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The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything...Fast
Forget the "10,000 hour rule"... what if it's possible to learn any new skill in 20 hours or less?
Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What's on your list? What's holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills - time you don't have and effort you can't spare?
Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy?
To make matters worse, the early hours of practicing something new are always the most frustrating. That's why it's difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It's so much easier to watch TV or surf the web...
In The First 20 Hours , Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct complex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By completing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you'll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well.
This method isn't it's field-tested. Kaufman invites readers to join him as he field tests his approach by learning to program a Web application, play the ukulele, practice yoga, re-learn to touch type, get the hang of windsurfing, and study the world's oldest and most complex board game.
What do you want to learn?
Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What's on your list? What's holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills - time you don't have and effort you can't spare?
Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy?
To make matters worse, the early hours of practicing something new are always the most frustrating. That's why it's difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It's so much easier to watch TV or surf the web...
In The First 20 Hours , Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct complex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By completing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you'll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well.
This method isn't it's field-tested. Kaufman invites readers to join him as he field tests his approach by learning to program a Web application, play the ukulele, practice yoga, re-learn to touch type, get the hang of windsurfing, and study the world's oldest and most complex board game.
What do you want to learn?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Josh Kaufman
20 books818 followersJosh Kaufman is an independent business teacher, education activist, and author of The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business.
Josh's unique, multidisciplinary approach to business education has helped hundreds of thousands of readers around the world master foundational business concepts on their own terms, and his work has been featured in BusinessWeek, Fortune, and Fast Company, as well as by influential websites like Lifehacker, HarvardBusiness.org, Cool Tools, and Seth Godin's Blog.
Since creating the Personal MBA business self-education program in 2005, Josh has:
- Read thousands of books related to business, economics, psychology, communication, mathematics, science, and systems theory.
- Synthesized the essentials of sound business practice into a comprehensive, world-class program, which is available to students, entrepreneurs, and business professionals all over the world.
- Created the Personal MBA recommended reading list, which features the 99 best business books available to the DIY business student. The Personal MBA reading list and manifesto has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of readers from around the world.
- Saved prospective MBA students millions of dollars in tuition, fees, and interest by providing an effective and affordable means of learning fundamental business principles without mortgaging their future earnings.
- Helped hundreds of first-time entrepreneurs, CEOs, research scientists, programmers, and non-profit founders improve their business knowledge and skills via innovative online courses and 1-on-1 coaching.
- Inspired an active community of self-motivated business learners around the world.
Prior to developing the Personal MBA full-time, Josh worked as an Assistant Brand Manager in Procter & Gamble's Home Care division, where he was responsible for projects that encompassed P&G's entire value chain, from creating new products to working with large customers like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and Kroger. Before leaving P&G, Josh spearheaded the development of P&G's global online marketing measurement strategy.
Josh received his BBA from the University of Cincinnati Lindner School of Business in 2005, where he studied Business Information Systems, Real Estate, and Aristotelian/Stoic Philosophy. He is 28 years old, an Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America), an active entrepreneur, and a photographer. The Personal MBA is his first book.
Josh's unique, multidisciplinary approach to business education has helped hundreds of thousands of readers around the world master foundational business concepts on their own terms, and his work has been featured in BusinessWeek, Fortune, and Fast Company, as well as by influential websites like Lifehacker, HarvardBusiness.org, Cool Tools, and Seth Godin's Blog.
Since creating the Personal MBA business self-education program in 2005, Josh has:
- Read thousands of books related to business, economics, psychology, communication, mathematics, science, and systems theory.
- Synthesized the essentials of sound business practice into a comprehensive, world-class program, which is available to students, entrepreneurs, and business professionals all over the world.
- Created the Personal MBA recommended reading list, which features the 99 best business books available to the DIY business student. The Personal MBA reading list and manifesto has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of readers from around the world.
- Saved prospective MBA students millions of dollars in tuition, fees, and interest by providing an effective and affordable means of learning fundamental business principles without mortgaging their future earnings.
- Helped hundreds of first-time entrepreneurs, CEOs, research scientists, programmers, and non-profit founders improve their business knowledge and skills via innovative online courses and 1-on-1 coaching.
- Inspired an active community of self-motivated business learners around the world.
Prior to developing the Personal MBA full-time, Josh worked as an Assistant Brand Manager in Procter & Gamble's Home Care division, where he was responsible for projects that encompassed P&G's entire value chain, from creating new products to working with large customers like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and Kroger. Before leaving P&G, Josh spearheaded the development of P&G's global online marketing measurement strategy.
Josh received his BBA from the University of Cincinnati Lindner School of Business in 2005, where he studied Business Information Systems, Real Estate, and Aristotelian/Stoic Philosophy. He is 28 years old, an Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America), an active entrepreneur, and a photographer. The Personal MBA is his first book.
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May 18, 2013
I wrote this book, so I may be biased...
July 26, 2013
The problem with "The First 20 Hours" is that the author spends a majority of the book explaining what he learned (Yoga, Programming, touch typing, Go, Ukelele, Windsurfing) rather than how he learned it. Just look at his chapter on Yoga. He spends twenty pages explaining where yoga originated and the poses that he learned, but only one page of skill acquisition explanation (where he admits to referencing some books and online videos).
Essentially, Kaufman's book shows you that it is possible to become sufficient in a target skill if you dedicate 20 hours (in 90 minute windows) of deliberate practice. Not research. Not reading about it. Not thinking about it. But actually doing it, and doing it in a way in which you're constantly striving to improve. He also stresses the importance of practicing in the evenings to reap the rewards of REM sleep memory enhancement.
The useful part of this book can be found in the wikipedia article on skill acquisition. The rest is a report of what he learned and how far he got in each skill. I was expecting a lot more from this book and I was sorely disappointed.
Essentially, Kaufman's book shows you that it is possible to become sufficient in a target skill if you dedicate 20 hours (in 90 minute windows) of deliberate practice. Not research. Not reading about it. Not thinking about it. But actually doing it, and doing it in a way in which you're constantly striving to improve. He also stresses the importance of practicing in the evenings to reap the rewards of REM sleep memory enhancement.
The useful part of this book can be found in the wikipedia article on skill acquisition. The rest is a report of what he learned and how far he got in each skill. I was expecting a lot more from this book and I was sorely disappointed.
February 23, 2022
"When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Appears."
Like for many, Josh Kaufman ended up in my radar after coming across his famous Personal MBA. And 'How to Learn Anything Fast' title was the only nudge needed for me to immediately pick up this book.
"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking - Voltaire"
The book actually started with a strong, tempting couple of starter chapters. Those outlined some of the key concepts behind rapid skill acquisition, and along some intriguing brief descriptions. But unfortunately that's when the good things ended.
"The desire for instant gratification is one of the primary reasons people don't acquire new skills very quickly."
What followed was a series of chapters on a set of different skills, and the methodology to become above average in any of them in a short amount of time. But those ended up being more of an introduction to the fields instead, with some simple methods to describe the learning methods. More often than not, all the tips seemed too obvious to have their own chapters. In my opinion, past introductory chapters, the content is too trivial to spend one's time reading it.
