No matter who and where you are,
chances are that you feel you don't have enough time
to do all the things you care about.
A lack of time is one of the major problems many language learners face
and why some don't succeed. So today let's tackle this issue
and explore some productivity and time-management hacks
you can use to find time to improve your language skills.
Do you know what doesn't take a lot of time?
Subscribing to our channel to get your regular dose of motivation.
Done? Great! That was fast, wasn't it?
Now, let's dive into today's topic.
#1 - Make language learning one of your priorities
"Lack of time is actually lack of priorities."
I simply love this quote by Tim Ferriss, the famous American writer, investor
and entrepreneur, who happens to be a successful language learner as well.
I love it because it summarizes in 8 words the single major issue many people have.
If you say you do not have time to work on your language skills,
you're actually saying that, right now, it's not a top priority for you.
Ok... I know that you have to work, you have your personal engagements,
you also need to relax and have fun, and that your waking time is limited.
But, from my experience, everyone has at least 20 minutes a day to work on their language skills.
If it's a priority for you, then I can assure you that you'll find time.
#2 - Make time for language learning
This brings me to the need we all have to make time for the things we care about.
The best way to do that is to keep track of how you spend your time.
Remember: when you become aware of something then you are in control of it.
So, analyze how you spend your time.
For a day or two, write down all the activities you do and how long you spend doing them.
You might be surprised to find how much time you spend on unproductive activities
like watching reality TV you don't care about, or scrolling aimlessly on Instagram.
Once you realize that some activities you don't even care much about
are taking up a lot of your time, you'll be motivated to do less of them,
which will free up time for studying languages.
To make time, you could also set up an alert on your phone or plan out your schedule
ahead of time by booking a specific time slot for language learning.
I like this last idea because it feels like you're making a real commitment to yourself.
You're telling yourself that language learning is important
because, after all, it's on your calendar,
right next to that big meeting with your boss or your best friend's wedding.
Therefore, you need to decide how and when you're going to make time for language learning.
If you make this conscious decision, then you'll never get stuck.
Just as David Allen, author and creator of the famous time management system
"Getting Things Done" says, things rarely get stuck because of a lack of time.
They get stuck because the doing of them has not been clearly defined.
#3 - Decide your when
Time management experts insist a lot on the "how" part.
And they have come up with endless tips about how to make time.
But you should also consider when to do certain things.
American author Daniel Pink wrote a very interesting book about
the optimal time to do different things, like study, make decisions and so on and so forth.
In "When: the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing," Pink explains that our cognitive abilities
and our mood do not remain static over the course of a given day.
Although some people are morning larks and some are night owls, for the majority of us,
our cognitive performance, ability to focus and motivation are better in the morning.
This was tested by Herman Ebbinghaus, the father of the Spaced Repetition System,
a memorization technique we particularly cherish here at MosaLingua.
Check out the link in the description to watch my video about it.
Ebbinghaus conducted experiments that showed that people learn and remember
strings of nonsense syllables more effectively in the morning than at night.
And in "The Willpower Instinct," another book written by an author I really like, Kelly McGonigal,
l discovered that motivation is like a muscle, a muscle that is very fresh in the morning
and gets more and more worn out as the day goes on.
So I used that knowledge to change my morning routine.
Try it! First thing in the morning, open your app or favorite language tool,
listen to a podcast... do whatever activity you like and enjoy,
but do it before starting your day.
#4 - Go for short study sessions rather than long ones
You may have heard that humans can only focus on a task for a very limited amount of time.
Your attention span is also like a muscle,
which can get stronger the more you exercise.
That's why you should always plan short study sessions instead of longer ones.
If you plan hour-long study sessions, you're likely to give up or skip them
because an hour can seem very long to a lot of us.
But if you know that you only need 10, 15 or 20 minutes, then it immediately becomes
more feasible and realistic. And if you think that 10, 20 minutes doesn't sound like much,
remember that lots of 20-minute sessions
will eventually add up to hundreds of hours of practice.
I encourage you to watch my video where I talk about this amazing compound effect,
and explain how small adjustments to your day-to-day life
can result in massive changes over time.
The links are below, as always.
#5 - Make use of your downtime
I want to end this video with one of my favorite productivity hacks:
transforming your downtime into productive time.
We all have our daily doses of chores we need to get done:
housework, shopping, waiting in line during errands, you name it.
Personally, I never do a chore without entertaining my mind with something useful.
Even if your hands are tied up, your brain and your ears don't have to be.
So, you should take advantage of downtime to listen to something in your target language.
You need a lot of listening practice to get better at a foreign language,
and you probably spend many hours doing chores.
So, if you use that time to get exposure to the language you want to learn
you'll end up making a lot of progress.
If you usually listen to music while working out or running,
try to switch up your routine sometimes
and use your workouts to get fit and learn something new.
That's all for today!
Take care of yourself and of your family, but also of your precious time.
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See you next time!