50% Rule
While trying to learn how to draw (a completely different and unrelated topic), I was introduced to the concept of the 50% rule as defined by Uncomfortable (the author’s alias) at DrawABox.com here. I thought it resonated extremely well with more than just drawing and could be applied to any skills or talents people are pursuing across disciplines.
The 50% rule is simple. All of the time you spend on drawing is to be divided into two equal portions.
One half will include anything and everything you do with the purpose of improving your skills. Coursework, exercises, studies, tutorials, etc.
The other half is reserved only for drawing done for the sake of drawing. In other words, play. Experimentation, just throwing yourself at the page and giving yourself full freedom to just try, even though the result will likely turn out badly.
Another way of thinking about it is that every minute you spend on learning, should be matched with another minute spent on play. Every day does not have to be split so evenly (not everyone has hours to throw at drawing each day). You could alternatively spend one session learning, and the next session playing.
This rule is something most students hate, and struggle with immensely. Many will view the difficulty of it as being reason to ignore or skip it, so understand that you are not alone. Of course, many still have (and inevitably will) pushed forward without following this rule - and of those who ultimately did finish the course, they generally agree that ignoring the 50% rule was a critical mistake.
In my opinion, intentionally reserving time for the sake of fun and play make seem counterproductive but is necessary for the longevity of any longterm commitment to a craft. Whether it is drawing, photography, pottery, woodworking, piano playing, public speaking, or even accent modification, this notion of play resonated with me.
As someone who constantly tries to optimize productivity, push ahead, skip fun but seemingly unproductive exercises, this 50% rule is extremely hard for me. Why spend time playing when I can instead focus on the next lesson or the next skill so I can acquire those skills a day earlier?
Apparently, it helps acquire and develop skills that are less straightforwardly identified. I say apparently because I’m still in the learning and acquiring process. At this point in my life, I can’t say that I have many newish talents or skills apart from professional skills (which I therefore implement in a professional, consistent basis on a need-to-use timeline) and most of my hobby-based interests were initiated earlier on in my life.
As such, I don’t have many things I regularly try that I still suck at.
But drawing? Drawing, I suck at it.
Protecting time to simply have fun lowers the objective requirements and allows you to focus on enjoyment. Remember, you picked up a new hobby or decided to embark on a new skill acquisition because of your interest in it. So building in time to simply have fun and enjoy yourself is important for the overall longevity of your interest. If you simply are grinding for skill acquisition with no enjoyment of it, then why would anyone continue unless out of necessity. As such, that mentality will only get you so far.
For me, that was exactly my experience with piano. I disliked playing because I only played because my parents thought it would be good for me. Now as an adult, I wish I applied some time for enjoyment and fun because that would have probably produced more buy-in on my end as a kid and more interest into skills and talents that I gravitated towards like jazz piano, improvisation and so forth.
Instead, I stopped at grade 3 classical piano because I hated playing music I didn’t like with no real personal goal other than to appease my parents.
Uncomfortable (the website’s author) explains that the shift towards fun will build in protected time to help you process things you’ve learned in the objective-based activities and absorb them more fully.
By committing to a 50% rule that requires us to play allows us to cleanly separate work and play and allows us to do each whole-heartedly. It allows us to allocate resources in an intentional manner to focus cognitive resources when we need to focus on the theory or technique more intently, and then de-stress or wind down when those higher needs are not required so we can foster our passions and interest.
Implementation in Communication, Productivity, Accent Modification and Public Speaking
That level of intentional organization of time can be implemented across the board.
Reading for fun versus reading for knowledge acquisition (reading non-fiction versus fiction).
Improvisational piano playing versus theory implementation and/or specific chord use.
Leather-crafting for creating a new design for fun and/or experimentation versus leather-crafting a templated design for selling.
Accent practice for fun, to imitate a certain character, or for exploratory sound shaping versus accent practice for professional presentation.
What Resonates With Me?
For me, I think my take-away is that I need to protect and assign myself fun time. Fun time to try a certain technique. Fun time to try a feature of my camera. Fun time to draw for fun.
Not only do I think that it will help me relax (which would help recharge me) but it also helps me not worry about being “productive” all the time. It helps me still participate in the hobby on a regular basis, which increases my commitment to it which overall increases the chances that I’ll remain passionate and involved.
If I simply had hard challenges and skills that I wanted to learn and each session required so much cognitive focus to participate, I wouldn’t want to participate. This unfortunately is where I feel like I am at with self-taught programming.
I currently don’t have any level-appropriate programming goals for myself that are keeping me interested.
When I think about my accent modification consulting service for others, I don’t encourage ‘fun’ time. Maybe more ‘fun’ time would generate more client buy-in, more client interest, and more client participation because they enjoy exploring accents on a level that extends beyond professional settings.
Challenge for You
After reading this, what do you think? What are you willing to commit 50% of your time towards for fun?
Build and protect time for yourself.
50% of the time.
Make a conscious effort to enjoy the things you want to get better at.
It isn’t a race that you need to get better faster than anyone else.
You can still enjoy your hobbies and interests without being amazing at them.
And chances are, the more you enjoy your interests, the more long-term commitment you will have to it, which absolutely has an impact on your long-term growth.