"A problem well stated is a problem half solved."
Like for many, Josh Kaufman ended up in my radar after coming across his famous Personal MBA. And 'How to Learn Anything Fast' title was the only nudge needed for me to immediately pick up this book.
"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking - Voltaire"
The book actually started with a strong, tempting couple of starter chapters. Those outlined some of the key concepts behind rapid skill acquisition, and along some intriguing brief descriptions. But unfortunately that's when the good things ended.
"The desire for instant gratification is one of the primary reasons people don't acquire new skills very quickly."
What followed was a series of chapters on a set of different skills, and the methodology to become above average in any of them in a short amount of time. But those ended up being more of an introduction to the fields instead, with some simple methods to describe the learning methods. More often than not, all the tips seemed too obvious to have their own chapters. In my opinion, past introductory chapters, the content is too trivial to spend one's time reading it.
"A problem well stated is a problem half solved."
February 15, 2019
The First Twenty Hours has an interesting idea and something useful for most of us in this time short attention wandering world getting to a degree of general competence in a topic rapidly.
I dislike several things about this book. The misuse of the 10,000 hours idea to become an expert. I've never ever heard anyone say it takes 10,000 hours to learn something (other than to misquote!). 10,000 hours is purely the amount of time required in competitive areas to become absolutely world class.
The majority of the book is then made up with the author exploring various projects. Here is another problem for me. We have basically chapters of the authors research into his hobbies and not a lot of discussion about the processes above. Yes, it's there, but as an aside I feel.
I'll skip over the chapter on programming as that was flawed in so many ways. I know that as a programmer for the last 20 years and web developer since before "regular people" even knew the Internet existed I have biases that I likely can't overcome. Suffice to say the reasons for learning to program where somewhat akin to wanting to learn to fly because of turbulence, blaming the turbulence on the airline all the while the passenger was deliberately bouncing about in the chair and ignoring the fasten your seatbelt sign. That all said, he gets it done and he's now running his own site software and that's impressive.
However... my major gripe is that he doesn't tackle the two things that almost everybody will want to learn, a PROPER instrument such as guitar or piano and to learn a foreign language.
He tackles the ukulele as an instrument. The uk-a-f***ing-lele. Then he doesn't actually really bother to learn it, but instead to cram in four chords so he can play a party piece. Hmmm. This isn't doing it for me as regards learning an instrument. Okay, I play guitar and saxophone so again, I have a bias. On the positive side, he develops a passion for the instrument, performs in public and is continuing to play.
During the book several times the author mentions languages - how he "learnt" Spanish at school but now knows nothing, and in a list of things that people want to know. Despite this he doesn't tackle actually learning a foreign language and that really is where the book misses a trick for me.
I enjoyed the book, it was a light easy read, but I haven't really taken anything new away from it.
In short, research what you're interested in, buy what you need, then turn off the TV and internet and do something every day until you're able to perform "noticeably well".
I dislike several things about this book. The misuse of the 10,000 hours idea to become an expert. I've never ever heard anyone say it takes 10,000 hours to learn something (other than to misquote!). 10,000 hours is purely the amount of time required in competitive areas to become absolutely world class.
The majority of the book is then made up with the author exploring various projects. Here is another problem for me. We have basically chapters of the authors research into his hobbies and not a lot of discussion about the processes above. Yes, it's there, but as an aside I feel.
I'll skip over the chapter on programming as that was flawed in so many ways. I know that as a programmer for the last 20 years and web developer since before "regular people" even knew the Internet existed I have biases that I likely can't overcome. Suffice to say the reasons for learning to program where somewhat akin to wanting to learn to fly because of turbulence, blaming the turbulence on the airline all the while the passenger was deliberately bouncing about in the chair and ignoring the fasten your seatbelt sign. That all said, he gets it done and he's now running his own site software and that's impressive.
However... my major gripe is that he doesn't tackle the two things that almost everybody will want to learn, a PROPER instrument such as guitar or piano and to learn a foreign language.
He tackles the ukulele as an instrument. The uk-a-f***ing-lele. Then he doesn't actually really bother to learn it, but instead to cram in four chords so he can play a party piece. Hmmm. This isn't doing it for me as regards learning an instrument. Okay, I play guitar and saxophone so again, I have a bias. On the positive side, he develops a passion for the instrument, performs in public and is continuing to play.
During the book several times the author mentions languages - how he "learnt" Spanish at school but now knows nothing, and in a list of things that people want to know. Despite this he doesn't tackle actually learning a foreign language and that really is where the book misses a trick for me.
I enjoyed the book, it was a light easy read, but I haven't really taken anything new away from it.
In short, research what you're interested in, buy what you need, then turn off the TV and internet and do something every day until you're able to perform "noticeably well".
July 13, 2013
Very disappointing. There's an worthwhile idea here: it may take 10,000 hours, as others have suggested, to master something at the world-class level, but what about those areas where you just want to be competent enough to enjoy it and not humiliate yourself?
Unfortunately, this isn't really the book to help you. The first part is the 10 principles Kaufman has put together for Rapid Skill Acquisition, and they are mostly common sense. For example, do things you love, get rid of distractions, and put in sufficient practice time. Who knew? I mean, all the suggestions are fine, but there's nothing you couldn't think up yourself.
But, you suppose, maybe things pick up in the second part (and main portion) of the book, where Kaufman shares how he picked up 6 different skills: yoga, computer programming, touch typing, go, playing ukulele, and windsurfing. Aha, here things will become more clear, as we see these principles in action!
Alas, you would be mistaken. Each of these chapters has little relation to Kaufman's 10 principles (with random asides, 1-2 per chapter, where Kaufman says, "See, I just did Lesson X!"), and they are written completely backwards. In a book that is about how to quickly develop competency, the logical way to organize these little case studies is to walk through your 10 steps, and show how you they applied for each scenario. Then, theoretically, readers could apply those same 10 steps to whatever skills they want to acquire.
In these 6 case studies, however, we actually get bizarrely detailed diaries of Kaufman's time spent learning this various skills. Instead of showing how his 10 principles work, we get the first-hand, play-by-play account of Every. Single. Thing. Josh. Kaufman. Did. To. Learn. Something. For example, the chapter on coding spends more time actually teaching the reader to code a very specific program that was very specific to Kaufman's needs at the time than on universal concepts of learning. When he learns to play Go, we follow along as he decides on which game board he will buy--and where he will buy it from. And it's the same every time. These chapters are specific where they ought to be general, and glaze over what should be the most important points.
And most frustrating of all, Kaufman's emphasis on 20 hours turns out to just be a number he pulled out of his head (or possibly reverse engineered after seeing how long it took him on average for his six case studies). There's absolutely no reason given for why 20 hours is the right amount of time, as opposed to 5, 10, 15, 25, or 30. It's just a nice, round number that sounds great in the title but has no real relation to the amount of time it takes to develop competency in any particular skill. His yoga case study takes about 5 hours, he only spends 9 on windsurfing, while he goes past 20 hours on others. Just a big disappointment.
