Keep this life skill for later
Sign in to save
← All life skills

Learning & thinking · a life skill

Advanced Skill Deconstruction

split it, or keep it whole

Taking a skill apart helps, but not every cut does. Parts that happen one after another can be practised alone and chained back. Parts that happen at the same moment depend on each other, and practised apart they can come back worse. The system decides where to cut and where to keep things whole. It moves difficulty on a score, not a date, and it splits less as you get better.

  • Challenging to start
  • Life-Changing impact
  • Learn it in 30 days
  • Cut in turn, keep at once
one piano piece, split two ways
A piano piece split two ways: its sections, played in turn, are cut apart and chained back; its two hands, played at once, stay together with one leading; the tempo rises on a score; and the whole piece ends every session The piece has three sections played in turn, A (bars 1–8), B (bars 9–16), C (bars 17–24). They are cut apart: section B is drilled alone, then chained as A and B, then A, B and C. The two hands play at the same time, so they are not practised apart; instead one hand leads each session while the other plays softly. The tempo ladder goes up a step after 8 clean runs out of 10: at 60 beats a minute the scores were 6 then 8; at 72 beats a minute the scores were 9; at 84 beats a minute the scores were 7 then 6, two misses in a row, so it steps back to 72. Early on, most of a session goes on the parts; later, most goes on the whole, and every session ends on it. Parts done in turn A bars 1–8 B bars 9–16 C bars 17–24 Parts done at once RIGHT HAND · melody LEFT HAND · chords cut between them B A B A B C alone first, then chained back don't cut these apart: turn one down this session, left leads Up a step on a score, not a date ♩ = 60 6 8 ✓ ♩ = 72 9 ✓ ♩ = 84 7 6 ♩ = 96 back one 8 clean of 10 moves you up · two misses in a row, back one As you get better early later Less time on the parts. Every session still ends on the whole piece. 1 2 3 4 5

The sections come apart cleanly. The hands don't: each one's timing is set by the other.

The system

Try it now.

Take a skill you already practise in parts. Most of this is deciding how to practise, so it starts on paper.

  1. Sort every part: in turn, or at once?

    For each part, ask whether it ever happens while another part is going on. Sections of a piece, stages of a speech and steps of a recipe come in turn. Hands, eyes and timing usually come at once.

  2. Cut only between parts done in turn

    Drill a section alone, then chain it to its neighbour, then run the whole sequence.

    If a section only goes wrong just after another one, drill the join itself, not the section.

  3. Keep parts done at once together, and change which one leads

    Play both hands, but give one your attention while the other runs quietly. Next session, swap. The parts stay coupled, and each still gets its turn.

  4. Raise the difficulty on a score

    Set a bar, such as 8 clean runs of 10, before going up a step. Two misses in a row means going back one. A date on the calendar never moves you.

  5. Split less as you get better

    The more of the skill you have, the more of each session goes on the whole. Split only a part that keeps breaking. End every session on the whole, whatever stage you're at.

When to break the rule: if a part done at once is unsafe or impossible to attempt in the whole, such as a first try at braking hard in a car, practise it apart first. Then put it back as soon as you can.

Sort your skill

Mark each part in turn or at once, and get a plan for where to cut.

For a part done at once, pick what it runs alongside. Parts linked that way are kept together. Everything else can be cut apart and chained back.

    How much of this skill do you already have?

    Where to cut

    Name two or more parts to see the plan.

    Then set the ladder.

    Name up to five steps from easiest to hardest: tempos, distances, time limits, sizes of audience. Log each round's score out of 10. The ladder moves you, not the calendar.

    Bar to go up: 8 of 10

    You start on step 1.

      Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere. It's gone when you leave the page, so copy the plan before you go.

      Where cutting fails

      Across 37 studies, cutting apart parts done at once usually backfired.

      Christopher Wickens, Shaun Hutchins, Thomas Carolan and John Cumming pooled 37 studies that trained people on part of a task, or on an easier version of it, and then tested them on the whole. They asked when each shortcut carried over to the real task, and when it cost people.

      • Practising parts done in turn on their own, then putting them back No loss when they moved to the whole task
      • Practising parts done at the same time on their own Usually did worse on the whole task
      • Practising the whole, changing which part gets priority Worked
      • Raising the difficulty when performance earned it Worked
      • Raising the difficulty in fixed steps Didn't work
      • Either method, for learners who already had experience Gained less, or lost more

      Wickens, Hutchins, Carolan & Cumming (2013), "Effectiveness of part-task training and increasing-difficulty training strategies: a meta-analysis approach", Human Factors 55(2). The ledger gives directions only; it doesn't quote effect sizes.

      The honest limits: these are training studies, not your skill. And "no loss" for parts done in turn means the cut didn't hurt, not that it beat practising the whole. The finding that matters most here is the experience one. The same cut that helps a beginner can slow down someone who already has most of the skill.

      The idea

      Why it works.

      Splitting a skill lowers how much you hold in your head at once, which is why it helps a beginner. But parts done at once aren't just two parts. Keeping them in time with each other is a skill of its own, and practising them apart never trains it.

      Changing which part leads keeps that timing in play while still giving each part its turn. A score-based ladder keeps the load near what you can handle: fixed steps run ahead of some learners and hold others back.

      When it goes wrong

      Habits that help.

      • Test the cut by putting it back. If a part drilled alone falls apart in the whole, the cut was in the wrong place. Rejoin it.
      • Set the bar before the round. A bar picked after seeing the score always seems to have been met.
      • Step back without fuss. Going down a rung after two misses is the ladder working, not a setback.
      • Watch for drill comfort. Once you're good, splitting is easier than the whole and feels productive. That's when it starts costing you.

      Go deeper

      Keep going.

      Practise this in HourLife.

      In Goals: Sub-goals and milestones. Set goals from lifetime to quarterly, break them into sub-goals and milestones, and see how far along each one is.

      Download on the App Store Download on the Mac App Store How Goals works in HourLife