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Naresh Jain's Random Thoughts on Software Development and Adventure Sports
     
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What is required for Deliberate or Deep Practice?

There is an old saying that “Practice makes perfect“. But not all practice can make you perfect. There is a specific type of practice usually referred to as deliberate practice or deep practice which can really help you master the skill at hand.

Geoff Colvin, the author of the groundbreaking bestseller Talent Is Overrated explains that deliberate practice can be described by these five characteristics:

  1. It’s designed specifically to improve performance
  2. It can be repeated a lot
  3. Feedback on actions is continuously available
  4. It’s highly demanding mentally
  5. It isn’t much fun

Hence a short, focused and regular practice session is lot more effective than one long, generic, random practice session.

Its also important to note that deliberate/deep practice requires a certain context or mindset to really facilitate the learning. Following are important characteristics:

  • You are slightly off-balance, trying to get back
  • You are constantly getting tons of clear, instant feedback
  • You are at the edge of your ability, but motivated to stretch yourself a little bit more
  • You are staring at you role models, .i.e. you’ve a clear idea of your goals or the kind of person you want to become.

The advantage of deliberate practice is cumulative, hence starting early has a big advantage.

Generally, I used to be against rote learning, but now I’m rethinking through my conclusions.

If this topic interests you, I would strongly recommend the following books:

Some good videos to start on this topic:


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