Unfortunately, this isn't really the book to help you. The first part is the 10 principles Kaufman has put together for Rapid Skill Acquisition, and they are mostly common sense. For example, do things you love, get rid of distractions, and put in sufficient practice time. Who knew? I mean, all the suggestions are fine, but there's nothing you couldn't think up yourself.
But, you suppose, maybe things pick up in the second part (and main portion) of the book, where Kaufman shares how he picked up 6 different skills: yoga, computer programming, touch typing, go, playing ukulele, and windsurfing. Aha, here things will become more clear, as we see these principles in action!
Alas, you would be mistaken. Each of these chapters has little relation to Kaufman's 10 principles (with random asides, 1-2 per chapter, where Kaufman says, "See, I just did Lesson X!"), and they are written completely backwards. In a book that is about how to quickly develop competency, the logical way to organize these little case studies is to walk through your 10 steps, and show how you they applied for each scenario. Then, theoretically, readers could apply those same 10 steps to whatever skills they want to acquire.
In these 6 case studies, however, we actually get bizarrely detailed diaries of Kaufman's time spent learning this various skills. Instead of showing how his 10 principles work, we get the first-hand, play-by-play account of Every. Single. Thing. Josh. Kaufman. Did. To. Learn. Something. For example, the chapter on coding spends more time actually teaching the reader to code a very specific program that was very specific to Kaufman's needs at the time than on universal concepts of learning. When he learns to play Go, we follow along as he decides on which game board he will buy--and where he will buy it from. And it's the same every time. These chapters are specific where they ought to be general, and glaze over what should be the most important points.
And most frustrating of all, Kaufman's emphasis on 20 hours turns out to just be a number he pulled out of his head (or possibly reverse engineered after seeing how long it took him on average for his six case studies). There's absolutely no reason given for why 20 hours is the right amount of time, as opposed to 5, 10, 15, 25, or 30. It's just a nice, round number that sounds great in the title but has no real relation to the amount of time it takes to develop competency in any particular skill. His yoga case study takes about 5 hours, he only spends 9 on windsurfing, while he goes past 20 hours on others. Just a big disappointment.
July 18, 2013
For the past 10 years or so, I've described myself as a dabbler. I am a Jill of many trades, an expert of none. I own a guitar and a ukulele, but I can only play 3 songs on each. I own language learning tools for Spanish, French, Arabic and Czech, and can barely speak anything other than English. I've taken 1 surf lesson and 1 stand up paddle board lesson and loved both. Someday, I would like to learn to build a website, make silver jewelry, and play the violin. I also work full time, exercise daily, and don't employ a maid or a cook. You see the problem?
Enter the First 20 Hours. This book gives readers a plan of attack and details how the author went about learning 6 new skills himself. See a summary of his skill learning at http://first20hours.com/
I really liked the no-nonsense style and self-awareness of the author. He referenced 2 books and a NYT article that I've already read, so it really felt like he wrote this book specifically for me (except that our "skills to learn" didn't line up perfectly). He points out that while Malcolm Gladwell may be correct in that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something, it only takes 20 hours to become proficient, if you're working smart. Here is the basic method:
Method
1. Choose a loveable project
2. Focus on one project at a time
3. Define your target performance level
4. Deconstruct the skill into subskills
5. Obtain critical tools
6. Eliminate barriers to practice
7. Make dedicated time for practice
8. Create fast feedback loops
9. Practice by the clock in short bursts
10. Emphasize quantity and speed
Enter the First 20 Hours. This book gives readers a plan of attack and details how the author went about learning 6 new skills himself. See a summary of his skill learning at http://first20hours.com/
I really liked the no-nonsense style and self-awareness of the author. He referenced 2 books and a NYT article that I've already read, so it really felt like he wrote this book specifically for me (except that our "skills to learn" didn't line up perfectly). He points out that while Malcolm Gladwell may be correct in that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something, it only takes 20 hours to become proficient, if you're working smart. Here is the basic method:
Method
1. Choose a loveable project
2. Focus on one project at a time
3. Define your target performance level
4. Deconstruct the skill into subskills
5. Obtain critical tools
6. Eliminate barriers to practice
7. Make dedicated time for practice
8. Create fast feedback loops
9. Practice by the clock in short bursts
10. Emphasize quantity and speed
April 11, 2020
Very informative.
June 3, 2013
It's difficult to imagine a better book on skill building than The First 20 Hours. If you've ever found yourself thinking "I wish I knew how to ____" or "I wish I didn't quit ____ lessons as a kid," then this is the best book you can read. There are many other books on learning that I love, such as "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin, but this is by far the best step by step guide you can apply to learning any skill.
The first 40 pages are dedicated to the principles of effective learning and skill acquisition. You could technically stop here if you wanted to and go on learning a skill, but there is a lot you'd miss, as it's very helpful to see the principles of skill acquisition in context.
Each of the skills show the principles in context as well as overcoming some of the common barriers to learning. Some are more interesting than others depending on your interest in the skill. While each skill has interesting elements to it, learning touch type is the one that wrinkled my brain. It's fascinating to see his journey in rewiring his brain to type on a different keyboard. I had no idea that different types of keyboards even existed before reading this book. I'm not sure if I'll make the switch to the Colemak keyboard, but I'll now be focusing on skill building before sleeping.
If you want to learn any skill quickly, this book will give you the 10 principles of skill acquisition and learning while destroying the typical excuses that people give for not learning something.
The first 40 pages are dedicated to the principles of effective learning and skill acquisition. You could technically stop here if you wanted to and go on learning a skill, but there is a lot you'd miss, as it's very helpful to see the principles of skill acquisition in context.
Each of the skills show the principles in context as well as overcoming some of the common barriers to learning. Some are more interesting than others depending on your interest in the skill. While each skill has interesting elements to it, learning touch type is the one that wrinkled my brain. It's fascinating to see his journey in rewiring his brain to type on a different keyboard. I had no idea that different types of keyboards even existed before reading this book. I'm not sure if I'll make the switch to the Colemak keyboard, but I'll now be focusing on skill building before sleeping.
If you want to learn any skill quickly, this book will give you the 10 principles of skill acquisition and learning while destroying the typical excuses that people give for not learning something.
September 29, 2016
*أول 20 ساعة كيف تتعلم أي شئ بسرعة*
*الكاتب: جوش كاوفمان*
في الاربعين صفحة الأولى فقط!!! يشرح الكاتب مبادئ تعلم المهارات الجديدة بأسرع وقت ومع إهدار أقل طاقة، باستخدام استراتيجيات معينة ومركزة تؤدي إلى اكتسابك لتلك المهارة بشكل سريع وبمهارة عالية.
بعدها، (اكثر من ثلاثة ارباع الكتاب)!!! يركز الكاتب بشكل مبالغ!! وتفصيل دقيق!! ليشرح كيف انه هو استخدم هذه المبادئ على أرض الواقع في تعلم بعض المهارات مثل ممارسة اليوجا، العزف على الة موسيقية.
