Passing on a post from LifeHacker [http://goo.gl/9wea5]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5MgBikgcWnY

It’s a long, 20-minute TEDx Talk, but entertaining and enlightening too. The four steps in Kaufman’s method are:

1. Deconstruct the skill: Break down the parts and find the most important things to practice first. If you were learning to play a musical instrument, for example, knowing just a few chords gives you access to tons of songs. If you want to learn a new language, learn the most common 2,000 words and you’ll have 80% text coverage.
2. Self-correct: Use reference materials to learn enough that you know when you make a mistake so you can correct yourself.
3. Remove barriers to learning: Identify and remove anything that distracts you from focusing on the skill you want to learn.
4. Practice at least 20 hours.

20 hours amounts to just 40 minutes a day for a month, so what are you waiting for?