According to theory, you need at least ten thousand hours of doing a particular task to achieve proficiency. Which activities have you performed for ten thousand hours?
Share why if you wish.
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
According to theory, you need at least ten thousand hours of doing a particular task to achieve proficiency. Which activities have you performed for ten thousand hours?
Share why if you wish.
Let’s see, 10,000 hours is about 417 days. That’s not, of course, the same thing as doing something for 417 straight days. It would be the equivalent of doing something for 417 days straight — no breaks, no stopping to eat, no sleeping, and so on. That’s a long time.
Other than things we all do to live — breathing, eating, sleeping, and so on — I’m trying to think what things I have spent that much time doing.
And I suppose the basic functions wouldn’t count anyway. For example, I don’t *practice* breathing. I just breathe. There are people, I suppose, who think about breathing, who purposefully approach how they breathe. But I’m not one of them.
Same thing with sleeping. While I have certainly spent more than 10,000 sleeping, I would not characterize what I do as *practicing* sleeping.
So what have I practiced for 10,000 hours? Biking, I imagine. Also, playing various games, like card and board games. I have done that repeatedly, over a long period of time, with the intention of getting better. That fits the bill, I would think.
Cooking? I’ve spent a lot of time in the kitchen playing with various ingredients and trying new combinations, but not as many as 10,000 hours worth. Maybe computer programming, although I haven’t done that much recently, so I have certainly fallen out of practice.
I can’t decide if reading counts. I certainly read enough — I’ve spent more than 10,000 hours reading in my lifetime. But again, I’m not reading with the intention to get better at reading. I’m doing so because I enjoy it, and because I think it makes me a better person. But I don’t think it makes me a better reader, so I’m not sure if it counts.
I know for sure if I need to pick one thing that I have practiced for 10,000 hours is sewing.
I’ve done it as a profession as well as for the pure enjoyment of the art of producing something beautiful and useful.
Making dresses and quilts gives me a great deal of satisfaction and pride.
Too bad my current situation doesn’t allow me to do what I love.