تقييم الكتاب: 2
*الكاتب: جوش كاوفمان*
في الاربعين صفحة الأولى فقط!!! يشرح الكاتب مبادئ تعلم المهارات الجديدة بأسرع وقت ومع إهدار أقل طاقة، باستخدام استراتيجيات معينة ومركزة تؤدي إلى اكتسابك لتلك المهارة بشكل سريع وبمهارة عالية.
بعدها، (اكثر من ثلاثة ارباع الكتاب)!!! يركز الكاتب بشكل مبالغ!! وتفصيل دقيق!! ليشرح كيف انه هو استخدم هذه المبادئ على أرض الواقع في تعلم بعض المهارات مثل ممارسة اليوجا، العزف على الة موسيقية.
تقييم الكتاب: 2
August 29, 2013
The First 20 Hours is a book about rapid skill acquisition. In this book, based on his research, Josh Kaufman lists down the four major steps of rapid skill acquisition:
a. Deconstruct
b. Learn
c. Remove barrier
d. Practice
Next, the author goes on to explain ten principles of rapid skill acquisition and ten principles of effective learning. The ten principles of rapid skill acquisition is a list of common-sense thinking to skill acquisition, put together nicely in a list for your checking. The ten principles of effective learning is almost the same thing, but for effective learning.
The rest of the book is about the author's journey to pick-up six new skills; his process as well as what he learned about the skill.
Overall, the writing of the book is clear and easily understood. Some chapters, especially the one on how the author picked up programming skills, are rather technical and can be complicated. However, you can skip this chapter if you're not keen to learn programming as it will not be of interest to you on how Josh Kaufman picked up his programming skills and what he learned.
As for the content, I did not find the entire book useful. The meat of the book was in the first few chapters. The rest of the book is in my personal opinion, fillers that are there to make a book. This is because, the title of the book is "The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything ... Fast." Reading a "How To" book, I expect to learn how to actually do something. In the chapters that explain his journey on picking up a particular skills, I personally think that the author spend a lot more time letting the reader know what he has learned. This to me, is not a "How To" book - it is a dictionary for a particular skill. For example, in the "Yoga" chapter, the author starts by letting us know how he first come to know yoga. Next, he gave us a lecture on the history of yoga. Then, he presented to us what he found out about yoga. I actually appreciate this part a lot more, but I would think that it will be more useful if he is able to connect this back to the four major steps in a clear manner. However, because of the way this is presented, it feels a lot more like reading up on "What Yoga Actually Is About" rather than "How I Learned Yoga Using Rapid Skill Acquisition".
If you're keen about rapid skill acquisition, my personal recommendation would be to pick-up Tim Ferris Four Hour Chef instead.
a. Deconstruct
b. Learn
c. Remove barrier
d. Practice
Next, the author goes on to explain ten principles of rapid skill acquisition and ten principles of effective learning. The ten principles of rapid skill acquisition is a list of common-sense thinking to skill acquisition, put together nicely in a list for your checking. The ten principles of effective learning is almost the same thing, but for effective learning.
The rest of the book is about the author's journey to pick-up six new skills; his process as well as what he learned about the skill.
Overall, the writing of the book is clear and easily understood. Some chapters, especially the one on how the author picked up programming skills, are rather technical and can be complicated. However, you can skip this chapter if you're not keen to learn programming as it will not be of interest to you on how Josh Kaufman picked up his programming skills and what he learned.
As for the content, I did not find the entire book useful. The meat of the book was in the first few chapters. The rest of the book is in my personal opinion, fillers that are there to make a book. This is because, the title of the book is "The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything ... Fast." Reading a "How To" book, I expect to learn how to actually do something. In the chapters that explain his journey on picking up a particular skills, I personally think that the author spend a lot more time letting the reader know what he has learned. This to me, is not a "How To" book - it is a dictionary for a particular skill. For example, in the "Yoga" chapter, the author starts by letting us know how he first come to know yoga. Next, he gave us a lecture on the history of yoga. Then, he presented to us what he found out about yoga. I actually appreciate this part a lot more, but I would think that it will be more useful if he is able to connect this back to the four major steps in a clear manner. However, because of the way this is presented, it feels a lot more like reading up on "What Yoga Actually Is About" rather than "How I Learned Yoga Using Rapid Skill Acquisition".
If you're keen about rapid skill acquisition, my personal recommendation would be to pick-up Tim Ferris Four Hour Chef instead.
April 20, 2015
فكرة الكتاب جميلة جدا و هي انه يمكنك اكتساب اي مهارة خلال 20 ساعة تقريبا
من خلال تطبيق 10 مبادئ عامة :
1/اختر مشروعا تحبه
2/ركز طاقتك على مهارة واحدة في نفس الوقت
3/حدد مستوى الاداء المستهدف
4/فكك المهارة الى مهارات اصغر
5/احصل على الادوات اللازمة
6/تخلص من عوائق التدريب
7/خصص وقت للتدريب
8/انشى حلقات تغذية استرجاعية
9/تدرب باستخدام الساعة و لفترات قصيرة
10/اكد على الكمية و السرعة
على حسب المهارة التي تريد اكتسابها يمكنك تطبيق المناسب من المباديء معها
* مقدمة الكتاب مفيدة و عامة و شرح للمبادئ
الفصول التي تليها امثلة على بعض المهارات و تطبيق الفكرة عليها كالعزف و التجديف الشراعي و البرمجة و في هذه الفصول شرح مفصل عن نفس المهارة و التي قمت بتجاوز قرائتها .
* الحمدلله جربت فكرة ال20 ساعة في تدريبي على برنامج تصميم المايا 3d max maya و الحمدلله راضية عن النتيجة
من خلال تطبيق 10 مبادئ عامة :
1/اختر مشروعا تحبه
2/ركز طاقتك على مهارة واحدة في نفس الوقت
3/حدد مستوى الاداء المستهدف
4/فكك المهارة الى مهارات اصغر
5/احصل على الادوات اللازمة
6/تخلص من عوائق التدريب
7/خصص وقت للتدريب
8/انشى حلقات تغذية استرجاعية
9/تدرب باستخدام الساعة و لفترات قصيرة
10/اكد على الكمية و السرعة
على حسب المهارة التي تريد اكتسابها يمكنك تطبيق المناسب من المباديء معها
* مقدمة الكتاب مفيدة و عامة و شرح للمبادئ
الفصول التي تليها امثلة على بعض المهارات و تطبيق الفكرة عليها كالعزف و التجديف الشراعي و البرمجة و في هذه الفصول شرح مفصل عن نفس المهارة و التي قمت بتجاوز قرائتها .
* الحمدلله جربت فكرة ال20 ساعة في تدريبي على برنامج تصميم المايا 3d max maya و الحمدلله راضية عن النتيجة
August 1, 2016
The First 2 Hours: Pathway to Putrefication
Effortlessly it seems, the author has created a book that is simply unreadable. This defect, without exception, putrefies a book for me.
Should you, a reasonably intelligent person, decide to read this, I'll wager good money on the proposition that you won't need 20 hours to learn you wasted time and/or money. Indeed, the Vegas line on over/under is 2 hours, and I'll take the under.
Effortlessly it seems, the author has created a book that is simply unreadable. This defect, without exception, putrefies a book for me.
