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

by Josh Kaufman

To make life even more interesting, we welcomed our daughter, Lela, into the world. Lela is nine months old as I write this. Before Lela was born, Kelsey and I decided that if we were going to have kids, we wanted to make raising them ourselves a priority. One of the major reasons I quit my former management-track job at a Fortune 500 corporation was to have the flexibility to work from home, set my own schedule, and spend as much time as possible with my family. Kelsey and I share parenting responsibilities equally. Since we’re a two-business household, Kelsey works in the morning, while I take care of Lela. In the afternoon, Kelsey takes care of Lela, and I work until dinnertime. That gives me around twenty-five hours each week to work, plus whatever time I can snatch while Lela is napping. After Lela was born, I felt like I barely had enough time to get my work done, let alone acquire new skills. For a learning addict, it was crazy-making. I don’t want to give up on learning and growth completely, even with my new responsibilities. I don’t have very much free time, but I’m willing to invest what I have as wisely as possible. That’s what prompted my interest in what I call rapid skill acquisition: methods of learning new skills quickly.