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One of the great difficulties of trying to become a master or expert in an artform, hobby, or practice is time management. When asked how much he practiced, the great jazz pianist Bill Evans said “The bare minimum.”

This is in contrast to modern advice that recommends spending as much time is possible on something you want to have succeed.

Asides from the obvious difficulty of there only being 24 hours in a day, and the reality that most of us don’t have the privilege of pursuing artwork full time, there is a more subtle point here.

The point is that letting the subconscious do the work is a good strategy when it comes to creative work. If you inundate yourself with drills you might gain a large degree of technical expertise, but you’re also mostly just scratching the surface over and over. A different approach is to pour all of your limited creative energy into your artform, hobby, or practice, and then stop and recover. Just like when you go to the gym you don’t want to overtrain and you need plenty of time to rest and recover.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t spend hours per day doing your creative work if you want to, I’m just saying that doing “the bare minimum” actually works very well.

When doing the bare minimum, there are three kinds of practice that are both important to your development as an artist, hobbyist, or practitioner. The first is dedicated practice time, the second is when you’re inspired, and the third is when you’re curious.

Just because you’re doing the bare minimum, it doesn’t mean you still don’t need to hold yourself accountable. If you want to constantly improve you should make a point to create every day. You should practice for 20 minutes or so before or after work every day, at the very least. This will ensure that you are making steady progress, even if you aren’t inspired. You will thank yourself if you go through a difficult spell where you aren’t inspired, and you still managed to get to your craft daily, even if only for a short time.

You should also absolutely practice your artform or hobby is when you are inspired to do so. This is your psyche telling you “I have creative energy to expend.” These can be some of the most productive practice sessions.

Finally when you are curious about trying something specific, absolutely practice. Typically the things you are curious about are the very realizations that you would be looking for when doing your other practice sessions. If your mind conceives of a new idea during your non-practice time, it’s good to integrate it into your practice as soon as possible. This frees up your mind to think of the next thing.

Letting the subconscious do the work is basically letting yourself build up creative energy in the form of inspiration or specific ideas between practice sessions, rather than seeking out each high moment or idea in the grind. Another benefit of practicing this way is you really don’t ever get tired of practicing, because you’re never forcing yourself to practice when you don’t want to.