It is very important to practice, because if we don’t practice, we don’t know how to play the piano. This is also true of every other instrument – if you don’t practice, you can’t play the instrument. As you know, this is true about so many things in life – If you don’t practice and refine your skills over a period of time, you don’t have any skills to speak of.
I don’t know when it started to become a thing, but it seems to me that when people are trying to learn to play the piano, they feel guilty for not practicing. Clearly practicing is essential, but guilt is not necessary. Maybe the origins of guilt for not practicing came from piano teachers of yesteryear, who were hard task masters at best, and complete tyrants and bullies at worst.
I would actually argue that feeling guilty over not practicing is not only a waste of time, it is worse than that – it is counterproductive.
I believe it is counterproductive to feel guilt over not practicing the piano, because it takes the focus off of practicing and the focus off what you are trying to learn or play when you return to practice. It is also counterproductive because it blocks you from enjoying your practice, when you do practice. I think everyone should enjoy their piano practice as much as they possibly can, regardless of whether you have been playing for years or whether you just started yesterday. It is extremely important for you to enjoy the experience of practicing, even though there will be times when practice can be frustrating or annoying.
Even though what I am about to say is so completely logical and it is obvious to everyone, it needs to be said: Sometimes you won’t always be able to practice. Sometimes there will be sickness, either yourself or someone you need to care for. Sometimes there is a family emergency – it could even be as simple as a power outage and people come to stay with you for several hours. Sometimes it could be having house guests, where you are very busy constantly entertaining, because these family or friends are very dear to you. There is an absolute plethora of reasons why piano practice gets missed.
I think you should aim to practice most days and if you do miss several days, then try and do a little extra when you get back to practicing. Most importantly – skip the guilt.