Should you, a reasonably intelligent person, decide to read this, I'll wager good money on the proposition that you won't need 20 hours to learn you wasted time and/or money. Indeed, the Vegas line on over/under is 2 hours, and I'll take the under.
August 16, 2016
السبب الذي دعاني لقراءة هذا الكتاب هو مشاهدتي لعرض الكاتب في تيد، مما دفعني لؤءمن بنظريته، فأنا لا أختلف عنه كثيرًا فكل يوم تراودني رغبات في تعلم أشياء شتى ولا أملك تلك العشرة آلاف ساعة، فبإختصار هذا الكتاب كيف تتعلم أي شي لكن ليس لدرجة الإحتراف بل بالدرجة التي يمكنك ممارسة هذا الشي بأرياحية ويستعرض عشرة نقاط يجب ان تضعها في حسبانك. :
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١. اختر موضوعًا تحبه فعلًا
٢. ركز طاقتك على مهارة واحدة في وقت واحد.
٣. حدد المستوى الذي تريد ان تصل اليه.
٤. حطم المهارة إلى أجزاء صغيرة وطور كل مهارة على حدى.
٥. جد الأدوات المناسبة.
٦. احذف كل المعيقات وخاصة النفسية والعاطفية.
٧. حدد وقت يومي لممارسة.
٨. اصنع حلقة من النقد الذاتي لنفسك.
٩. مارس مهارتك في اوقات قصيرة.
١٠. ركز على الكمية والسرعة
.
ثم يستعرض الكاتب تجربته في مهارة اليوغا ثم البرمجة، يحكى ان الكاتب تنقل بين عدة تخصصات لانه في الأساس اراد انشاء شركة مختصة بتطوير المواقع والبرمجة فظن ان الكلية المناسبة لها هي ادارة الأعمال، ولكن ما ان دخل اليها حتى اقتنع انها ليست المناسبة له، فتعلم ادارة الأعمال تعلم ذاتي، وانتقل إلى كلية الحاسب وهناك اكتشف أيضا انها ليست بالمكان المناسب له ولكن تخرج منها على أية حال، وانه عندما اراد ان يطور موقع تعلم لغات البرمجة ذاتيًا. فقام يشرح في أحد الفصول الفرق بين الدراسة والتعلم.
.
تقيمي للكتاب ٢من ٥
.
١. اختر موضوعًا تحبه فعلًا
٢. ركز طاقتك على مهارة واحدة في وقت واحد.
٣. حدد المستوى الذي تريد ان تصل اليه.
٤. حطم المهارة إلى أجزاء صغيرة وطور كل مهارة على حدى.
٥. جد الأدوات المناسبة.
٦. احذف كل المعيقات وخاصة النفسية والعاطفية.
٧. حدد وقت يومي لممارسة.
٨. اصنع حلقة من النقد الذاتي لنفسك.
٩. مارس مهارتك في اوقات قصيرة.
١٠. ركز على الكمية والسرعة
.
ثم يستعرض الكاتب تجربته في مهارة اليوغا ثم البرمجة، يحكى ان الكاتب تنقل بين عدة تخصصات لانه في الأساس اراد انشاء شركة مختصة بتطوير المواقع والبرمجة فظن ان الكلية المناسبة لها هي ادارة الأعمال، ولكن ما ان دخل اليها حتى اقتنع انها ليست المناسبة له، فتعلم ادارة الأعمال تعلم ذاتي، وانتقل إلى كلية الحاسب وهناك اكتشف أيضا انها ليست بالمكان المناسب له ولكن تخرج منها على أية حال، وانه عندما اراد ان يطور موقع تعلم لغات البرمجة ذاتيًا. فقام يشرح في أحد الفصول الفرق بين الدراسة والتعلم.
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تقيمي للكتاب ٢من ٥
July 20, 2013
Josh Kaufman did a great job creating a lot of hype for the book, that's for sure. But I for one was a little disappointed upon actually reading 20 Hours. There are two chapters tops that detail his "method", two ten point lists, and the remaining 280 some odd pages are case studies.
Kaufman stresses "breaking down a skill" into smaller chunks, but doesn't really give any in-depth write up on how to do just that theory-wise. In the first chapter Kaufman says "Yes, the secret to learning skills quickly is to break it down" and then doesn't really say anything else on the topic. You can read the following chapters and get some idea, but I don't even feel he broke down the skills equally across examples. What I mean is this: when he tried to learn Go he read theory books and did Go problems along with playing people online - Great. But when he learned windsurfing, he spent $3,000 on equipment and then took it to a lake in low wind and just hopped right on it. That's not breaking down anything! That's buying a board and trying to windsurf!
All in all I really just wanted this to be more of an instructional book, and it wasn't. It's 1 part instructional and 10 parts memoir. That's fine I guess if that's what you're looking for, but that's not what I want to get out of this book and not how the book was marketed.
Kaufman stresses "breaking down a skill" into smaller chunks, but doesn't really give any in-depth write up on how to do just that theory-wise. In the first chapter Kaufman says "Yes, the secret to learning skills quickly is to break it down" and then doesn't really say anything else on the topic. You can read the following chapters and get some idea, but I don't even feel he broke down the skills equally across examples. What I mean is this: when he tried to learn Go he read theory books and did Go problems along with playing people online - Great. But when he learned windsurfing, he spent $3,000 on equipment and then took it to a lake in low wind and just hopped right on it. That's not breaking down anything! That's buying a board and trying to windsurf!
All in all I really just wanted this to be more of an instructional book, and it wasn't. It's 1 part instructional and 10 parts memoir. That's fine I guess if that's what you're looking for, but that's not what I want to get out of this book and not how the book was marketed.
December 14, 2023
بداية من الاسم واول سطر ف الكتاب اللي بيقول فيها I'm learning addict ، حسيته شبهي 🤭لأني بحب اتعلم جداا حاجات جديدة
الكتاب بيدينا خطوات ازاي نتعلم اي حاجه منها أننا نقسم الهدف لأهداف صغيرة
وأننا نقدر نتعلم اي حاجه ف ٢٠ ساعة
وبيدينا أمثلة من حياته بالتفصيل خطوة بخطوة ع تعلم البرمجة ، آله موسيقية ولعبة من ال board games و اليوجا وغيرها وبيقولنا ف الآخر بعد م اتعلم الحاجات دي هيعمل ايه
كتاب صادق وجميل
هو بس انا مش بحب البرمجة والتفاصيل الكتير ف علشان كده قللت نجمة
الكتاب بيدينا خطوات ازاي نتعلم اي حاجه منها أننا نقسم الهدف لأهداف صغيرة
وأننا نقدر نتعلم اي حاجه ف ٢٠ ساعة
وبيدينا أمثلة من حياته بالتفصيل خطوة بخطوة ع تعلم البرمجة ، آله موسيقية ولعبة من ال board games و اليوجا وغيرها وبيقولنا ف الآخر بعد م اتعلم الحاجات دي هيعمل ايه
كتاب صادق وجميل
هو بس انا مش بحب البرمجة والتفاصيل الكتير ف علشان كده قللت نجمة
September 1, 2014
The first three chapters of this self-help book give some great tips to learning anything you want in 20 hours. You may not be an expert, but you should be able to have fun with that new skill.
