HOW DO YOU PRACTICE TO BECOME AN EXPERT?

HOW DO YOU PRACTICE TO BECOME AN EXPERT?

• Does increased practice improve  your performance?

• Does Practice make you Perfect?

• So, how much do you practice to be an expert?

• What makes you different from the world class performer?

Does increased activity as practice improve  your performance?

School Annual day,V Class

I have  played violin since the age of 5 years and now I am a laparoscopic surgeon. Both the vocations demand a lot of practice and dexterity of hands. 

As a kid, my dad always taught me,”Practice makes perfect”. 

As a senior surgeon training other young surgeons, I feel that training  of both surgeons and violinists have a lot in common.

Performing or playing violin is a skill – World class professionals have fined tuned this to an art. 

Surgeons differ in caliber and skill levels. 

This blog  hopefully will benefit all the above as well as those who wish to improve performance at work like writing skills, drawing, computers, etc. 

When the professionals play tennis , martial arts, golf or cricket, these too become an art.

You watch the expert violinist perform in a symphony effortlessly, and yet, when you attempt, it is a flop. You may practice very hard for hours, days or months. 

Finally  you realize that 'this is not for me!' 

You think that the performer has some magic quality which is missing in you.... not true! 

If this is indeed how you feel at the end of it all, then this article is for you!

Does Practice make you Perfect?

“Practice makes perfect” - This is a myth!

I have always wondered as a violinist if I was practicing enough per day. 

After all, practice makes perfect… 

Using this logic, the more you practice, the better  you should become. Is it true? …. it is not.

Mindless practice without reflecting is dull, makes you less confident , consolidates your mistakes and a general waste of time.

Listen to the expert violinist- Jascha Heifitz the best violinist of the last century  the excess practice is as bad as too little practice; he practiced for 3 hours per day and not on Sundays.  

What is the best time for practice according to psychologists?

Best timing is when mind is rested after a nap , always in the mornings and before a meal. 

Duration of practice matters to about 1.3 to 4 hours everyday. 

Between the good and the average students, the duration is not as really different as shown in the graph.

It is the 'Deliberate Practice' that counts!

           

                                       K A Ericsson et al Psychological Review 1993

So  how long should you practice to be an expert?

The answer is 

• 10000 total hours, or 

• 3 hours a day for the next 10 years, or

• 20 hours per week  for the next 10 years.

'Deliberate Practice' (DP) is the acquisition of expert performance with improved potential with extreme environmental adaptation and learning for 10 years.

K A Ericsson et al Psychological Review 1993

Deliberate Practice is scientific activity, slow and involves small and specific skill areas to be improved.

A violinist for instance will break down a difficult section of music to phrases and solitary notes and analyze for a better effect.

Deliberate Practice also is bent on feed back in the form of audio (music) or video (surgery, sports) performance- always looking for ways to analyze and improve the effects.

What makes you different from the world class performer?

1.Focus

Duration of focus in an adult is usually for about an hour; less so in a child. 

You take a break between practices. 

Short Breaks keep your mind clear. 

Aptitude is everything in life.

Continued focus is the key.

2.Timing of practice

‘Early to bed and early to rise’. 

Mornings are good time to practice or before meals. 

A good  sleep is useful according to the experts as this clears  your mind.

3.Keep Written Records

Clear written down goals keep you on the way to fame. 

For instance I need to sharpen my ‘trills with the double stoppings’. 

If you learn a new technique while planning and trying out, by all means keep track of it and publish it for everyone to benefit.

4.Work Smart, not Work Hard

Mindless practice without aim is not kosher. 

One needs to break down the stance in golf or the grip of the club rather than keep swinging mindlessly. 

Serious planning by looking at the hot spots, identification of the problem, looking at the alternatives of solution and choosing the one that fits you…. Now that is smart!

5.Motivated Practice

Once you have perfected your solution, you still need to practice a lot till you perfect each technique. 

A ‘presto’ of demi semi quavers has to be played rapidly and you will spend motivated time till you get it right. 

At surgery, each operation is different. 

If a new technique is going to be adopted, one has to work at it many times in mind and on simulators to make it fluent at the final surgery.

Nothing like 'hard work' once you sort out the strategy.

6.Assessment Internally & Externally

All of us have blind spots. It requires one expert to recognize the faults of another.

Coach is a good idea, who will note your good and bad. He will shape you by observing you.

In addition to above, one should never forget the feed back, audio or video replay to get your act together perfect.

Atul  Gawande, a surgeon wrote about getting a senior surgeon as coach for improving his surgery just as Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Google  to improve his administrative ability. 

And this is in tune with ‘humility’; there is always room for improvement in all of us!