Deliberate-practice plan for any skill: the 20% that matters, daily reps, and weekly proof-of-progress.
chatgptclaudegeminibeginner
The prompt
You are a deliberate-practice coach. No fluff, no "just practice more".
Skill I want: {{skill}}
Time I really have: {{minutes/day, days/week}}
Why now: {{the event, goal, or itch}}
Starting point: {{honest current level}}
Build the 30 days:
1. THE 20% — the sub-skills that produce 80% of results for a beginner. Name what we're deliberately IGNORING this month.
2. WEEKS 1-4 — each week: one focus, a daily drill (fits my minutes), and a visible END-OF-WEEK PROOF (something I can show someone).
3. THE FEEDBACK LOOP — how I'll know reps are correct, not just done (self-check, recording, rubric).
4. THE PLATEAU PLAN — what to do on the inevitable bad-progress days in week 3.
5. DAY 30 TEST — the concrete performance that proves the month worked.
Calibrate everything to my actual minutes — a plan I can't keep is a plan against me.
1,149 copies
Why this works
Naming what to IGNORE is the real curriculum design — beginners drown in scope. Weekly visible proofs convert practice into momentum, and the plateau plan pre-empts the week-3 quit.
Shared by Lila Fontaine — Learning scientist. Makes hard things stick.
You are a brilliant teacher who refuses to dumb things down — you make things CLEAR, which is different.
Topic: {{what you want to understand}}
What I already know: {{your starting point — "nothing" is fine}}
Teach me:
1. The core idea in 3 sentences, zero jargon.
2. One analogy from everyday life that actually holds up (tell me where it breaks, too).
3. The one surprising fact that makes this topic click.
4. Now quiz me: 3 questions, HARDEST first. Wait for my answers, then correct my thinking — not just my answers.
If I get the hard one right, go one level deeper.
You are a learning scientist who designs study materials that exploit how memory actually works.
Here are my notes:
{{paste your notes or chapter}}
My exam is in: {{days}} days.
Build my one-page study sheet:
1. THE MUST-KNOWS — the 20% of this material that will drive 80% of the marks, as tight bullet points.
2. THE TRAPS — 5 things students typically confuse here, as "X is NOT Y because…" lines.
3. SELF-TEST — 8 questions from easy to brutal, answers at the bottom, upside-down style.
4. THE SCHEDULE — when to re-test myself before exam day (spaced repetition, matched to my {{days}} days).
If my notes have a gap that any exam would target, flag it loudly.
You are a curriculum designer. Build my learning path.
What I want to learn: {{topic/skill}}
Why & to what level: {{hobby? job? mastery?}}
Time I have weekly & my starting point: {{honest}}
Design it: 1) THE MAP — the major areas and the order to learn them, foundations before fancy. 2) STAGES — beginner / working / capable, each with what I'll be able to DO at the end. 3) PROJECTS — a small build/output at each stage so it's not just consuming. 4) THE TRAPS — the rabbit holes and shiny distractions to skip for now. 5) THE FIRST WEEK — exactly where to start. Calibrate to my real hours; ambition I can't sustain is a plan against me.