However, the remaining 6 chapters are about how the author learned to play Go, windsurf, play the ukulele, learn computer programming, do yoga, and learn a keyboard that is not QWERTY.
These chapters were meant to show how to apply the tips to learning in a practical way. Unfortunately, there was WAY too much detail in these chapters about how to learn those things and I ended up just skimming it.
However, the remaining 6 chapters are about how the author learned to play Go, windsurf, play the ukulele, learn computer programming, do yoga, and learn a keyboard that is not QWERTY.
These chapters were meant to show how to apply the tips to learning in a practical way. Unfortunately, there was WAY too much detail in these chapters about how to learn those things and I ended up just skimming it.
June 13, 2013
A crisp, well-written explanation of rapid skill acquisition that any learning junkie will find incredibly useful.
On the strength of the first three chapters alone, I've been recommending it to anyone who'll listen, but there's a wealth of additional data in the six case studies where the author used himself as guinea pig to test his theories. (They are, in case you've not read it elsewhere yet: yoga; a programming language; a non-QWERTY touch-typing system; an ancient Chinese strategy game called "Go"; the ukulele; and windsurfing.) Where are the likely roadblocks in learning a new language vs. acquiring a new physical skill? How can you use the principles to overcome them? What overarching lessons can you take away from each endeavor you take on?
As a chronic abandoner of projects, I'm delighted to have this book to apply to my next one—either ukulele or sign painting, because (alas), I am told in no uncertain terms that whichever I choose, things will go better if I focus on it wholeheartedly. The good news is that it won't take 10,000 hours to get good enough for either strumming or printing to become enjoyable; if I can discipline myself to do an hour of focused practice each day, I'll have time to get to both, even if it takes me double the 20 hours.
Full disclosure: this review is based on an advance reader's copy of the book, sent by the author, who is a personal friend. That said, I cannot be bought! At least, not for the price of a free book! (Hell, I won't even finish reading a lot of the free books I receive. I mean, have you seen what passes for editing these days?)
On the strength of the first three chapters alone, I've been recommending it to anyone who'll listen, but there's a wealth of additional data in the six case studies where the author used himself as guinea pig to test his theories. (They are, in case you've not read it elsewhere yet: yoga; a programming language; a non-QWERTY touch-typing system; an ancient Chinese strategy game called "Go"; the ukulele; and windsurfing.) Where are the likely roadblocks in learning a new language vs. acquiring a new physical skill? How can you use the principles to overcome them? What overarching lessons can you take away from each endeavor you take on?
As a chronic abandoner of projects, I'm delighted to have this book to apply to my next one—either ukulele or sign painting, because (alas), I am told in no uncertain terms that whichever I choose, things will go better if I focus on it wholeheartedly. The good news is that it won't take 10,000 hours to get good enough for either strumming or printing to become enjoyable; if I can discipline myself to do an hour of focused practice each day, I'll have time to get to both, even if it takes me double the 20 hours.
Full disclosure: this review is based on an advance reader's copy of the book, sent by the author, who is a personal friend. That said, I cannot be bought! At least, not for the price of a free book! (Hell, I won't even finish reading a lot of the free books I receive. I mean, have you seen what passes for editing these days?)
December 23, 2022
2.5
مثبت: ایدهی این کتاب خیلی خوبه. کل حرفش اینه که خیلی وقتا لازپ داریم یا دوست داریم یه مهارت جدید یادبگیریم ولی سمتش نمیریم چون خیلی ازمون زمان میبره و فرایند یادگیریش به قدری ملالآوره که حالشو نداریم. ولی فراموش میکنیم که قرار نیست ��تما توی اون مهارت به نفر اول دنیا تبدیل بشیم، میتونیم با حذف خیلی از کارای اضافه و حاشیه و تمرکز روی اصل کار تو مدت زمان کوتاهی یادش بگیریم و از مهارتمون لذت ببریم.
جاش کافمن تو این کتاب میاد و راههایی رو شرح میده که بتونیم تو زمان کوتاه، ۲۰ ساعت، هر مهارت جدیدی رو یاد بگیریم.
منفی: قضیه اینه که ایده خیلی قشنگه ولی نه برای یه کتاب! یه مقالهی ۵ صفحه ای برای کل مطالب کتاب کافیه.
تقریبا ۲ ۳ فصل کتاب توضیحاته که اصل حرفشم اونجاست. بعدش مثال میزنه:)) و مثالاش گند میزنه به هرچی که قبلا توضیح داده. یعنی کتابو فقط پر کرده با اطلاعات حاشیهای و چرت و پرت، مثلا میخواد یوگا یاد بگیره، صد ساعت از تاریخچه و فلسفهی یوگا حرف میزنه... بیشتر منو یاد گزارشهای مدرسه مینداخت که برای اینکه به یه تعداد صفحهی مشخص برسیم توشو با ویکیپدیا پرمیکردیم.
خلاصه اگه یه وقت به سرتون زد کتابشو بخونین، یا فقط همون ۳ فصل اولو یه نگاه اجمالی بندازین، یا برین تو وبسایتا یه پیج که ایده رو توضیح داده بخونین و تموم!
مثبت: ایدهی این کتاب خیلی خوبه. کل حرفش اینه که خیلی وقتا لازپ داریم یا دوست داریم یه مهارت جدید یادبگیریم ولی سمتش نمیریم چون خیلی ازمون زمان میبره و فرایند یادگیریش به قدری ملالآوره که حالشو نداریم. ولی فراموش میکنیم که قرار نیست ��تما توی اون مهارت به نفر اول دنیا تبدیل بشیم، میتونیم با حذف خیلی از کارای اضافه و حاشیه و تمرکز روی اصل کار تو مدت زمان کوتاهی یادش بگیریم و از مهارتمون لذت ببریم.
جاش کافمن تو این کتاب میاد و راههایی رو شرح میده که بتونیم تو زمان کوتاه، ۲۰ ساعت، هر مهارت جدیدی رو یاد بگیریم.
منفی: قضیه اینه که ایده خیلی قشنگه ولی نه برای یه کتاب! یه مقالهی ۵ صفحه ای برای کل مطالب کتاب کافیه.
تقریبا ۲ ۳ فصل کتاب توضیحاته که اصل حرفشم اونجاست. بعدش مثال میزنه:)) و مثالاش گند میزنه به هرچی که قبلا توضیح داده. یعنی کتابو فقط پر کرده با اطلاعات حاشیهای و چرت و پرت، مثلا میخواد یوگا یاد بگیره، صد ساعت از تاریخچه و فلسفهی یوگا حرف میزنه... بیشتر منو یاد گزارشهای مدرسه مینداخت که برای اینکه به یه تعداد صفحهی مشخص برسیم توشو با ویکیپدیا پرمیکردیم.
خلاصه اگه یه وقت به سرتون زد کتابشو بخونین، یا فقط همون ۳ فصل اولو یه نگاه اجمالی بندازین، یا برین تو وبسایتا یه پیج که ایده رو توضیح داده بخونین و تموم!
