20 hours of practice- a challenge

Josh Kaufman champions the idea of 20 hours of deliberate practice to get good at almost anything. With just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice, one can go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well at almost anything. I am going to challenge myself to this claim for the next 25 days.

Personally this idea is very enchanting as being a college student my midterms are around the corner (~20 days) and I have seven courses that I need to perform well in (and in the process learn about those 200, 300 and 400 college level courses in economics, marketing, law and biochemistry). Further, I have to read quite a bit on stoic philosophy (Meditations by Marcus Aurelius) and productivity (GTD by David Allen).

In addition to this, I am spending my time playing amateur badminton, trying my mouth at harmonica and practising writing.

1. To become good at anything Kaufman advices to first decide on what you want. I am clear on what I want (good grades in midterms, reading stoicism and GTD and deliberate writing, badminton and harmonica practise) for the next ~25 days.
2. Next step is to deconstruct the skill into fundamentals: basically break down the parts and find the most important things to practice first. If one was learning to play a musical instrument, for example, knowing just a few chords gives one access to tons of songs. For me, I can practise harmonica before sleeping and after waking up for half an hour everyday for the next 20 days. Playing badminton in the evening is an easier habit to develop and has been continuing since a fortnight. For reading books, I devote two 45 mins periods everyday to read and make notes. 
   Coming to midterms, I need to spend 20 hours for the first 4 courses (in the pic) and 10 hours for the remaining 3 to become good at them (applying Kaufman’s theory). That would mean studying 110 hours in the next 20 days. Regarding the midterm week as a 10 hour study day, I need to complete 50 hours of study before the exam week arrives which means 50/14= 3.5 hours of studying outside classroom everyday. This is indeed possible as my timetable is virtually free on all days of the week except tuesdays and thursdays.
3. The above is an example of research which is required just enough to get the sub-skills, then practicing the most important ones first (reading the first chapter, learning the chords, studying to complete the assignment) i.e not letting learning become a barrier.
4. Next Kaufman advices to eliminate barriers of practice: that is blocking out and dedicating time. Identify and remove anything that distracts you from focusing on the skill you want to learn. Here I have set specific time for studying: (morning (9–11) and afternoons (2–4) in days other than tues and thurs) and reading and playing harmonica (early morning and before sleeping)
5. The final step is to pre commit to practising for at least 20 Hours. The challenge before me is to complete 20 hours of learning for my courses, 20 hours of practising harmonica and badminton and 20 hours of deliberate reading and writing in the next 25 days.

If you want to learn more about this principle and apply it in your own life, you should carefully watch this video now.

Any discussions/ doubts about the principle can be taken to the comment section. :)