HOW TO LEARN TO LEARN A SKILL IN 4 STEPS - ARTE - 2024

In this article I will explain a methodology to learn to quickly learn any skill quickly, be it cognitive or behavioral. What's more, I can tell you that in 20 days you can have a pretty good base.

You will often have heard or even said statements like "how difficult", "that would be impossible for me", "I can't do that" when speaking, about behavioral skills - playing a musical instrument, dancing, singing, skating, tennis… - or cognitive skills - memorizing, English, speaking languages, creativity… -.

Well, in my opinion, most of the time people say that they are exaggerating. If they at least tried to train the skill they want, they might find out if they really are unable to do it. And I don't mean to practice it for 10 minutes and give up, but to persevere for days or months.

Your ability to learn is practically unlimited. This is how psychologist Paul Reber explains it:

The problem of time perception

Before knowing the methodology that I will tell you in point 4, a problem used to occur to me: I practiced the salsa steps for a short time and it frustrated me.

However, I perceived that it was a long time, but in reality I did not practice the steps that I wanted to memorize more than 10 minutes.

I think this is related to something Einstein said:

Put your hand in a hot oven for a minute and it will seem like an hour. Sit next to a beautiful girl for an hour and it will seem like a minute. That is relativity.

The fact is that if you do something you like, time seems to go by faster. But if you do something that you don't like or find it frustrating, it will seem much slower.

Our mind is not programmed to objectively perceive the passage of time. You could have had a terrible time dancing on the dance floor with a girl or a boy, it seemed like hours, and in reality it will have been 1 or 2 minutes. Surely that situation sounds familiar to you?.

And when you start to practice a skill, it is very heavy and it is normal to feel frustration because you do not have the necessary skills, neither motor nor cognitive.

Solution:

From now on, when I practice salsa steps I set an alarm so that I am practicing from 20 minutes to 1 hour (it depends on the day and my schedule).

In that way, I am aware that I have at least practiced long enough. If I practice two hours a week, I have already added two hours.

On the other hand, if you really want to learn something, get in the habit of being persistent and fighting frustration.

If you have impatience problems, I recommend practicing mindfulness.

The amount of time needed

Malcolm Gladwell comments in his book Out of Series, that the most talented people, who have achieved great achievements, have practiced at least 10,000 hours their skill.

For example, Bill Gates practiced more than 10,000 hours of programming before the age of 22. The Beatles practiced many more hours than any other band of their time. High-level athletes tend to be those who practice the most hours. Nadal or Federer train 8-10 hours a day.

If you want to reach a Top, professional level, you will have to practice thousands of hours, about 10,000 or more. Not even people with natural talent outperform those who train so much.

However, it is likely that you do not want to go so far, nor will you have the time available. Maybe you just want to learn to play the violin fairly well, to speak a medium level of English or to memorize well.

Well I have good news for you: Josh Kaufman, the author of "The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything Fast", argues that with a practice of 20 hours any cognitive or behavioral skill can be learned.

So that's the amount you need to say you know how to do something. No more. Just remember: it has to be 20 counted hours, not training 10 minutes and perceiving that hours have passed?.

• If you practice 4 hours a week, you can learn in 5 weeks.
• If you practice 1 hour a week, you can learn in 5 months.

Academic bias and educational gap

Sorry, if you are in university, institute, college or any type of training, they may not have taught you to learn correctly, no matter how much you have studied.

These traditional trainings are excellent ways to learn specific and mostly theoretical topics, but they do not teach how to learn to learn.

What's more, students leave knowing a lot of theory and very little practice. I do not know if it is due to the economic interests of the institutions or what, although it seems like a waste of time. What can be learned in real life in 2 or 3 years, is learned in college in 4, 5 or more years.

The reality is that the educational system of the vast majority of countries continues to educate as if it were the 18th-18th century, that is, the Industrial Revolution.

In the industrial revolution, all workers did the same; they went to factories to do monotonous tasks.

However, what is really valued today is what the person knows, their intelligence and the ability they have to learn.

But the educational system is not going to teach you to learn.

You yourself will have to learn to learn, to solve problems, to innovate, to listen, to be creative, to have initiative, to persevere…

Academic bias

I call "academic bias" the current tendency to receive all the information you can about what you want to learn and then begin to practice it.

For example, you want to learn how to cook pasta and you read 5 pasta books and take 5 online courses. Or a psychologist wants to learn to do therapy and first studies 50 subjects.

This is normal today, although I consider it a mistake. It is a waste of time to spend hours theoretically studying a skill that needs to be practiced.

As you will see in the methodology, the ideal is to deconstruct the general skill in "subskills" and start practicing them as soon as possible.

Avoid academic bias!

Methodology for learning to learn

Decide what you want

What do you want to learn? Within the skill, what exactly do you want to achieve?

For example, saying "I want to learn to play tennis" does not give much information, it is too broad. However, if you say 'I want to learn to serve, hit right forehand, hit backhand and hit well, you are establishing the skills you really need.

Another example: if you say "I want to learn to speak in public", it is very general. But if you say "I want to be able to speak in public and present projects", you are being much more exact.

Deconstruct the skill

For example, speaking French, running or learning tennis are general skills, but within them are particular and smaller skills.

What are the smallest skills you need to learn to get to what you want?

For example, if you want to learn to dance salsa as a couple, you have to know how to follow the rhythm and only take steps 1-7.

If I tried to dance salsa as a couple, without having first learned to listen to the rhythm and follow it with the steps, it would be very frustrating and it would be almost impossible. It is much easier and easier for you to first learn to keep up and take the steps alone.

Practice to correct mistakes

Write a schedule in which you practice at least 20 hours. And remember to practice the "subskills" first.

You can schedule half an hour a day, two hours a week, one hour a day… In my opinion, the minimum time per session should be 20 minutes. How long you spend per week will depend on your schedule, but remember to practice long enough. Like I do, you can use an alarm.

Do you want to learn the skill even faster? Practice 3-4 hours before going to sleep. That way your brain will better consolidate learning.

On the other hand, "practice it in imagination" helps, although it has to be complementary to the real one. It's no use practicing, for example, public speaking in your imagination if you don't do it in reality as well.

Eliminate barriers to practice

Barriers are distractions that keep you from paying attention and focusing on the skill you want to learn, and you'll need to remove them to learn more quickly.

If you want to learn to play the guitar and you have the TV next to it, it will be much easier to distract yourself. On the other hand, make it easy to keep the practice simple. Do you have the guitar hidden at the end of the closet? Take it out to remind yourself that you want to learn.

Make a commitment to practice at least 20 hours

This number of hours is not random, there is a lot of research behind it.

If you are willing to practice 20 hours, you will make sure you get through the first frustrating hours, which are the real obstacle to learning the skill.

To make it easier for you, you can practice 2 sessions of 20 minutes each a day. Just make sure they add up to 20 hours or more at the end.

Here is the TEDx video in which Josh Kaufman talks about his methodology. At the end you can see the skill that he learned in 20 hours.

And what method do you use to learn fast? What do you think of this methodology? I am interested in your opinion. Thank you!