Small Chunks

We learn in small chunks. Full concentration is taxing. That is the theory behind TED keeping its talks to under 20 minutes. No matter how engaging the subject matter we can't concentrate long. The exception may be when you are in a state of Flow - 'the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.' Then time can simply disappear. That is at an advanced stage. That is when you rock. In the early stages of picking up a skill or idea, we are very conscious of time. Our Elephants need time to chew.

The Gettysburg Address was 2 minutes and 270 words long. 270. So you don't have to be long to have impact - HT Presentation Zen

Lincoln at Gettysburg 

Source: wikipedia.org

Salman Khan talks of the idea of flipping the classroom. Allowing kids to do their 'schoolwork at home' - i.e. the lessons, and their homework at school, i.e. working collaboratively or doing tutorials. This gives the ability to pause lessons, mid-sentence, without embarrassment to repeat... and chew. Then once you grasp an idea you can bounce it off other people. Perhaps there is a workplace equivalent? Could we flip the office? If that is where we need to be to communicate, build relationships and roll-up our sleeves... maybe we need to be somewhere else to learn.

One of the things I miss about being a kid is that it was pre-specialisation. You did a variety of subjects, and in the afternoons you did sport. Yes, hour long lessons could feel like an eternity (and with folks like Khan leading the way - that can change), but there were always different flavours to chew so you could push through the tough bits.

Taking small bites help us move forward. Tim Hurson says 'We tend to overestimate what we can do in the short term, and underestimate what we can do in the long term'. That feels right. If you do something small and hard everyday - it does add up. Throwing yourself at something large is overwhelming. And life is large.