How do you find time to practice piano during workdays?

L-M · 2025-07-15T08:42:05+00:00

I’d love to hear how others manage this. I work full-time, and by the time I get home, I'm either too tired or only have a short window before it's too late...

TC3

Whenever possible, I get up early enough to practice at least a little in the morning before heading out for work.
I also tend to get a little bit of a second wind in the evening, so practice then instead of watching TV or surfing the web like I'm often tempted to do.
It's not always possible though, some days are just plain busier than others.

LifelongBeginner

I used to always focus on getting at least 10-15min on a weeknight, even if I'm tired. So many seeming benefits: no other immediate tasks awaiting me, kids are asleep, the whole "a night's sleep can help consolidate learning" rationale, etc. But I have to be wiser about this., When I'm tired, it's a struggle but worth pushing myself, but when I'm REALLY tired, it's not worth it. I've actually found myself dragging and yawning at the keyboard. I also don't recommend it if you're working on a slower and/or minor key piece. It got really depressing!

In contrast, early morning I'm almost always in a better physical and mental state, except all the demands of life awaiting me. I'd summarize that early morning is ideal for me, but late at night is most practical for me.

ShiroKuro

L-M I also work fulltime, at uni, so I teach and do research and sometimes I’m working from 8am until 9pm. And although I love the idea of early morning practice, I’ve never been able to make it happen.

So I just make sure I get to the piano before bed. Sometimes it’s maybe only 15 minutes, sometimes it’s a lot more. On the weekend I also take more time. But the key for me (pun!) is that daily practice. As long as I’m doing that, when I have more time, I am able to make progress.

If I don’t have a lot of time or am exhausted, I just play. It might something new or not, but the point is to get my hands on the piano. If I have more time, or I don’t have much time but I’m not exhausted, I work on new music and actually practice.

Whenever I’ve been at the piano. Afterwards, I write a “P” on the calendar for that day. Seeing those Ps add up in the calendar is very motivating!

@L-M how long have you been playing?

Player1

I make time. Just like some immediately turn on the tube when they come home, I turn on my piano.

LifelongBeginner

TheBoringPianist

Water boiling? Spot practice a few measures. Food in the oven and prep bowls washed? Piano time.

There are better reasons to miss having an acoustic, but you'd be surprised how much this is one: being able to walk by and get an immediate sound out of it, before I've even sat down if I wanted to. But this instant gratification, microwavable society has ruined me: "I'd have to go to my digital, take the cover off, pull the bench out, sit down, then hold the power button for SIX. WHOLE. SECONDS." Who knows how many more little practice moments I'd steal without such intolerable delays! 🙂

MandM

TheBoringPianist
The method that you describe of setting appropriately-sized goals works also here. For example, for me, the task of playing 1 hour in the evening is daunting, so I set the goal to only 5 mins. Then, 5 mins often turns into playing longer.😃 Like you said the trick is to get the momentum going. Btw, I am also a remote worker (legal services).

pianoloverus

If one enjoys practicing or is motivated enough by the desire to learn a new piece because one loves it so much even if one doesn't enjoy practicing, then one will find time to practice. I think that's the real issue in this discussion, and there are very few people who don't have 1/2 hour or more each day of free time that they could devote to practicing if they were motivated enough. The only time I've had to force myself to practice is when I've had to learn music under some deadline so I might have to practice than I'd normally feel comfortable doing.

Player1

pianoloverus If one enjoys practicing or is motivated enough by the desire to learn a new piece because one loves it so much even if one doesn't enjoy practicing, then one will find time to practice.

It's more than this.

There are many aspects to my day, and I suspect the same is true for you, that I don't enjoy or have much motivation for. Yet I do them, as I suspect you do as well. These are things like doing the laundry, washing dishes, etc.

We do these things because they're part of our lives. Making time to play is no more difficult, we just have to make it part of our lives. Once we do, we sit and play. Not because it's a chore, but because we want to.

ShiroKuro

pianoloverus If one enjoys practicing or is motivated enough by the desire to learn a new piece because one loves it so much even if one doesn't enjoy practicing, then one will find time to practice. I think that's the real issue in this discussion, and there are very few people who don't have 1/2 hour or more each day of free time that they could devote to practicing if they were motivated enough.

I think this shows a lack of understanding of the challenges many adults experience when trying to get started (or re-started) with piano. Also, many people are exhausted after work and have a long list of various tasks that need attention. If piano isn't already part of someone's life, it can be very difficult to make space for it, even if, yes, that person does indeed have a spare half hour that they could, in theory, devote to piano. And if that someone is an adult beginner, then this is even more so the case.

