The first 20 hours of learning

How to learn effectively a new skill? To become a master you need 10.000 hours of learning and practice. But, how long needs it to become familiar with a new skill?

The learning curve is not linear. After the first hard phase of learning where the effort and success are antiproportional – it’s the frustration or barrier phase of learning. After that phase you enter a nearly proportional phase – all effort bears now fruit and you love to learn. Then you entering the mastering phase and there is a lot of effort needed to see something happen – here is the way to become a genius in a skill.

After which time of learning a new skill have you overcome the frustration phase? The answer of Josh Kaufman is 20 hours – that’s a good message 😉

What could be a good method to overcome the first phase in learning anything?

1. Deconstruct the skill. Decide what you exactly want to do with skill and break the skill, practice the most important skills.
2. Learn enough to correct yourself. Practice just enough to notice when you do mistakes and get on the right path.
3. Remove the distractions. Disable notifications and remove all the distractions.
4. Practice at least 20 hours. Try to do 20 hours of deliberate practice. Stick with it no matter what.

Additional: The major barrier to skill acquisition isn’t an intellectual one, but it’s emotional.

PS: Make it in the beginning as simple as possible but not simpler!

PSS: Enjoy the end of unknowing and the beginning of something new!