On Practice Technique
Minimize the elasped time between when you first learn something and when you practice.
Last night, here’s what I didn’t do:
I didn’t head home early.
I didn’t turn on the TV or watch a movie.
I didn’t mindlessly surf Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or the web.
I didn’t text back and forth with friends.
Here’s what I did:
I practiced a skill I really wanted to learn.
I’m learning to code a language called Javascript and late one afternoon, I had the good fortune of getting a 30 minute tutorial from a friend who’s also an experienced software coder. I had pinged him because I had thrashed around for several hours trying to learn something new. He got right back to me and sorted my problem out quickly. With my immediate problem solved, I was excited to move on to what was next.
But then I asked the question, did I really get any better at this skill and did I learn it as well as I could have (and it’s an important skill which I’ll need again)? The answer was obvious to me; I hadn’t mastered this topic, and if I wanted to get better, I needed to practice. When was there time? It was getting late, and I wanted to head home…
Fortunately, I have learned, that the best time to practice something is immediately after learning or being exposed to it. The more time that passes, the less depth, insight and skill building your practice will have. This is really, really important and I have developed a rule for myself which I also advocate for others to follow (just ask my kids…):
Minimize the elasped time between when you first learn something and when you practice it.
Do I always follow this rule? Of course not, it’s sometimes hard, usually inconvenient, and almost always an ‘uphill’ climb. But if you really want to learn something deeply and more quickly, follow this discipline.
Instead, I decided to bump my departure back to the late ferry and practice and absorb what I had just seen (I say seen, because I hadn’t really learned it yet). I practiced the same scenario and related situations. I reread a manual on the topic, and I practiced the mirror image problem. I also wrote notes with diagrams and several new areas that I wanted to learn about came into view (it never ends… here’s an article on the Virtuous Circle of Improvement). The result? I feel more confident about an important skill that I will be using a lot.
The term ‘grit’ gets used in the world of talent building and skill development and when I read it about, or watch an Angela Duckworth video, it’s easy for me to nod my head and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve got grit.’ But the little voice in the back of head likes to say, ‘Oh yeah, you gotta show me some grit.’
That little voice keeps me honest about practicing and working to get better. It’s now very clear to me when I’m choosing to take shortcuts and when I’m investing the time to deliberately practice.
Deliberate practice is not about endless practice or self-torture. It’s a discipline to use time at the end of the day to review a technique, or perhaps spending lunch reading notes from a meeting or class and adding additional thoughts.
In my life, I’m defining grit as seizing moments to practice something I’m learning. If I just solved a coding problem, I take a few minutes to review what I did, write notes and consider related issues. I can feel the confidence that flows from a deeper understanding. If I choose not to review something in a timely manner, I know that when I need to use that skill again it will not be as precise, or as sharp.
The lesson is to find the time, make a moment as soon as you can after learning or being exposed to a new skill to review, debrief and practice. Create the time in your life for this discipline and you will see better results.
This is really important so I’m going to say it again:
Minimize the elasped time between when you first learn something and when you practice it.
