That doesn&#x27;t seem to me to be a directed, deliberate approach as the article implies is necessary. There&#x27;s no way to know <i>what</i> patterns would be on the boundary of my skillset, so I might spend time using something that&#x27;s unfamiliar but actually very basic which wouldn&#x27;t challenge me, or something that&#x27;s unfamiliar and incredibly difficult which would frustrate me because I couldn&#x27;t make any progress. Isn&#x27;t the reason that the system outlined in the article worked because the next level was always within reach but also something that provided a challenge? How do we get <i>that</i> in an arbitrary subject?<p>Essentially I wonder if the problem is that in some things we learn (eg coding) there isn&#x27;t really a defined &quot;ladder&quot; that allows someone to practise harder and harder things in a deliberate way.