The First 20 Hours

How to Learn Anything... Fast!

By: Josh Kaufman

Narrated by: Josh Kaufman

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

"Learn anything... fast!"

Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What's on your list? What's holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills - time you don't have and effort you can't spare?

Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy?

To make matters worse, the early hours of practicing something new are always the most frustrating. That's why it's difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It's so much easier to watch TV or surf the web...

In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition: how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct complex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By completing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you'll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well.

This method isn't theoretical: it's field-tested. Kaufman invites readers to join him as he field tests his approach by learning to program a Web application, play the ukulele, practice yoga, re-learn to touch type, get the hang of windsurfing, and study the world's oldest and most complex board game.

What do you want to learn?

Listen to The First 80 Minutes FREE from The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything . . . Fast!.

©2013 Worldly Wisdom Ventures LLC (P)2013 Worldly Wisdom Ventures LLC

Critic reviews

"As a father of three, practicing neurosurgeon, and global journalist, I don't have a lot of free time on my hands. The First 20 Hours is a practical guide to learning beyond our mid-20s, when our brains are fully developed. Josh's book will inspire you to pick up forgotten hobbies and chase elusive dreams." (Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent)

Could've been a pamphlet

It's a good system it's just that most of the book is about how he applied it to his own purposes so unless your desire to learn the exact same things he taught himself you're only going to find the first 2 chapters useful.

Great information

Will be learning nunchakus, guitar, backflip, full splits, photography, powerlifting, snowboarding, name memory, dancing, welding. Thats it at first... I can make time, it's easy.

I don't learn much.

Would you try another book from Josh Kaufman and/or Josh Kaufman?

This is my second book from Josh Kaufman. I read the Personal MBA, not from audiobook. I think Josh has a give to write in a simple, easy to understand way. So, yeah, I will perhaps buy another book of Josh, but not the audiobook.

Has The First 20 Hours turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I like personal development book and I think this book has something to offer that is very unique.

How could the performance have been better?

I think Josh is not the best narrator even for his own book (sorry Josh). Perhaps it will be better to use professional narrator.

Did The First 20 Hours inspire you to do anything?

Yes, the first 20 hours inspire me to learn Golf.

Any additional comments?

I feel a bit disappointed because I have read the article by Josh before reading the book, and I don't find anything more valuable from the book.

Also the examples that Josh gave in the book does not interest me at all. I don't want to learn yoga, programming, windsurfing, or typing. And this part bored me so much, which is maybe 70% of the book (well, maybe not that much, but in boredom time feels longer).

a surefire method to a more fulfilling life

A thorough and compelling explanation of the authors 20 hour method to learn any skill you can think of followed by several pieces of his own anecdotal evidence told in an interesting manner. Well worth the listen.

Helping to help yourself more quickly

Read the book, listened to the audio book and set out to practice using the methods Josh described.

Less then 20 hours later I was making acceptable hand cut dovetails.

Just over 20 hours later I was coding to the just over basic level I needed to accomplish a specific task..

Practical explanations of practical methodologies that worked. Since reading the book I have learned a new skill I wanted, Learned one I needed and learned one i Promptly abandoned.

If you want to save yourself some time and learn more about skills and yourself this book is a must read.

I do have to agree with some of the folks that gave this book poor reviews. You can save even more time by only reading the first few chapters that explain the method and thought processes. Over half the content is filler that without the hard copy will only make some sense.

Practical Application of Neuroscience

Any additional comments?

"The First 20 Hours" is pure science . Being in medical profession it's easier to correlate this book with Cognitive behavior and neuropsychiatric pathways of human brain and mind . " The First 20 hours" is a science and Josh Kaufman's other book "The Personal MBA" is an art. Combining them is like 1+1= 11 ( not 2).

Great listen

Very interesting listen. I am going to try and put a lot of this into practice.

Good Concepts, Lacked depth of Explanation

I thought the premise of this book was very good, but the overall explanatory nature of it to be lacking. He had long passages about different things that he learned about, but large portions of it could have been cut to make room for more stories and more explanation. I feel as though this book is very inspirational, and it seems to be one of the better books on the market on skill acquisition.

If you want to learn anything, this is the book!

What did you love best about The First 20 Hours?

In depth analysis on how to learn any subject, many other things that are good for you and stufff.

Good message

The 10 steps and the process outlined are very good and I will use them. I do like how Josh outlines his methods to learn the various things and they each required a slightly different way to apply his method. My feedback is that there is too much detail into things that didn’t pertain to the process. For example, he details individual yoga moves, and key strokes for programming in Ruby. Those were details went on for most of the chapter when more focus on the process of learning the skills in line with the 10 steps would have been a better read.