life can get wonderfully chaotic sometimes.
Between work commitments and family and personal obligations, finding time to study English in your already busy schedule is no easy feat.
In today's episode, I want to talk to you, the busy adult, the busy professional. the intermediate learner who wants to level up their English, but who feels like they don't have enough time.
I'm going to be sharing here in this episode some tips and strategies that will help you reach the level of fluency and proficiency in English you so want even if you don't have a lot of free time to dedicate to your studies.
So, let's get started. Hey there, how's it going?
Thiago here, and welcome to another episode of the podcast.
How have you been? Hope you've been doing well.
Hope you've been having a nice week so far.
It's great to be hanging out with you here yet once again.
And in case you're new here, This podcast is designed to help intermediate and advanced learners of English communicate with more confidence. more accuracy, more clarity and more awareness.
If this sounds like something you want for yourself and your English, Subscribe to the channel if you are on YouTube or follow the show if you are listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
That way, you won't miss a single new episode.
Before we get started here, I want to remind you to learn more about my new speaking program, the Speaking Accelerator program, which starts now in July, on July 7th to be exact, and runs exactly for three weeks. ending on July 25th.
This is a great opportunity for you to practice your English speaking having my guidance while doing so, and feedback via other messages on Telegram.
This program works incredibly well, especially for busy people, for busy professionals and adults.
Learn more about the program, the link is here in the description of the video, also in the pinned comment below.
And in the show notes, if you are on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, this can be a great opportunity for you to get my feedback and personal guidance on your speaking. and it doesn't take up a lot of your time.
So do learn more about the program. A common piece of advice out there about this topic is oh, if you don't have enough time to study English, That's because English is not a priority for you.
You don't really want to do it. Because the truth is, we all have time.
It's just a matter of priorities. So if you say, I don't have time for this, what you're really saying is that this is not a priority for me in the moment.
So that's why you haven't been dedicating enough time for it.
The truth is that if you really want something badly enough, you can move mountains in achieving that.
I understand that piece of advice. I've already shared that piece of advice here on my channel, by the way, and I do believe that.
I do believe that if you want something badly enough, if something is at the top of the priority list, you will find a way to make it happen.
That's what I did when I started learning English.
I've already shared here on the podcast how I would study for one hour per day every single day, including weekends, when I started.
But I was a teenager back then, and I did have a ton of free time available.
Now that I'm older, and I have other commitments in my personal life, in my family, and work.
I understand that this advice, while true, can be dismissive to an adult's many responsibilities and commitments.
So I actually want to address that today and recognize that, yes, Many people are truly busy.
Maybe they really want to learn English.
They really want to improve their English level.
There are so many other things that demand their focus and attention and energy in their lives that it is daunting.
It is challenging to find time. to study English every day.
So let's cover that right now. The first thing you should do if you feel that way is defining how much of a priority English learning is for you at the moment.
Don't be judgmental. Don't judge yourself.
You know, this is not supposed to shame you.
All right. Just have an honest assessment and honest conversation with yourself.
Think to yourself, how important is learning English for me right now at this stage of my life?
Because before talking about how to study English, you have to get real about why you want to do it in the first place.
Is English a genuine priority right now?
Or is it something you are just dabbling in?
You know, when you're dabbling in activity, you do it, but in a very casual way, almost like a hobby, not in a serious way. have that honest conversation with yourself.
You can also think to yourself about the consequences of not prioritizing your English studies in the moment, What happens if you don't improve your English significantly?
Does it impact your career in any way? Your travel plans or your ability to connect with people?
What are the stakes involved here? And also think about the benefits of prioritizing.
What benefits would I get if I prioritized my English studies and practiced more?
What are the exciting opportunities that would open up if I leveled up my level of fluency in the language? visualize those benefits. it's important that you have this intrinsic motivation because this intrinsic motivation is crucial.
But before anything, analyze that. How much of a priority English learning is for you?
Many people say that they need English quickly.
They need to learn English quickly for work or for this or for that.
But... maybe if they did a true self-assessment, they will realize that, yes, it is a nice-to-have, but it's not necessarily a must-have.
So you have to decide that for yourself.
After spending some time doing this self-analysis and reflection about how much of a priority English learning is for you at the moment Now you have to think about how much time you can realistically dedicate to your English studies.
Here you need to be brutally honest with yourself.
Don't sugarcoat it. So the first thing is assess your schedule.
Grab your calendar, your planner, or whatever tool you use to organize your days and weeks and take a look at it and look for slots of time that could be dedicated to English studies.
Even small lots of time count, all right?
And when I say don't sugarcoat it, I mean it.
Be brutally honest. Don't say, oh, I have one hour every day to study English. when in reality you don't have that one hour.
You might have 10 or 15 minutes at best.
