Some education - particularly language education - really does boil down to rote repetition until the lessons sink in. Some skills - like playing an instrument or building up a certain muscle group - really is about doing it over and over again until it becomes second nature. Some education is simply about establishing a large encyclopedia of knowledge or a toolbox of techniques that you can recall at a moment's notice. The clarity of the moment isn't what you're trying to establish. Its the speed and accuracy of recall that is what's being trained.

There are ways of structuring educational programs such that people have more time to focus on particular skills efficiently. Block scheduling, for instance, allows you to spend more hours on a single task or idea building up familiarity. Immersion courses and training camps can focus your attention on a particular skill set and give you more opportunities to master it.

But a lot of education is doing a thing over and over again until you get better at it.