I think it's important to consider the value of practice.

Most people tend to think of "practice," especially daily practice, as something solely relegated to the world of Buddhists, people who meditate, and musicians. But in my opinion and as a former devoted musician, I have come to the opinion that daily practice is necessary in any area in which you'd like to excel.

One thing that comes with daily practice is- well, what most people would consider the boring stuff, the technical exercises. Scales, then memorizing scales, then memorizing all the scales. And after you've memorized them still playing them every day; just upping the speed or introducing fancy technical ways to play scales. Some people are bound to find that boring.

I never did, scales were my favorite. I tell you what I still dream about playing scales sometimes and I tell you what I could pick up a flute and play without hesitation probably 8 out of the 12 scales out there. The other 4 I might need a few starts on, depends on how much I was overthinking it. Because that - that's the clue. That's the beauty of daily practice that seems mindless. You are ingraining information into your mind so that if/when you need it later you no longer have to think about it. Consider your multiplication tables. You know 12x12 off the top of your head and probably 3x13 and 7x8 and so on. You learned that through rote memorization and practice (although not daily practice). You probably didn't anticipate how useful this would be in later life. But it is, isn't it? Because at minimum - I don't know about you but I do know about me - it makes you feel smart. It provides you a baseline of knowledge that is so accessible to you that you don't need to think in order to have the right answer. You just have it, and you know that it's right.

The menial work is there to cement what you are learning into your head. It is your practice. If you don't practice , you may temporarily learn these techniques and this information, but unfortunately it's going to be a lot harder to solidify. I used to go in math class, learn a concept, get it, walk out and forget it. I would forget what concepts I was supposed to apply on a test because, bam, right out of my head. I didn't care about my math homework. I rushed it whenever I could. I did it in homeroom or at lunch. I didn't review the chapter and didn't realize, "Hey, this is where I learn to apply all those things we talk about in class."

Think about it that way. It's not menial work. It's technique. It's the basis, the foundation for knowledge so that one day you'll just know the answer to "Who was Gregor Mendel" or "What is DNA made of?" or "What does the DNA helicase do?" (Wanna hear a nerd joke? "Hey baby, I wanna be your DNA helicase, so I can get in your genes." Yup, that was my high school.)

It's boring because it's not challenging in and of itself. But I guess it seems like your teachers want you to get from a point where you are aware of this knowledge, and where you don't have to think to access it. They are trying to put this into your muscle memory so to speak.

That may not be too motivating...But I think considering it from that perspective is the most helpful thing to me.