The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything

Josh Kaufman at TEDxCSU

#learn #learning #method #20hours #ted #talk

Josh does not agree that you need 10,000 hours to master one skill, He believes, backed for some new scientific studios, that You only need be diligent with the first 20 hours of effort you put to learn something new.

As he says:

" If you put 20 hours of focused deliberate practice into that thing, you will be astounded.

Astounded at how good you are.

20 hours is doable, that's about 45 minutes a day for about a month.

Even skipping a couple days, here and there.

20 hours isn't that hard to accumulate. "

And here is their method:

First:

 The first is to deconstruct the skill.
Decide exactly what you want to be able to do when you're done, and then look into the skill and break it down into smaller pieces.

Second:

The second is, learn enough to self correct.

 "I'm going to start learning how to program a computer when I complete these 20 books".

No. That's procrastination.

What you want to do is learn just enough that you can actually practice and self correct or self edit as you practice.

So the learning becomes a way of getting better at noticing when you're making a mistake and then doing something a little different.

Third:

The third is to remove barriers to practice.

Distractions, television, internet.

All of these things that get in the way of you actually sitting down and doing the work.

Fourth:

And the fourth is to practice for at least 20 hours.

 Now, most skills have what I call a frustration barrier.

You know, the grossly-incompetent- and-knowing-it part?

That's really, really frustrating. We don't like to feel stupid.

And feeling stupid is a barrier to us actually sitting down and doing the work.

So, by pre-committing to practicing whatever it is that you want to do for at least 20 hours, you will be able to overcome that initial frustration barrier and stick with the practice long enough to actually reap the rewards.

That's it!

You should watch the full talk and saw the ukelele demonstration, is great!