Practice means preparing. We rehearse in low-pressure environment so we can get better results when it matters. Deliberate practice means being deliberate about getting the most out of that practice. To do this, you need clarity on 1. What exactly you are practicing 2. The best practice method to improve performance in that Common elements in figuring out exactly what you are practicing - Find objective standards for performance - What % can you hit a 3-pointer - How fast can you run 100m - Might be able to design deliberate practice environments for knowledge work with LLM feedback - Break skills down into easilier measurable subskills Common elements in the best practice method - An activity specifically designed to improve performance - Quick feedback loop - Highly demanding mentally - A teacher or coach - If you can't access one, you can still be your own coach through [[Metacognition]], recording yourself, and tracking performance - Can track and improve performance over time Deliberate practice isn't much fun. There's an inverse correlation between the usefulness of a practice session and its enjoyability. No one can sustain it all the time. 4-5 hours a day seems to be the upper limit for deliberate practice, generally in sessions of 60-90 minutes, and requires great sleep and recovery. Most people are satisfied with "good enough" so they never pursue deliberate practice, and never reach extraordinary performance. For example, most people type for hours a day, but barely get faster. Prodigies don't exist. They just did enormous amounts of deliberate practice. [^1][^2] [^1]: Clear, James. 2017. “The Beginner’s Guide to Deliberate Practice.” _James Clear_, January 23. [https://jamesclear.com/beginners-guide-deliberate-practice](https://jamesclear.com/beginners-guide-deliberate-practice). [[clearBeginnersGuideDeliberate2017|Annotations]] [^2]: Rosie. 2021. “The Ultimate Deliberate Practice Guide: How to Be the Best.” _Farnam Street_, April 5. [https://fs.blog/deliberate-practice-guide/](https://fs.blog/deliberate-practice-guide/). [[rosieUltimateDeliberatePractice2021|Annotations]]