Just in from a practice session that cooked - for the first time in months. I think mainly because we were VERY focused while playing (best part of 4 hours) but we made sure to take a long-enough break to eat and chill. Plus I lightened up and finally let go of worrying that we won't be good enough for the next gig... :) )

Things that really help:

People have to turn up nigh on every time (unless a good reason).

Having someone with music direction skills helps enormously - but you need to trust them to do it. I don't always agree with what ours says - but I've learnt to always go with it and try it out before refusing to do it!

Be organised - work on making a provisional set list, once you have it, keep working through it.

But also - play around, jam a little, have a laugh in between.

Sue