Confession (of sorts)

Garland,

There is no rule that says you have to play the guitar every day, you make the rules, your the boss.
I must admit it's very rare that I miss a day not playing the guitar, and I've got sore fingers on the fretting hand, its because I feel a little guilty if I miss a day not playing the guitar, and also I'm a masochist that pain in the fingers it's so good.

blues90,

One other point, when you play a lot you get callus on the finger ends, then you get string groves in the callus, and no matter how hard you press you can't get a clear note.

Garland, It's ok to give your fingers a break, I do it all the time. 

When on your break, don't forget to give your fingers a good soaking too.  Not just your shower, but you know, do some dishes or whatever that soaks your hands.

The callouses will even out, but ya, the groove always happens to  some  degree, depending on how much you play and the action on your guitars.

Remember also that your index finger spends the most time (when doing basic cowboy chords anyways) fretting the thinnest strings like the E (1st) and B (2nd) strings.  Those thin strings will bite into your finger more than the rest; so it's natural for that index finger to take a beating and end up with that groove.

I go through the same thing my friend.  I keep my finger nails cut super short all the time so that the groove never stops me from fretting a note clean, but, ya, it can get tender after a while, especially if I've let too long of a time go between sessions of playing guitar.

 How about 30 seconds on a belt sander with 80 grit.

Todays image of playing hand finger tips..after the grinder
i.imgur.com/IhmCfbE.jpg

Derick, blues90, ancient1, TonyKgull, I soaked my fingers in hydrogen peroxide today and rubbed hand lotion into my finger tips - I don't usually use hand lotion except in the winter when the heated air (and outside too) gets real low RH-