April 28, 2020
This is another book which should have been just a blog post.
The main ideas:
• Choose want you want to learn and deconstruct it into the smallest possible sub-skills.
• Learn enough about each sub-skill to be able to practice effectively and self-correct.
• Remove any physical or emotional barriers that get in the way of practice.
• Practice the most important sub-skills for at least 20 hours, even if it is a drag.
The main ideas:
• Choose want you want to learn and deconstruct it into the smallest possible sub-skills.
• Learn enough about each sub-skill to be able to practice effectively and self-correct.
• Remove any physical or emotional barriers that get in the way of practice.
• Practice the most important sub-skills for at least 20 hours, even if it is a drag.
November 19, 2013
Read the first three chapters. Everything else was just about what he personally learned and not terribly interesting. Basically, you can do anything if you make it a daily priority for a couple weeks. Which is obvious, but I guess I was hoping for some big secret to be revealed. Or at the very least, a funny writing style.
February 9, 2019
فيه مجموعة من النصائح عن كيف تتعلم اي شيء بسرعة وبعض الالعاب التي تنمي الذكاء
كتاب مهم لكل من يحب أن يتعلم وايضا انصح به لكل اب او ام من أجل تعليم وتنشئة أبنائهم بصورة جيدة
كتاب مهم لكل من يحب أن يتعلم وايضا انصح به لكل اب او ام من أجل تعليم وتنشئة أبنائهم بصورة جيدة
June 27, 2021
I really enjoyed it. He explained how to do it, as in the theory, and then he moved on to the practical side of it by sharing his personal experience with aquiring six new skills based on his theory. For some people it may be too practical and personal, in the way that his choice of skills to improve wouldn't appeal to others, but I liked reading about it. Also, I like his writing, clean, on point and funny, in a smart way.
January 18, 2022
فكرة الكتاب كما يقول المؤلف "هناك الكثير مما أود تعلمه.. ولدى وقت قليل للغاية"
"الكثير من الأشياء لا تصبح ممتعة إلى ان تصيح جيدا فيها"
"ألن يكون من الرائع ان نتمكن من اتقان المهارات الجديدة بفليل من المعاناة وأن نقضى وقتا أقل في الخوض في الأمور المربكة والشكوك، والمزيد من الوقت في الاستمتاع؟
فى الأغلب يمنعك شيئان: الوقت والمهارة
ويقول الكاتب أنك تستطيع أن تصبح جيدا بما يكفي في أي شيء لدرجة أنك تستمتع به في خلال 20 ساعة فقط قد يكون هذا الشئ تعلم لغه جديدة او هواية او لعبة رياضية او أي شيء أخر
ويقدم لنا الكاتب تجربته العملية فى تعلم 6 مهارات: اليوجا ولغة برمجة لتصميم ويب سايت والكتابة باللمس ولعبة GO والعزف على الة موسيقية والتزلج الشراعى على الماء
وقرر الكاتب ان تعلمه لكل مهارة منهم لن يتعدى وقت تعلمها أكثر من 20 ساعة وسوف يجيدها بالشكل الكافى لأذاء عمله او للتمتع بممارسة الهواية وليس ليكون من المتفوقين في هذه المهارة
في البداية حدد الكاتب انه يمكنك اكتساب اي مهارة خلال 20 ساعة تقريبا من خلال تطبيق 10 مبادئ عامة :
1- أختر مشروعا تحبه.
2- ركز طاقتك علي مهارة واحده فقط في الوقت نفسه.
3- حدد مستوي الاداء المستهدف.
4- فكك المهارة الي مهارات فرعية أصغر.
5- احصل علي الادوات اللازمة.
6- تخلص من عوائق التدريب.
7- خصص وقتا للتدريب.
8- انشي حلقات تغذيه استرجاعية.
9- تدرب باستخدام الساعة ولفترات قصيرة.
10- أكد علي الكمية و السرعة
ثم حدد الكاتب ان هناك عشرة مبادئ للتعلم الفعال والذى يجب عليك الالتزام بها لتجيد المهارة المطلوبة:
1- قم ببعض البحث عن المهارة و الموضوعات المتعلقة بها.
2- اشعر بالارتباك.
3- تعرف علي النماذج الذهنية و الخطاطيف العقلية.
4-تخيل عكس ما تريده.
5- تحدث الي الممارسين لضبط توقعاتك.
6- تخلص من التشتيتات في بيئتك.
7- استخدم التكرار المتباعد و إعادة التعزيز من أجل التذكر.
8- ضع سقالات و قوائم تحقق.
9- ضع توقعات و اختبرها.
10- أحترم قدراتك البيولوجية
كانت خلاصة أول 40 صفحة من الكتاب وأكثرهم إفادة بعد ذلك تطرق الكاتب لتجاربه بالتفصيل في تعلم: اليوجا ولغة برمجة لتصميم ويب سايت والكتابة باللمس ولعبة GO والعزف على الة موسيقية والتزلج الشراعى على الماء في خلال عام واحد فقط، وفى نفس الوقت لم يتخل عن عنله أو حتى عمله تأثر بالسلب ولم يتجاهل عائلته.
المشكلة انك لو لم تكن مهتم بأى مهارة من تلك المهارات سوف يكون قراءة التفاصيل المكتوبة اهدارا للوقت.. وأنا بصراحة أكثر الأقسام التي أفادتني اليوجا (وذلك لعلمي بها فكنت براجع مع الكاتب) والكتابة باللمس (اكيد هتكون مهمة لأى شخص يعمل على كمبيوتر) ويليهم البرمجة مع ان اللغة التي ذكرها الكاتب لست مهتمة بها.
الكتاب فيه مجهود واضح وكأنك بتأخذ كورس في المهارة المذكورة
ويختتم الكاتب الكتاب بقوله: "اذا اردت ان تكتسب مهارة جديدة فعليك أن تتدرب عليها، لا توجد طرق أخرى"
"العقبة الكبرى امام الاكتساب السريع للمهارات ليست عقبة مادية أو ذهنية.. انها عقبة عاطفية"
June 25, 2013
The First 20 Hours (2013) by Josh Kaufman is a pretty thin book on learning new skills and learning in general. The book is pretty much an essay extended into a book. Kaufman’s book is about how to obtain the basics of a skill in 20 hours. Kaufman wrote a successful book called The Personal MBA. Kaufman is the self-help guru for the Hacker News set.
Kaufman has 10 rules for Rapid Skill Acquisition and ten major principles of effective learning. They include such gems as ‘Research the skill and related topics’ and ‘eliminate distractions in your environment’. Personally I’ve always liked to work on nuclear engineering while under gunfire, but these tips may work for the author. However, some of the tips do have some merit. The idea of giving pretty much anything you decide to take up 20 hours of concentrated effort is worthwhile. Also fast feedback loops, decomposing things are worthwhile. Kaufman also makes the point that you ‘make time’ for something rather than having time.
