I want to be one of those guys that plays 6 hours a day. But I'm so lazy. Do you smoke pot? Drink coffee? What do you do? 

 

I don't want to stand when I play and my back starts to hurt a bit when I sit.

 

I don't know, practicing isn't much fun. Do you guys drink beer?

 

I might buy a pack of cigs and drink coffee in a cozy chair to help.

You play because your interested. because its a passion. It sparks life into you. Practicing is not a chore and never should be.

 

Altered states wont help anything have a clear mind when playing.

As a former stoner, I can assure getting baked won't help you at all, it slowed me down massively.  I personally prefer to play standing because it's more comfortable for me, and I'll be standing on stage when I get my band together.  If your back is getting sore, you probably need to adjust your strap or posture.  If it's still a problem after that, look into a lighter instrument.  I mostly play metal in low tunings, so I tend to stick with heavier instruments that can handle larger strings.

 

As far as keeping motivated, I play songs that I like.  I also switch to a different song if one starts getting me frustrated, then when I come back to it later, I usually do better on it.  I also try to jump out of my comfort zone every couple songs to help build the skills that will help me with the songs I really like.  I generally play in 1 to 3 hour groups multiple times a day so I can still take a break and get the other things I gotta do away from my bass done.

Stoner here, agree with TheDeathryder as far as altered states goes. If smoking while playing I tend to be sloppier technique wise as well as later forgetting notes. It does help pass the time while noodling but it's crap for seriously practicing.

 

As far as coffee gives me jitters and again there goes technique. As far as smoking, keep in mind it's an instrument you should be taking care of as if it were an extension of you. Nicotine coats everything in a room including your instrument and will damage the finish, electrical connections inside as well as make strings sound less crisp due to the nicotine coating.

 

As has been said practice is a fun time, it shouldn't be work it should be enjoyable the more enjoyable the more your likely to actually improve your play. I combo sit and stand while playing, standing is fine for hours on end, I hit the gym regularly and have noticed since doing so wearing my guitar no longer hurts my back. I also wear high so either sitting or standing it's resting on my shoulders and not my lap.

 

Micro breaks are your friend, try 30 mins to hour sessions and no more until after a half hour to hour of doing something other than guitar related, any longer and you may be losing focus and mentally wandering.

Gonna have to say this here: if you're looking into things to help you enjoy the practice more, I'd reevaluate what you're doing and why. Standing is the norm for gigs, as can be 2-3+ hour gigs where you get a 20 minute set break once, maybe twice if you're lucky, and that's spent sitting down, having a drink, wiping off the sweat and checking the instruments backstage before you go back on. As for the rest, it's already been said, but bears repeating: if you're not having fun practicing, you're not likely to practice. Stoning out only hurts you when playing (I know, used to be a stoner myself, seriously screwed up my retention and technique, such that I'm still trying to learn the things I missed as a result after close to 20 years beyond it), caffeine/alcohol, that really depends on the person. If you're playing and don't find what you're playing to be enjoyable, might want to look into playing another instrument, or maybe you're just not really an instrument person. I've known folks like that: love the whole concept of playing, but don't enjoy it, no matter what they play, or what instrument they try, not realizing that not everyone is gonna be the type who ever clicks with an instrument. You could look into vocals as an option, but know going in that that's even harder work and more painful exercise overall than playing an instrument.

 

If nothing else, definitely try types of music that you wouldn't necessarily consider playing or enjoying if you did. Thing that I saw in my own life and playing/gigging: guy I know listens to metal, rock, rap and punk; his actual gigs, the ones where he does the best and actually has the most fun, are playing blues, jazz and country. He doesn't understand it, because he doesn't like listening to those types of music, but he has the best overall experience as a musician playing them, so he plays them, and I think he's beginning to enjoy some of the stuff from those genres.

But I'm so lazy. 

 

Well, you clearly identified the problem. Stop being lazy!

 

Just don't stick to one routine. Try different things, see what goes for you. Switch from RS to some scale practice, maybe a bit of theory to keep it interesting, learn some licks, play some backing tracks, create your own song. There is a lot you can do, practicing should never be boring.

 

6hours/day is also not that good imo. If you learn new chords/scales you need time anyway to get used to it / muscle memory. You won't be able to learn the same thing in 6hours on one day better than spreading it over a couple days. Learning takes time, it's not an instant process.

I also have to strongly agree with bouncing around different styles of music. I've found a lot of songs now that I probably never would have listened to if I hadn't tried playing them. The customs here have expanded the styles I now play and listen to exponentially. When I got my bass, all I really tried to learn were the songs that I normally listen to. Anthrax, Slayer, Dethklok, Alice Cooper, KISS, but every now and then while scrolling through the song list, I'd catch a bit of a song and get drawn into it. Boston and Deff Lepard are 2 that I never would have listened to if it weren't for RS. This is why I think you should jump out of your comfort zone once in a while; sometimes you'll discover something new. Thanks to the customs here, I've been playing a lot of Sabaton, Nightwish, and other symphonic metal bands, and I didn't even know the genera existed until I found the list in the genera section of the forums!

 

This is good to get motivation

This is good to get motivation

This is one of the songs I *attempt* to play on my guitar when someone tells me to put my bass down :D

 

I can't play guitar to save my life lol

 

I also find Doomstar Requiem to be quite motivating.

To master the guitar you have to be reaaaally really passionate. The "I´m so lazy" is not an excuse.

There´s no magic drug ,technique ,or method to master the guitar art but pure conviction and persistence, we are all different persons as we all have different methods. And for the thing of playing extended hours you aren´t to get any better but injured.

"Do or do not! There is no try!!http://a.dilcdn.com/bl/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/11/01.jpg

If you get good....Groupies flashing their fine breasts and jumping your bones.....motivation problem solved lol

plus you rarely have to smoke your OWN stash    .....win-win

If you get good....Groupies flashing their fine breasts and jumping your bones.....motivation problem solved lol

plus you rarely have to smoke your OWN stash .....win-win

But at the end is like Dave Mustaine said to Scott Weiland whe STP began to be famous: You´ll have a lot o´ pussy a lot o´ drugs... just beware of drugs. And now Weiland is dead by an overdose just like Prince and a lot of musicians nowadays. Beware of drugs, they are no joke, whatever if you´ll be famous or not.:(

Dude relax, it was a joke....besides I never said "drugs"...YOU DID.

 I said stash.....referring to gods wonderful  green gift to mankind.....nobody OD's from my stash.....perhaps may lead to pizza and Doritos but hey  lol

 anyways it was a joke...sorry to those who may have been offended

 remember kiddies.....

Drugs are bad Mmmmkay