What the Hell is a Skillbatical?

Dec 4, 2025

Ravi Gupta, a former school principal turned podcaster, shares his transformative journey of pursuing immersive skillbaticals, including cooking in Italy, to reclaim focus in a tech-saturated world. He discusses how communal cooking ties into personal growth and offers practical tips for anyone looking to dedicate a year to mastering a skill. Additionally, Gupta delves into his five-part series on New Orleans' school reform post-Katrina, pinpointing what other cities can learn from its charter school successes and challenges.

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ADVICE

Commit To A Yearlong Skill

Pick a one-year focus and treat it as a real deadline to rebuild depth and attention.
Choose between an anytime-anywhere skill or a full immersive "skillbatical" depending on constraints.

insights

INSIGHT

Craft Rebuilds Mental Depth

Deep, tactile craft rebuilds concentration eroded by phones and distraction.
Focusing on a hands-on skill restores a sense of purpose and depth beyond surface productivity.

volunteer_activism

ADVICE

Design A 10‑Star Outcome

Use yearly deadlines and map a 10-star vision to motivate learning and maintain optionality.
Let the big aspirational outcome shape daily practice even if you never fully pursue it.

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Why Ravi Moved to Italy to Learn Cooking

00:42 • 1min

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The Skillbatical Concept and Personal Motivation

02:06 • 6min

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Choosing Cooking: Social Purpose and 10-Star Vision

07:41 • 4min

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Types of Year-Long Projects: Anytime Skills vs Skillbaticals

11:31 • 3min

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Maintaining Gains and Dropping Skills

14:42 • 2min

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Practical Advice on Starting a Year-Long Focus

16:44 • 5min

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Rebuilding Attention: The MCAT and Mental Endurance

21:37 • 9min

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Writing Journey: From Screenplays to Garbage Town

30:13 • 5min

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Craft Lessons: Keep Your Voice and Write Your Level

34:58 • 10min

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Where the Schools Went: Ravi's New Orleans Interest

44:39 • 34sec

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How New Orleans Became Almost All-Charter

45:12 • 3min

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Tradeoffs: Centralized Districts Versus Autonomy

48:10 • 5min

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Why New Orleans' Model Improved Outcomes

53:20 • 4min

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Where to Listen and Closing Notes

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What happens when you walk away from a hyper-optimized New York life to immerse yourself in learning one thing? Ravi Gupta explains why he moved to Italy to study cooking, rebuild his attention span, and escape phone-and-dating-app brain rot, drawing on previous "skillbaticals" devoted to powerlifting, screenwriting and surfing. Then Gupta digs into his five-part series Where the Schools Went, tracing how post-Katrina New Orleans rebuilt its schools as an almost all-charter system, what worked, what broke, and what the rest of the country should—and shouldn’t—try to copy.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

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