So be realistic with yourself. Also, think about...
Your time confetti. Yeah, your time confetti.
This is a nice analogy, right? Think of the tiny bits of time scattered throughout your day.
10 minutes waiting for coffee, 5 minutes on the bus, 15 minutes before bed.
These are your time confetti. and don't underestimate them.
They can be incredibly powerful when collected.
So, Where do you have five minutes here, 10 minutes there throughout your day that could be dedicated to your English studies and practice.
You know, many times we tend to underestimate those few minutes of idle time.
But, you know, the truth is that we all have those idle moments throughout our day.
Those five minutes waiting for something, those 10 minutes in line for something, And then what do we usually do in those times?
We usually get our phones, We surf Instagram.
We start doom scrolling a little bit. But what about taking advantage of those idle moments, those short slots of time and do something more intentional with your English studies and practice.
So think about that. The idea here is focusing on quality over quantity.
It's not about cramming for hours. It's about consistent, focused effort.
Even 20 to 30 minutes of active learning can be more effective than two hours of distracted studying.
This is a nice word by the way, cramming for hours.
When you cram For a test, for example, you study a bunch of information about the test last minute.
Imagine the test is tomorrow and then you spend the whole night today studying for the test.
You might pass the test. You might memorize key information to pass the test, but I guarantee that that won't be productive for you to actually remember that information long-term.
So don't worry about cramming for hours here.
Quality over quantity. Something else you should think about if you are a busy person is, Do you have a deadline for your English studies and practice?
Or are you in it for the long haul, for the long run?
This will determine the pace with which you study and the intensity with which you study.
For example, you might have a short-term goal with a deadline.
Let's say maybe you have an IELTS exam in the next six months that you have to take.
Or you have a presentation at work that you got to give next quarter.
Or you have a trip coming up. You see, these are short-term goals.
They give you an immediate, tangible goal and help you structure your learning more intensely.
Do you have one of those or you have more of a long-term commitment or goal when it comes to you and your English learning?
Are you in this for the sheer joy of mastering a language with no specific end point?
Maybe you love the English language. You love studying it.
You love learning more about it. You love learning ideas using the language.
And you are doing it for yourself, for your life, for your personal development.
So if you are that type of person, then you can allow yourself much more time. to make progress.
This approach of being in it for the long term allows for a more relaxed, sustainable pace because you are not particularly in a hurry to improve your English.
It's about consistent growth, like tending a garden.
You might not see drastic changes daily, but over time, it flourishes.
And you know, sometimes I get some emails from people who are in urgent need of help with their English because, you know, they have a trip next month or something happen in their lives as an opportunity.
Maybe an opportunity came up and then, you know, now they need to improve their English like this month considerably or two months.
To be honest with you, I don't like working with that type of learner because to me, learning a language is something much more for personal development, for pleasure, and for the long run.
I believe in something more sustainable, not something so crammed, all right, or so urgent.
Yes, the opportunities will come your way if you keep at it, but I look at language learning as something very you know, long term.
Regardless, you have to determine that yourself.
Are you studying English for a very specific short-term goal?
Or are you in it for the long haul, the long run?
This will help you adjust your strategy.
This will influence your study intensity and even program choices.
Deadlines demand more rigorous, structured study.
Long-term goals allow for more flexibility.
And I really like that idea. I prefer to give myself, let's say, five years to really learn something well than maybe to give myself one year to learn it.
You see, now I feel more pressured. It's not a pleasant feeling, to be honest with you.
Something else you can do as a busy adult, as a busy person, is you can leverage asynchronous learning programs.
And a synchronous program is a program in which you don't need to be live with a teacher or with a group to study, to practice. like my speaking program, for example.
These programs nowadays, they are great, and technology has made them even more effective. available and accessible because they give you the self-paced power, let's say.
It's a game changer for busy people. You can study on your own terms when you are most refreshed, most rested, you can do the work that way.
And nowadays with technology, there are many asynchronous ways of practicing English.
So for example, pre-recorded video courses.
When you enroll at a course online that is pre-recorded, The teacher took time to make those lessons once, but now they are available there for you to watch and consume them multiple times at your own pace, or podcasts and audio lessons.
They are great for your commute, for example, when you are going to work, you can listen to one, walks, or even when you are doing chores around the house.
But you see, you are practicing. your own time, at your own pace.
Of course, language learning apps, there are a ton of them nowadays, and many apps, they offer structured lessons that you can complete on your own schedule.
Online reading platforms as well. You can read news articles, e-books, blogs, and you can read all those at your own pace.
Reinforcing about my speaking accelerator program.
That's a great example of an asynchronous program.
It's basically about me sending you a couple of questions or prompts every week. you record your responses in audio format and share them with me on Telegram, and then I listen to you and give you feedback.
