I’ve always been interested in the areas of learning and productivity. I’ve attempted to build as much structure and productivity into my day as possible. This isn’t because I’m super rigid time ninja and love to follow schedules. It stems from a true desire to experience as much as this world, this life has to offer. I want to spend time with family, have a challenging career, write, read, cook, workout, meditate, study the bible, create and constantly learn new things.

I try to be as intentional as possible with my time spent. We all get the same sized Time Bucket each day, and the world is filled with so many shiny attractive things to take up our time. What you put in your bucket takes up space, and the Time Bucket is only so big. But your bucket is the same size as everyone else’s. Time is the true equalizer among all. Only in that way we are all truly equals. So if you can learn how to manage your time and energy better, you can experience more of this wondrous life in ways you desire. You can benefit yourself and your family even more than you are today.

So, when I saw a video for how to learn nearly anything in 20 hours I was immediately drawn to that idea. How can you possibly learn something in just 20 hours?

The ideas are detailed in the book The First 20 hours by Josh Kaufman.

Step One. Define what you want to learn. At what level do you want to learn? What will it look like when you accomplish it? Be very specific. Learn golf will not work. But golf nine holes at par will work. Learn to speak French won’t work, but learn enough French to fluently order dinner at a French restaurant will. What is the exact skill that you will perform to tell you you’ve achieved your goal level?

Step Two. Deconstruct the skill into smaller sub-skills. For example, learning golf is not one skill. Its a combination of many sub-skills. Hitting off the tee is one main skill. Chipping is another. Putting is another. Gauging distance and understanding your irons is another. Most skills boil down to about three crucial sub-skills that account for 80% of the performance needed for the overall skill.

Step Three. Research information to help you develop the sub-skills you identified as important. Read only to extract information about how to develop those sub-skills the best way possible. You may get ten books on speaking French. Don’t read them cover to cover. Skim read or selectively read to only extract hints for how to develop the sub-skills you identified. Gather information only to help you with the sub-skills. How can you learn them and practice them in the most efficient manner possible? For example if learning a motor skill you may want to explore doing your practice before bed so you can take advantage of a brain phenomenon called Memory Consolidation.

Step Four. Remove barriers to practice. If you want to learn the guitar it shouldn’t be sitting in your closet. It should be out in the open where you practically trip over it. If your time is sucked up with aimless social media time make an announcement you are checking out for a month and delete the apps from your phone. Create an environment conducive to practicing your new skill. Remove all barriers to your success.

Step Five. Pre-commit to 20 hours of practice. You need to fit 20 hours in somewhere. Will it be 40 minutes a day for 30 days? Will it be twice a day for 20 minutes? How will you schedule the 20 hours into your schedule? Will you commit to the 20 hours?

Once you’ve gone through all the steps, execute. Do your 20 hours and according to the author you will be astounded what you can achieve. None of us lacks intellect so much as lacks a plan, a strategy and some discipline.

I’d love to hear how you plan to use this in your life and what you want to learn next.