday.

[FloydRose4Prez]

It was hard before but now that my new son is here...Wow!
I play the acoustic for him but he loses interest (the attention span of a 7 month old is not very long), I'll teach him when he gets older. I guess that's the motivation now. I want him to learn but take it more seriously than I did. I want him to shred, in other words. And break par when he's 10.

[Newc]

I could never take a guitar into work though, I'd have no desire to play at as my mind is focused on other things and my brain is too full as that is creative too,

Luckily the mental demands of my job, though equal to, are polar opposites from the mental demands of playing guitar, so it's easy for me to go from one to the other. Or maybe it's schizophrenia. Either way, I find it easy to balance them at work. Only trouble is I don't have as much time to play as I do to work

[AussieTerry84]

Hate seeing my Model 6 and RR1 sitting there all lonely

[Nimitz]

My motivation comes from people that piss me off at work... I too get off late... but I also have a man cave where I can crank it to eleven and bleed from the ears.




My motivation also comes from friends always doing the same crap... I use my ability to rock out as an escape from the boredom.

[emperor_black]

It was hard before but now that my new son is here...Wow!
I play the acoustic for him but he loses interest (the attention span of a 7 month old is not very long), I'll teach him when he gets older. I guess that's the motivation now. I want him to learn but take it more seriously than I did. I want him to shred, in other words. And break par when he's 10.

Congratz! My wife's expecting a boy in the next few weeks as well. can't wait to show off my guitars to him and teach him some riffs!

To the OP...don't sweat it out man! The most important thing is that you still maintain the inclination to play. If you can't play everyday, then try playing once in 2 days. You'll see that the mere thought that you were unable to play yesterday and today is the day you're gonna be playing the guitar can be such a great feeling.

For me, playing everyday is no longer possible. sometimes, when I'm listening to music, my focus will locak on one riff and that riff will keep playing in my head that I want to pick up the guitar and try it out.

[RR2772]

Motivation to play? Yes it is still there and I do pick up at least one of 4 guitars every day lasting anywhere from some seconds to god only knows. It helps when the sound is good, the strings are fresh and I learned something new which I can hear and feel instead of the same stuff you learned a few decades ago. Oh it still sounds like me. That is not to inspiring to feel sometimes.

[FloydRose4Prez]

[QUOTE=emperor_black;1568565]Congratz! My wife's expecting a boy in the next few weeks as well. can't wait to show off my guitars to him and teach him some riffs!

Nice dude! It's awesome. Our first. I'm tired all the time now but he is so worth it. I gotta learn some more acoustic songs - I'll start him of with basic chords in a few years. (Like we all did...) If I'm playing the radio (Hair Nation), I turn up the guitar solo and tell him to focus on it. But he doesn't care...

[VitaminG]

I often don't feel motivated. But I keep guitars on stands near my computer desk. So if I'm just poking around on the internet, I'll often just pick up a guitar to noodle. It may turn in to playing through tunes, or just running scales & arps. But it ensures I'm playing most days. Still suck though

[Hellbat]

I try to learn riffs/licks to songs outside of what I listen to normally or play. I can always take something useful away with it, even if it's just 5 minutes of engaging my ears and fingers.

Tonight's playtime learning was El Matador by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. It was a good workout of my mexi-ska muscles.

[jgcable]

Here is my motivation. I love playing.