Having a goal is like having a direction to your dreams. Set a simple goal like learning sweep picking in a week, mastering a shred lick, playing a new song etc.. anything that you can achieve in a short span of time. You can also set a long term goals like being a great jazz artist, metal artist, being a famous player or play in a band. This are just examples of goals that you can set, for you to have something to achieve. You can also avoid wasting time when practicing, because you have something to do or something to achieve.
Identify your Techniques
Identify your techniques. You should know first what your strengths and weaknesses. So that you will know what things to improve while practicing and also to avoid over practice on things that you really don't need to practice.
Focus
Decide what you are going to practice. Some of us are practicing the things that they already mastered, because of these some are really wasting their time. You should focus on something that you're having a trouble with, we should work on our weaknesses and make them our strengths. By focusing on your weaknesses, you can achieve your goal in a short period of time.
Set a Practice Routine
Make a plan. You can make a daily practice routine, if you have a lot of time or Weekly practice routine. Decide how long do you need to practice on a certain technique. Set a time for warm up, 10 minutes is good for warm up exercises. Also set a time in techniques, like sweep picking, shredding, scales, modes, improvisation etc.. You should practice your weaknesses longer than the other techniques, because you need to put some time to master it.
Play
Give time to yourself to use and enjoy the new techniques you learned, because some are keep on practicing and they don't have time to use it, then what is the purpose of practicing? Also learned to apply or use those techniques in your playing, because that's the reason why we are practicing, for us to improve our playing.
