The First 20 Hours Book Summary - The First 20 Hours Book explained in key points

Listen to the Intro

00:00

The First 20 Hours summary

Name: The First 20 Hours
Rating: 4.2 (248 reviews)
Author: Josh Kaufman

Josh Kaufman

How to Learn Anything… Fast

4.2 (248 ratings)

12 mins

What is The First 20 Hours about?

The First 20 Hours (2013) is about learning new skills quickly. These blinks will help you shake off the notion that it’s too late to expand your horizons. Whether you want to master a foreign language or learn how to fly a helicopter, here are ten simple steps for getting started.

Table of Contents

The First 20 Hours
summarized in 6 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 6

What’s in it for me? Learn a new skill in no time.

Over the course of your life, you’ve probably had many interests, and perhaps you regret not pursuing some of them. Maybe you wish you’d started studying the violin ten years ago when you had more time, or kick yourself for not mastering a foreign language at a young age when it was easier.

But what if, instead of regretting missed opportunities, you simply started working toward your goals today? This is where the author’s technique comes into play.

In these blinks, you’ll learn how, in just 20 hours, you can master the basics of your desired skill. From scheduling practice time to acquiring all the tools you need to succeed, you’ll learn how to lay a solid foundation for obtaining any skill.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

what a difference 20 hours can make;
why you’ll never just find time to practice; and
that quantity sometimes is better than quality.

Learn the basics of anything in 20 hours by using rapid skill acquisition.

Is there some skill you’ve always wanted to learn but never had the time for? Many people wish they could play the piano, dominate on the tennis court or converse in fluent French, and may even undertake to learn these skills. But often they give up before they’ve even acquainted themselves with the basics. The reason is that they believe it’s too late for them to acquire a new skill – but that’s simply not true!

This is where rapid skill acquisition comes into play. By employing this technique, you can become fairly good at whatever skill you choose by putting in a mere 20 hours of practice.

Obviously, if your aim is to become the next Serena Williams, you’ll need many thousands of hours of work. Rapid skill acquisition is more about covering the basics, rather than transforming yourself into an instant expert. But even those first 20 hours of practice on the court will already enable you to play against friends and maybe even partake in local tournaments.

Let’s continue with the example of tennis. If you practice for 20 hours, breaking that time up into daily doses of 60-90 minutes, you’ll soon find yourself rapidly improving. And once you’ve completed the initial 20 hours of practice, it’ll become considerably easier to continue developing your chosen skill.

If you’ve ever tried to learn something new, you’ll know that the first few hours of practice are often the hardest. At this stage, you’ll be more likely to get confused and run into problems, which is what causes people to give up early on. But it’s essential to persist for at least 20 hours. That way, you’ll have already reached a substantial level of skill, which will make further practice less problematic.

So how can you make those 20 hours really count? Let’s dive into the ten principles underlying rapid skill acquisition.

Focus all your energy on learning your favorite chosen skill.

There are no doubt many skills you’d like to acquire, but an important part of skill acquisition is to choose the one you care about the most.

So make a list of all the skills you want to work on and pick the one that you feel most excited about at that present moment. This will help keep up your motivation to practice.

Determine the skill level you want to attain and break it down into smaller parts.

The third principle of rapid skill acquisition is all about deciding how good you want to become at your chosen endeavor. This is referred to as your target performance level, and it’s important because if you can imagine what you want your performance to look like, you’ll have an easier time getting there.

So ask yourself what level of performance constitutes “good enough” for you. For instance, if you’re learning to play the banjo, do you want to play three tunes by heart, or to seamlessly join in a jam session?

Acquire the tools you need and limit distractions.

So you’ve decided on your chosen skill – but what tools do you need to pursue it?

Ensuring you have the tools you need is the fifth principle of rapid skill acquisition. This step is rather straightforward – if you want to learn how to play tennis, you need a racket, and if you want to learn how to operate a helicopter, you need access to one.

Make time to practice and give yourself feedback.

Nowadays, people lead busier lives than ever, which is why it’s important not just to try to find the time to practice but to make it. This is the seventh principle of rapid skill acquisition.

