The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything... Fast!

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars | 1,090 ratings

Price: 16.19

Last update: 07-16-2024


Top reviews from the United States

Bradley Bevers
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, Great Tips, Very Good Case Studies
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2013
I have followed Josh Kaufman since reading  The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business , one of the best books on business that I've ever read. I was really excited to pick this book up at first, but after glancing through the table of contents and flipping through the chapters, I was pretty sure it was not going to be my favorite book on learning. The problem, in my mind, was that the bulk of the book was simply anecdotal, and the meat of the book was thin - really only two chapters at the beginning. I also recently picked up two excellent books on learning,  The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life  and  Mastery , and did not see how this could compare.

Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised after reading it. The 10 Principles of Rapid Skill Acquisition and the 10 Principles of Effective Learning may be short chapters and seem simple, but they contain valuable advice. They will help you sort through what you should be learning and how to pick it up quickly. I thought that this would be the most interesting part of the book, but it turns out the case studies included were much more rewarding.

Yoga: Kaufman explains his method for learning yoga quickly. This is a good example of learning, but also a great example of teaching - I learned more about yoga then I ever cared to know and it was actually interesting.

Programming: This is easily the most technical chapter and the hardest to understand, but also the most inspiring. Seeing something as daunting as learning a computer language from scratch broken down so quickly was pretty amazing. I added learning Ruby to my list.

Touch-Typing: Interesting study about typing and switching to a more efficient keyboard. One tip from this chapter that is worth the price of the book: Practice skill acquisition and sleep within four hours. Sleep helps cement new skills (especially motor skills) into your long term memory.

Go: Again, knew nothing about this, interesting to read about a history of a board game.

Ukelele: Learning to play a ukelele in 10 days . . . pretty amazing case study. This has gone onto my list as well, though I'm not sold on a ukelele over a guitar.

Windsurfing: Interesting chapter on learning a very physical skill.

The case studies will help you craft and break down your own learning projects. They are great, and will be immensely helpful for me as I choose what and how to study.

If you are really interested in learning skills quickly, I would highly recommend picking up  The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life  and using the DiSSS CaFE learning method in conjunction with this book. Using the techniques and seeing the examples from both books will help you start learning on your own very quickly. Honestly, it would be hard to invest your $40 on two better books . . . if you want to learn, start here. Highly Recommended.
Alysha
4.0 out of 5 stars Effective Framework for Rapid Skill Acquisition
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024
This book presents a compelling approach to mastering new skills efficiently. The author's concept of dedicating focused practice for a short duration to achieve significant proficiency is both refreshing and practical.

What sets this book apart is its straightforward and actionable advice. The author breaks down the learning process into manageable steps, providing readers with a clear framework to follow. The emphasis on deliberate practice and avoiding common pitfalls is particularly valuable, helping learners stay on track and make the most of their time.

The book is filled with real-world examples and personal anecdotes, making it engaging and relatable. The author's own experiences serve as a testament to the effectiveness of the techniques outlined in the book, further bolstering their credibility.

While the approach advocated in the book is undoubtedly effective, I found that some topics could have been explored in more depth. Certain sections felt rushed, leaving me craving more detailed explanations and examples.

Overall, "The First 20 Hours" offers a practical and effective method for rapid skill acquisition. While it may not provide all the answers, its framework serves as a valuable starting point for anyone looking to learn new skills quickly and efficiently. Would still recommend if you are looking into learning a skill rapidly.

Shipping was fast and book arrived in great condition.
Jack Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Do you want to be Jack?
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2013
Before you buy this book you have to ask yourself this basic question: do you want the be a Jack of all trades or the master of some? Then, you may ponder about the "self-help-ish" or "magic number-ish" 20 hours issue (you will learn that this is the personal experience of the author). But, the title sounds too good to ignore, too enticing to leave, so you still buy the book. You will be disappointed.

You will find that the author wants to do soooooo many things, but there is never enough time to do them all. (Aren't we all staring at our bucket lists with the same quiet desperation?) But, here is a method that allows you to beat the confining principles of being realistic, prioritization AND focusing. It contains 10 principles of rapid skill acquisition (1, love the stuff; 2, focus on the stuff; 3, decide how good you really want to be; 4 through 9 are really no brainers and 10, emphasize quantity and speed) and 10 principles of effective learning (1, research the stuff; 2, just do it; 3, identify mental models, etc.). The method is then demonstrated using the author's preferred random skills: yoga, programming, typing, go, ukulele, windsurfing.

So, why will you be disappointed? Because most of us have only a few "dream skills", but would like to do them at a higher level than many disconnected things at an average/below average level. It may be the question of a high enough dose of Ritalin, but an average adult does not dream to do a periodization of 20 hour cycles of random skills. If one jumps from one skill to the next, what becomes of the necessary practice time of the earlier skill? I understand that the author simply wanted to demonstrate how well his method applies to unrelated "arts", but here is where the book falls short. Instead of demonstrating how generally applicable the method is, I would much rather get into the method itself through the acquisition of a single skill (not to forget the difference in between learning unicycling or playing the piano, doing karate or breeding Saint Bernards). Some demands extensive knowledge of theory, while others based on mostly practice. (There is also no breakdown of how the 20 hours was spent, say, while learning yoga. At one point a 90 minute instruction is mentioned, then a 3 hours instruction. How much time was spent with researching the basic theory?) Mental scaffolding or mental models/lattice work could have been used to demonstrate applicability of this single skill, instead of creating an easy target for criticism by rushing through eclectic ventures. I would have expected more learning about learning itself and how elements of knowledge/skill aquisition are similar (but not the same) in between widely varied topics. But it is questionable, if there is one general "learning DNA" that could generate both flea an and elephant skills.

Principle 3 of rapid skill acquisition "Define your target performance level" is why most of us will give up on this book. At the end it is not about frustration barriers, 20 hours, methods or skill acquisition, but dealing with plateaus. George Leonard in his excellent book "Mastery" describes exactly the type of path this author wanders upon. It is the "Dabbler", the eternal kid. The end of the first 20 hours may actually signify the first inevitable plateau, where admitting how demanding something can be and how much more effort and commitment it requires to move on to the next level is simply dismissed by moving on to a brand new project. I may be wrong, but the "target performance level" is much more of the journey itself than a destination.

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