Once a routine is established, then it's much easier to maintain. But getting to that point is quite challenging, and not simply a matter of being "motivated enough."

pianoloverus

Player1 Since piano playing is a hobby and not an essential chore like doing the laundry, why even play if one does not enjoy it and it's comparable to something like doing the laundry?

Player1

pianoloverus

I specifically said that we don't play because it's a chore.

hebele

pianoloverus all of my hobbies so far required some level of discipline to show up. At the beginning I am obsessed with them. But once honeymoon ends, progress becomes slower, things settle on a routine then I have to make an effort to start. I usually enjoy the session, if I manage to start it. Lack of that initial discipline is what kills my hobbies unfortunately.

pianoloverus

Player1 OK, but right before that you seem to compare practicing to doing the laundry?

rsl12

Player1 I specifically said that we don't play because it's a chore.

I agree that's what you said, though it's interesting that your latest comment is deliciously ambiguous.

Meaning 1: we play, but not because it's a chore.

Meaning 2: because it's a chore, we don't play.

Anyways, your first comment was clear to me. We make time for chores as part of our daily routines, chores that we don't even like. Piano is something we like to do; therefore it should be easier (in one sense) to make time for piano. I have nothing to add. I just thought the ambiguity was interesting!

pianoloverus

hebele Interesting. My three are hobbies piano, chess, and tennis but, for me, none of them ever required discipline to show up except maybe when I had to prepare something in a limited amount of time for performance so I was forced practice more than I normally would find enjoyable. I think that for piano once one reaches a certain level, maybe around ABRSM 7, there are so many great masterpieces available one doesn't necessarily have to be concerned about improving. I can see that before some level one might be more concerned about improving because many great pieces one might want to play are not yet doable. Of course for some people, depending on one's personality, constantly improving is the most important goal.

iternabe

hebele pianoloverus all of my hobbies so far required some level of discipline to show up. At the beginning I am obsessed with them. But once honeymoon ends, progress becomes slower, things settle on a routine then I have to make an effort to start. I usually enjoy the session, if I manage to start it. Lack of that initial discipline is what kills my hobbies unfortunately.

Well said! I definitely would not claim every minute of my piano practice is enjoyable. Luckily I haven't had any minutes that I dread ... yet. But there are certain exercises that it's hard to feel improvements after minutes, or even hours. Maybe a glint of hope after days and months. Discipline has to be the drive to keep working at it. As adult learner, life experience of knowing hard work may eventually payoff helps, too.

Player1

rsl12 I agree that's what you said, though it's interesting that your latest comment is deliciously ambiguous.

I'm mysterious, not ambiguous.

pianoloverus

ShiroKuro I think most adults do have a half hour of free time(really a lot more) after work and making space for it does not depend on whether it's already a part of their life.

twocats

pianoloverus if you haven't experienced the level of exhaustion that I (and probably many others) have had, you just can't relate. I struggle to get anything done when I'm that tired, it is literally a medical issue. I force myself to do my chores but anything that's more effort than being on my phone is extremely difficult.

ShiroKuro

pianoloverus I think most adults do have a half hour of free time(really a lot more) after work and making space for it does not depend on whether it's already a part of their life.

The idea that people do in fact have time may make sense to you, but the fact is that the topic comes up again and again, with regard to piano playing as well as other hobbies adults want to get involved in. This demonstrates that people do in fact struggle with making time for piano practice, whether it looks like they "have time" or not.

For many adults, it's very hard to make time for a new activity and to build that into their daily lives. This can be because of exhaustion, because of other responsibilities, because of child care or elder care... And also because of not knowing exactly how to approach practice and feeling overwhelmed.

So saying "people can make time if they really want to" is just not helpful. Instead, sharing concrete ideas about what to do, when, and how, makes it a lot more likely that people will be successful at making piano part of their daily lives.

TheBoringPianist

pianoloverus I think most adults do have a half hour of free time(really a lot more) after work and making space for it does not depend on whether it's already a part of their life.

This is a true statement about the average person's time management but also not a particularly helpful practical statement for people trying to start a piano routine because energy management, not time, is often the bottleneck. That's why energy-based tactics like setting small but consistent goals (e.g. 5 min a day), linking the new habit to existing habits (e.g. if you already make coffee every morning, play piano instead of doomscrolling while you wait), or moving practice earlier in the day (when you have more energy reserves) can be effective while tactics that treat time as if it's fungible ("just practice instead of watching TV at night") are more likely to fail for most people.

pianoloverus

ShiroKuro If people were really too tired or had no time to practice, then there would be no point and sharing hints about how to practice during work days. If they are not too tired and they do have time, then I think it's mostly a question of motivation.