Because simply beginning is one of the biggest barriers to practicing, it helps to have a regular time designated as your practice time. Factors you might consider when trying to figure out your optimal practice time include:

• The times of day when you have the most energy.

• The times when the fewest people are around who might be disturbed by your practicing, including family, roommates, and neighbors.

• The times when you're least likely to be distracted by other people, phone calls, and so on.

Having a regular practice time has many benefits. For one thing, it carves time out of your daily schedule to prevent conflicts with other activities. It also ensures that you will have the expectation of practicing every day. Try your best to practice regularly at your practice time, not skipping days but just practicing less on your off days. Aiming to practice for one hour a day is a good place to begin if you want to show rapid improvement, but even fifteen or twenty minutes a day is an acceptable place to start. You might even find yourself joining the five-hours-a-day crowd someday soon!