In order to make time to practice the skill you wish to acquire, identify other activities in your life that you’re not particularly fond of, or during which you tend to stall or feel restless, and then work on cutting those out of your day. This will free up time with the goal of dedicating 60-90 minutes every day to working on your desired skill.

Practice in short bursts and prioritize quantity and speed.

Everyone dreads Mondays because they seem never-ending. After the pleasures of the weekend, it’s torture to have to endure an entire day of work. Indeed, engaging in any difficult or tedious activity for an extended period of time is both draining and inefficient – and that’s why you should only practice in short intervals.

The ninth principle states that practicing in short spurts is the best way to make progress. When you start learning a new skill, the time you spend practicing can feel like it’s going very slowly. In fact, at the very beginning, people tend to overestimate how much time they’ve spent practicing because the task often feels so arduous.

Want to see all full key ideas from The First 20 Hours?

Key ideas in The First 20 Hours

More knowledge in less time

Read or listen

Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.

Find your next read

Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.

Shortcasts ^New

We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

Best quote from The First 20 Hours

Theres no magic to it – just smart, strategic effort invested in something you care about.

—Josh Kaufman

About the Author

Josh Kaufman is an independent researcher on topics such as business, entrepreneurship, productivity and behavioral psychology. He’s been ranked as one of the best business authors by Amazon. His first book, The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business, was a best seller.

Who should read The First 20 Hours?

Dreamers and curious souls
Procrastinators
Wannabe polyglots

Categories with The First 20 Hours

Personal Development Education

Books like The First 20 Hours

The Personal MBA

Josh Kaufman

Master the Art of Business

Tips and Techniques to Help You Learn Any Language

13 min

4.0

How to Begin

Michael Bungay Stanier

A Proven Plan to Start Something That Matters

Accelerate Your Career, Master Hard Tasks and Outsmart the Competition

How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive

An Inner Journey To Optimal Performance

How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do

The Decision-Making Tool for Every Business (Including Yours)

A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field

Myths about genius and what it really means to be great

The Psychology of Persuasion

How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It

17 min

4.3

Learn Like a Pro

Barbara Oakley and Olav Schewe

Science-based Tools to Become Better at Anything

The Secret to Love That Lasts

Fire Your Boss, Do What You Love and Work Better to Live More

What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money – That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

The Next Big Marketing Idea

Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life

Uncover Your Power and Set Yourself Free

Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

26 min

4.5

Discipline Is Destiny

Ryan Holiday

The Power of Self-Control

18 min

4.7

How to Take Smart Notes

Sönke Ahrens

One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers

18 min

4.4

The Little Book of Talent

Daniel Coyle

52 Tips for Improving Your Skills

16 min

4.4

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

Dr. Daniel G. Amen

The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness

14 min

4.2

101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think

Brianna Wiest

Philosophical Meditations That Will Change Your Life

12 min

4.4

The Willpower Instinct

Kelly McGonigal

How Self-Control Works, Why it Matters and What You Can Do to Get More of It

Your Personal Guide to the Mastery of Magic Words

14 min

4.7

The Procrastination Cure

Jeffery Combs

7 Steps to Stop Putting Life Off

Change is the only constant

Learn Small, Learn Fast, and Unlock Your Potential to Achieve Anything

16 min

3.2

The 1-Page Marketing Plan

Allan Dib

Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd

16 min

4.5

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson

A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

The Secrets to Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life

A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece

18 min

4.7

Crucial Conversations

Kerry Patterson

Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

How to free yourself from philosophical dogmas and assert your own values

Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.

The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

How to Stop Struggling and Start Living

A Brief History of Humankind

How to Get It, Keep It, & Sell More Than Ever

Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them

16 min

3.9

Full Catastrophe Living

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness

25 min

4.6

The Miracle of Mindfulness

Thich Nhat Hanh

An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way

Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love

22 min

4.4

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Carlo Rovelli

A mind-bending introduction to modern physics

19 min

4.4

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith

The most influential economic book of all time

A Magical Fable About Following Your Dreams

China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order

20 min

4.4

People ❤️ Blinkist

Sven O.

It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

Thi Viet Quynh N.

Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

Jonathan A.

Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

Renee D.

Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.