Dear Reader,
The other day I was doing some math because apparently that is something people in my family do for fun. The numbers of the day had to do with the amount of time it takes to become good at something, the time it takes to become a master. You may have heard once or twice that after practicing a given task or skill for 10,000 hours, you become a master at it. This idea comes from Malcolm Gladwell in his book, "The Outliers." This sent me on a rampage of calculations. I'll summarize them as best I can below.
In a year, there are 8,760 hours. This means it is impossible to become a master of something in less than a year. It would take at least a year and almost 2 months to become a master in something. However, that is assuming you practice deliberately and effectively 24/7 for that time period on whatever it is you are trying to master.
Let's factor in basic needs, though. Out of 8,760 hours in a year, a person should sleep between 2,190 and 2,920 hours, factoring in 8 and 6 hours a night, respectively. A person also needs to eat. That means, if we are generous and say a person only spends an hour a day eating, we are already down to 5,475 hours of time we can divide up between other activities. Assuming all we did was eat, sleep and practice a given skill according to these numbers, it would still take 2 years to become a master at something.
Looking at it from another angle, if a person practices deliberately for an hour a day, it will take them over 27 years to become a master in whatever it is they are practicing. For 2 hours a day, it will take them over 13 years. This is not accounting for Sundays, which I hope this person would take a rest. Even as a full-time job at 8 hours a day, that only amounts to about 2000 hours a year, still requiring almost 5 years to reach 10,000 hours necessary for mastering a skill.
The last calculation I did was the number of hours a person has in an average lifetime. If we assume a person lives til they are 80, they have 700,800 hours to use wisely. Between 4 and 5 hundred thousand of those hours are spent sleeping, eating, etc. This led to my estimate that we really only have time to master about 2 or three skills in this lifetime.
Now, we don't have to be a master at something to be good at it. We can develop lots of skills and use them proficiently. Don't despair if after reading these calculations you think that you are wasting time. What I came to realize while making these calculations is that it is important to consider what we use our time doing. Do we spend hours watching TV that doesn't really benefit us? Do we use lots of our time doing homework for a class that doesn't interest us? I invite you to ask yourself these questions. For me, however, I realized that it is important to spend time doing the most important things in life: spending time with family, trying to keep the commandments and helping others.
I will give you one last number. At the bare minimum of attending church for 3 hours each week, a person will spend 12,000 hours learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They will be a master by the end of their life. Imagine what happens when you factor in scripture study, prayer, service, family home evening and other church callings.
Use your time wisely. That is all. Make sure it is well-spent. In the words of Jim Croce, "But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do, once you find them. I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with you."
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| Image Credit: Western University |
The other day I was doing some math because apparently that is something people in my family do for fun. The numbers of the day had to do with the amount of time it takes to become good at something, the time it takes to become a master. You may have heard once or twice that after practicing a given task or skill for 10,000 hours, you become a master at it. This idea comes from Malcolm Gladwell in his book, "The Outliers." This sent me on a rampage of calculations. I'll summarize them as best I can below.
In a year, there are 8,760 hours. This means it is impossible to become a master of something in less than a year. It would take at least a year and almost 2 months to become a master in something. However, that is assuming you practice deliberately and effectively 24/7 for that time period on whatever it is you are trying to master.
Let's factor in basic needs, though. Out of 8,760 hours in a year, a person should sleep between 2,190 and 2,920 hours, factoring in 8 and 6 hours a night, respectively. A person also needs to eat. That means, if we are generous and say a person only spends an hour a day eating, we are already down to 5,475 hours of time we can divide up between other activities. Assuming all we did was eat, sleep and practice a given skill according to these numbers, it would still take 2 years to become a master at something.
Looking at it from another angle, if a person practices deliberately for an hour a day, it will take them over 27 years to become a master in whatever it is they are practicing. For 2 hours a day, it will take them over 13 years. This is not accounting for Sundays, which I hope this person would take a rest. Even as a full-time job at 8 hours a day, that only amounts to about 2000 hours a year, still requiring almost 5 years to reach 10,000 hours necessary for mastering a skill.
The last calculation I did was the number of hours a person has in an average lifetime. If we assume a person lives til they are 80, they have 700,800 hours to use wisely. Between 4 and 5 hundred thousand of those hours are spent sleeping, eating, etc. This led to my estimate that we really only have time to master about 2 or three skills in this lifetime.
Now, we don't have to be a master at something to be good at it. We can develop lots of skills and use them proficiently. Don't despair if after reading these calculations you think that you are wasting time. What I came to realize while making these calculations is that it is important to consider what we use our time doing. Do we spend hours watching TV that doesn't really benefit us? Do we use lots of our time doing homework for a class that doesn't interest us? I invite you to ask yourself these questions. For me, however, I realized that it is important to spend time doing the most important things in life: spending time with family, trying to keep the commandments and helping others.
I will give you one last number. At the bare minimum of attending church for 3 hours each week, a person will spend 12,000 hours learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They will be a master by the end of their life. Imagine what happens when you factor in scripture study, prayer, service, family home evening and other church callings.
Use your time wisely. That is all. Make sure it is well-spent. In the words of Jim Croce, "But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do, once you find them. I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with you."
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