Sufficient Practice Is Better Than Excessive Practice

  • I didn’t understand this simple principle before. If I could sum it up in one sentence, it might sound like this:
    • Know when enough is enough. Limit yourself and don’t overdo it.
  • It’s the core of skill acquisition: deliberate practice. It’s intentional and systematic, where every action has its place and role in the whole ensemble.
    • The idea of sufficiency is the key to rapid skill acquisition.
    • But when we talk about note-taking, what is enough?
  • Kaufman says that it’s the fundamentals that are practiced intelligently.
    • A person who is learning something must create a learning routine for themselves.
    • The routine, as I see it, is well-structured homework, clear and simple instructions, and a timer.
    • I am also no more than half an hour or an hour of deliberate practice of an isolated skill, which leads, when used with other skills, to an expert level of performance.
  • Don’t confuse deliberate practice with learning and academic materials that you need to study before applying a skill.
    • The trick is to learn just enough to start acting and no more.
    • Practice is the best teacher, and theory is the best advisor on how to act.
    • Too much of one without another leads to indecision, doubt, and mistakes.
  • Let me give a good example of this principle. I am a teacher of the English language at a school.
    • At the first lessons, my students were afraid to act, to talk, and to participate in class. This is universal.
    • They are afraid of making mistakes, but slowly they make progress and start their activity in the classroom.
    • The problem they experience when they come to me is that they are not used to practicing the language. They are good at learning it.
  • Other teachers teach via books, paper, and writing. I, on the other hand, focus on constant use of the language.
    • Language acquisition and language learning are two different processes.
    • Both are important, but they serve different functions.

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