For most of the rest book Kaufman writes up varies activities he has used the approach he describes for. They are doing yoga, altering his web site and writing a web application, learning go, learning the Ukulele and learning to wind surf. It’s pretty clever to write a self-help book and use your diaries of what you are doing as well.
The book isn’t worthless but it’s really not up to much. I’ve also learned something valuable, before buying a book check around for some negative reviews if it’s written by an author with a web following.
Kaufman has 10 rules for Rapid Skill Acquisition and ten major principles of effective learning. They include such gems as ‘Research the skill and related topics’ and ‘eliminate distractions in your environment’. Personally I’ve always liked to work on nuclear engineering while under gunfire, but these tips may work for the author. However, some of the tips do have some merit. The idea of giving pretty much anything you decide to take up 20 hours of concentrated effort is worthwhile. Also fast feedback loops, decomposing things are worthwhile. Kaufman also makes the point that you ‘make time’ for something rather than having time.
For most of the rest book Kaufman writes up varies activities he has used the approach he describes for. They are doing yoga, altering his web site and writing a web application, learning go, learning the Ukulele and learning to wind surf. It’s pretty clever to write a self-help book and use your diaries of what you are doing as well.
The book isn’t worthless but it’s really not up to much. I’ve also learned something valuable, before buying a book check around for some negative reviews if it’s written by an author with a web following.
June 8, 2019
As far as I am concerned this book merely describes the obvious procedure involved in acquiring a skill. I don't think there is anything special in there which would help you rapidly acquire arbitrary new skills. The chapters describing various things Kaufman taught himself ranged from boring and cringey to slightly interesting, I had to skip a lot. My recommendation is to go and work on the skill of your dreams rather than waste time reading or listening to this.
March 31, 2022
3.5 stars
Could be a blog entry
Could be a blog entry
February 8, 2018
Her işin profesyonelleriyle icra edildiği günümüzde bir şeyde uzman olmak istiyorsak 10.000 saat harcamamız gerektiği tartışmaya kapalı bir konu gibi görülmeye başladı. Fakat bu teorinin göz ardı edilen tarafı 10.000 saat kuralını rekabetçi bir dünyada en üst düzeyde performans göstermek için gerekli bir koşul olması. Yani çocuğunuz uyumadan önce ona biraz gitar çalmak istiyorsanız John Lennon olmanıza gerek yok.
"İlk 20 saat" bir beceriyi 20 saatte temel düzeyde nasıl öğrenebileceğimizi anlatan ve bunun için öğrenme öncesinde, esnasında ve sonrasında çok basit yol haritaları olan bir kitap. Kitapta ilk olarak teorinin nasıl çalıştığını anlatıyor daha sonra ise bunu 6 yeni beceri kazanmak için nasıl uyguladığını gösteriyor. Bu beceriler bir web sitesi yapmak için programlama öğrenmek, eğlenmek için rüzgar sörfü yapmak gibi sonuçları net ortaya konulmuş hedefler oluyor.
Kitabı bitirdiğinizde İngilizce tabiriyle "call-to-action" denilen içinizin kıpır kıpır olması duygusuyla dolu oluyorsunuz. 21. yüzyıl insanının kendine bile vakit bulamadığı bir ortamda yeni becerileri nasıl kazanabileceğinin reçetesini içeren kitap tam bizim dönemimizin eseri.
Ayrıca yazar Josh Kaufman'ın ilgili TED konuşmasını da bu linkten izleyebilirsiniz: https://ed.ted.com/on/Imq14bHp
"İlk 20 saat" bir beceriyi 20 saatte temel düzeyde nasıl öğrenebileceğimizi anlatan ve bunun için öğrenme öncesinde, esnasında ve sonrasında çok basit yol haritaları olan bir kitap. Kitapta ilk olarak teorinin nasıl çalıştığını anlatıyor daha sonra ise bunu 6 yeni beceri kazanmak için nasıl uyguladığını gösteriyor. Bu beceriler bir web sitesi yapmak için programlama öğrenmek, eğlenmek için rüzgar sörfü yapmak gibi sonuçları net ortaya konulmuş hedefler oluyor.
Kitabı bitirdiğinizde İngilizce tabiriyle "call-to-action" denilen içinizin kıpır kıpır olması duygusuyla dolu oluyorsunuz. 21. yüzyıl insanının kendine bile vakit bulamadığı bir ortamda yeni becerileri nasıl kazanabileceğinin reçetesini içeren kitap tam bizim dönemimizin eseri.
Ayrıca yazar Josh Kaufman'ın ilgili TED konuşmasını da bu linkten izleyebilirsiniz: https://ed.ted.com/on/Imq14bHp
August 27, 2020
A decent read, although not as good as his other book The personal MBA, which is one of my favorite..
The book is basically based on simple practical techniques and principal, which enables us to learn any skills very quickly, the good part is that the other has himself tried those techniques, and learned 5 to 6 new skills, which he also illustrate on the book that how he learned those skills in less than 20 hours, following were those skills
1. Programming
2. Touch typing
3. Go game
4. Wind surfing
5. Ukelele
Downside of this is that I think the author has exaggerated the book, because the techniques that he thought were very sound and sold, only one example would have been enough for the sake of illustration, and with this the book would have been easily under 100 pages.. then I would have rated it 5/5.
Having said this, I still rate the book very high, because it is very practical one, Josh kaufmann is by the way a brilliant writer, his story telling and writing skills are just sublime.
The book is basically based on simple practical techniques and principal, which enables us to learn any skills very quickly, the good part is that the other has himself tried those techniques, and learned 5 to 6 new skills, which he also illustrate on the book that how he learned those skills in less than 20 hours, following were those skills
1. Programming
2. Touch typing
3. Go game
4. Wind surfing
5. Ukelele
Downside of this is that I think the author has exaggerated the book, because the techniques that he thought were very sound and sold, only one example would have been enough for the sake of illustration, and with this the book would have been easily under 100 pages.. then I would have rated it 5/5.
Having said this, I still rate the book very high, because it is very practical one, Josh kaufmann is by the way a brilliant writer, his story telling and writing skills are just sublime.
August 29, 2018
كتاب يدلك على الطريقة التي تحلل فيها اي مهارة لاجزاء وتبني بيئة محطية تساعدك على الوصول الى درجة الاتقان التي تراها مناسبه
كتاب عملي جدا براي
بعيدا عن الاوهام والتحفيز المبالغ فيه
الكاتب بالغ في شرح تجربته في شرح بعض المهارات التي تعلمها ودخل في تفاصيل مملة جدا في بعض الاحيان
لكن في المجمل التجارب كافية وفيها انواع مختلقة من المهارات الفكرية والحركية
كتاب عملي جدا براي
بعيدا عن الاوهام والتحفيز المبالغ فيه
الكاتب بالغ في شرح تجربته في شرح بعض المهارات التي تعلمها ودخل في تفاصيل مملة جدا في بعض الاحيان
لكن في المجمل التجارب كافية وفيها انواع مختلقة من المهارات الفكرية والحركية
September 25, 2017
Really hoped it would be as well researched as Personal MBA, instead I got a mishmash of pop-productivity for a few pages and then the author learning random skills for the other 90%.
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