Use the Force Luke!

Why it's best not to think when you practice.

I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, don't think! I tell students this a lot and they just kind of look at me like I'm kidding. The fact is, if you've practiced your song enough times there should be muscle memory to do the work for you. Sometimes I can just see them thinking too much and the next thing you know, they're making mistakes. If there's a difficult passage, play it slowly and don't pick up speed until you're sure you've played it correctly several times. Jazz guitarist Howard Roberts, founder of the Guitar Institute of Technology, gave this advice: "play so slowly you can't possibly make a mistake." When you do that, you're going to improve your playing and smooth out the rough spots.