While I was traveling Julia asked me: why is Anna saying her fiddle practice is only two minutes? In this case, two minutes was the right amount of time!

Anna (10y) and I had been fighting a lot about practice. She'd complain, slump, stop repeatedly to make adjustments, and generally be miserable. I'd often have to pull out "if you want to keep taking fiddle lessons you have to practice": she loves her teacher and is very motivated by the prospect of being good at fiddle. Still, it would take us ages and we'd barely get through anything.

One evening when she seemed like she might be open to it I explained that we were spending twenty painful minutes on two minutes of material. I challenged her: if she focused, and went through with no fussing, we'd be done in two minutes. It did turn out to be the right time for this message, she gave it a good try, and (with a little fussing in the middle) we were done in three minutes.

Over the next few days I continued to remind her that if she buckled down it would go quickly, and [...]

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First published:
April 29th, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DzGSkbZ8t3JvmPzoG/let-kids-keep-more-productivity-gains

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Children sitting in chairs playing musical instruments during a group lesson.

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“Let Kids Keep More Productivity Gains” by jefftk