Josh Kaufman talks about the life-changing experience of becoming a new parent and its effects on his time.

• Josh and his wife Kelsey welcomed their daughter Lela, which significantly changed their lives and priorities.
• Becoming a parent was an amazing yet overwhelming experience that involved learning many new things, such as how to dress a child.

Josh discusses the challenges of working from home with a new baby and his realization about free time.

• Both Josh and Kelsey work from home and run their own businesses, which made life busier with a newborn.
• Josh had an epiphany about the scarcity of free time with the new parental responsibilities, leading him to question his ability to learn new skills.

Josh investigates the time needed to learn a new skill and finds the 10,000-hour rule to be a misconception.

• In search of how to learn quickly, Josh finds the 10,000-hour rule, which suggests that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill.
• He realizes that the rule is based on studies of expert-level performance and has been misinterpreted over time.

Josh presents his findings on rapid skill acquisition and introduces the concept of learning curves.

• Actual research on skill acquisition shows that significant improvements can be made with just a little practice.
• Josh's research suggests that with 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice, one can achieve a reasonable level of skill.

Josh details his four-step method for effective learning.

• Deconstruct the skill into the smallest possible sub-skills and practice the most important ones first.
• Learn enough to self-correct during practice by using a few resources as guides.
• Remove barriers to practice, such as distractions, to make it easier to get started.
• Commit to practicing for at least 20 hours to overcome the initial frustration barrier.

Josh shares his personal experience of learning to play the ukulele using the 20-hour method.

• To demonstrate his method, Josh chose to learn the ukulele, an instrument he has always wanted to play.
• He deconstructed the skill by focusing on learning four chords, which allowed him to play many pop songs.
• Josh concludes his talk by performing a medley of pop songs on the ukulele, marking his 20th hour of practice.