5 Time-Savers For Stressed Out Drummers

The best time-savers for stressed drummers?

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Information!

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Each tip in this drumming guide is tried and tested.

Feel free to give your top picks a try as well.

Oh, and before I forget:

I’m talking about the negative version of stress in this drumming guide.

Set A Timer And A Time Limit [1st Tip]

Have you ever noticed that finishing some tasks take you just as long as you’ve got time on your hands?

The same goes for drumming:

To avoid wasting time and feel stressed-out, my first tip is to set a timer when practicing the drums.

I also highly recommend taking a closer look at the Pomodoro Technique.

For me, this productivity method really does the trick.

Maybe it does for you as well.

The thing is:

When you’ve got only 25 minutes for practicing the drums daily, you won’t mess with even a single minute of it.

Your practice time is limited and, therefore, feels even more precious to you.

If you’ve got 10 hours of practice time available, on the other hand, you might not feel the need to concentrate.

Because after all, you can do so over the next 10 hours.

See the difference?

If time is limited – even in an artificially way – you’re likely to make the most out of it.

Time-Saver 2 For Stressed Out Drummers: Cut The Distractions!

Social Media notifications, incoming calls or e-mails can be a HUGE distraction in the rehearsal room.

When a message is coming up, and you’re using a metronome app at the same time …

Are you still concentrated on your drumming exercise?

If you’re like me, maybe not so.

Tip 2 for this reason is:

Cut the distractions while practicing the drums.

Also, you could buy a digital metronome instead of using a metronome app when you simply can’t ignore incoming notifications on your phone.

That’s also a practical tip that can help you reduce your level of stress.

Plus:

Do not multitask.

But we come to this one later.

Practice And Play The Drums When You Intend To [3rd Tip]

There is a difference is playing the drums and practicing the drums:

Practicing is when you’re learning something new.

For this reason, practicing often can be demanding and even feel exhausting to some point.

Playing the drums however is much more fun.

That’s because you repeat what you’ve already learned.

Playing the drums for this reason feels way more

• relaxed,
• easy and
• pretty good, to be honest.

But:

Would you practice the drums at a concert?

Well, I hope not.

Will you play the drums there? Heck, yes!

That’s the difference:

You practice when you practice.

You play when you play.

The first is learning something new.

The latter is playing what you already can play at a certain level.

Big difference here!

So if you’re looking for those precious time-savers for stressed drummers, be honest to yourself:

Are you practicing the drums?

Or are you just playing what you’ve already learned?

When you play the drums instead of practicing the drums most of the time, you might feel stuck.

You might feel that you’re constantly staying on the same level.

Now you have found a possible reason why you’re stagnating.

And sure:

If you can practice AND make music at the same time, you definitely nail it.

This is the best case scenario there is.

Focus On One Thing At A Time [4th Tip]

Focus is something I’ve already mentioned before.

I will repeat myself now, but this one’s crucial:

If you want to succeed, you have to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Nothing else!

You simply can’t practice beat A properly while learning drum fill B.

Multitasking might still be considered helpful by some people, but it’s not.

For this reason, time-saver number 4 is outstandingly important if you’re already stressed out as a drummer.

Don’t try to do more. Do less and do it right.

This could be:

• Learning to drum to one particular great song.
• Mastering this tricky, yet awesome, groove.
• Finally understand the fill you want to play.

Focusing on ONE thing at a time also relieves a huge amount of stress.

You simply don’t have the need to do like everything at once, but just one thing you can actually do.

Ask yourself:

How does it feel to concentrate on the next 20 bars you want to learn – or just the next bar?

See, another big difference here.

Two Additional Time-Savers For Stressed Out Drummers [5th + 6th Tip]

I know, I promised you my 5 best time-savers for stressed out drummers.

However, I’d love to add one more.

Tips 5 and 6 have to be

• take out the pressure and
• make playing the drums more fun for you.

How do these tips help you, you ask?

As you can see, these two time-savers for stressed out drummers are highly related to one another:

Many drummers really stress themselves about their playing.

They feel like they have to do this, have to learn that …

It’s never enough.

MORE is the only way to go:

MORE speed.

Better technique.

Awesome musicianship.

MORE everything drums.

Heck, I do understand, of course.

But:

Always wanting more is like comparing yourself to others – it’s a road to unhappiness NOW.

Sometimes, it’s way more helpful to take out the pressure of drumming, and concentrate on the fun part again.

As I said in the beginning of this guide, I really want to help you with my time-savers for stressed drummers.

I do, because I know this state all too well.

So if you’re exhausted, stressed or even resentful of practicing the drums, take a step back.

Give yourself the time and space to have fun with the drums again.

I know, these two tips might sound strange, considering the other ones.

But look at them this way:

Time is relative.

If you have fun playing the drums, time’s for sure well spent.

Sometimes, it’s better to do less to really achieve more.

You only got a few spare minutes to practice the drums daily?

Focus on one thing you want to learn at a time!

If you can’t play the drums longer today, you simply can’t.

Why stress about this fact?

It is what it is, right.

However:

You’re unsatisfied with the little time you have for drumming?

Maybe you can reduce your Netflix or Social Media time to change that.

I guess everybody has his or her own time-savers for stressed out drummers.

What are yours?

Perhaps the best step now is to think about what helps you save time AND stress.

Give my suggestions a try:

1. Set a timer and a time limit
2. Cut the distractions
3. Practice and play the drums when you intend to
4. Focus On One Thing At A Time
5. Take out the pressure
6. Make playing the drums more fun for you again

Which of the time-savers for stressed drummers are you going to give a try today?

Cheers,

Author: Manu Holmer

Hi, I'm Manu Holmer, nice to meet you! As a professional drummer and drum teacher, my vision is to help others transform their lives with the power of music. Let's not only play the drums. Feel the rhythm & and walk to our own beats! View all posts by Manu Holmer