But you see, it's asynchronous because we don't have to be live on Zoom, for example, for that feedback, for that learning to take place.
You can record your messages at your own time, and I can record my feedback to you at my own time.
You see, these are asynchronous programs.
The key here is flexibility. If you are a busy person, you want... as much flexibility in your studies as possible.
You want programs and classes and solutions that provide you with that flexibility.
Resources like these, these asynchronous programs allow you to learn on your own terms feeding English into your life, not the other way around.
It's not like you have to enroll at a school and there is that very rigid structured time and day that you have to be there face to face, all right?
So if you are extremely busy, Look for more asynchronous opportunities to practice your English.
Again, check out my Speaking Accelerator program.
I think you're going to really like it. Also remember that consistency trumps intensity.
Think about the power of small doses and the compound effect as well.
Imagine saving just $1 a day. It doesn't seem like much, but over a year, that's $365.
And over 10 years... It's a whopping $3,650.
So, the same principle applies to learning.
You might not feel those small doses of practice that you are engaging with every day.
You might not see significant results right away. but things are happening in the background, trust me, and they do have a compound effect.
Even 5 to 10 minutes a day, alright? Don't underestimate the cumulative effect of consistent, brief interactions with English.
How can you do that? You can read a short article, for five, 10 minutes.
You can listen to one podcast segment. Some podcasts can be incredibly long, like one, two, three hours.
You don't have to listen to the whole two-hour podcast.
Just listen to a segment, maybe the introduction or the first part of the conversation.
You can review five or 10 vocabulary words you've been trying to bring more to your active vocabulary box, as I've already shared here in previous episodes, Or you can simply write three sentences in a journal in English.
It's more about building the habit, you know?
The goal here is to make English learning as automatic as brushing your teeth.
You don't even think about it, you just do it.
But remember, consistency builds momentum.
All right? Something else I really recommend you consider is time blocking your English studies.
Don't look at your calendar as your enemy.
View your calendar as your friend, as a trusted assistant that will remind you of your tasks, events and commitments for the day.
This is why you transform intention into action.
Treat your English study time like an important meeting you can't miss.
I'm sure that if you add a work meeting on your calendar, you won't miss it, right?
Unless something really bad happens, you don't miss it.
Treat the time that you allot for your English study or practice time as a meeting that you can't miss, all right?
And it can be very specific. Actually, you should be specific when doing that.
Here is what your calendar could look like as a busy person. when it comes to your English practice.
Listen, Monday, 7.30 a.m. From 7.30 a.m. to 7.50 a.m., English listening practice.
You see, English listening practice, you're going to listen to something in these 20 minutes that you allotted in our calendar.
Or Wednesday from 12pm to 12.15pm. during lunchtime, vocabulary review.
You see, in these 15 minutes you're going to review some vocabulary that you've already learned or you've been trying to memorize.
Thursday from 8 p.m. to 8.45 p.m., reading a chapter of an English book.
You see, in these 45 minutes, that's what you're going to be doing.
Be specific, not only with the amount of time you're going to dedicate to it, you see, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 45 minutes, but... with the activity.
What exactly are you going to be doing in that time slot?
Going to be listening to something? working on vocabulary, writing something, reading something.
All right, even classes, if you already take classes or you are part of a private community like my private community and you join live sessions, include your live sessions that you have with your peers, with your teacher, inner calendar and view those as also study time and study practice.
So, uh, to those of you who are my students, you can maybe add to your calendar like, okay, on this day, from this time to this time, class with Chad.
You see? That's time blocking there. Or for those of you who are members of my private community, okay, on this day, from this time to this time, I have my meeting, my live meeting with my community peers so that we can practice some conversation together.
You see? Block time. Every time you are engaging in an English study or practice activity, make sure you block it.
You block that time on your calendar. This is very good because it gives you a visual commitment because when you look at your calendar, you can see it.
Seeing it written down in her schedule increases the likelihood or probability that she will actually do it. he holds you accountable.
So, consider that. Start using a calendar if you don't use one and start blocking time even for a few minutes in your day for specific English study and practice time.
The next thing you want to consider is varying your skills.
Have a balanced English diet. Just like a balanced diet is crucial for a healthy body, You also want to balance your English studies and your English practice.
Don't focus only on English. one or two skills, but on all the four core skills.
Don't neglect any area because if you focus too much on just one skill, you will create imbalances in your overall English fluency and proficiency.
So, for speaking, for example, you can practice speaking aloud even to yourself, You can find language exchange partners if possible, or you can take the class time you have with your teacher or with your peers for speaking practice.
Or you can join a program like my Speaking Accelerator program, and you can practice speaking out loud via audio messages that you're going to share with me.
For listening, you can listen to podcasts, movies, TV shows, your favorite music.
It's about immersing yourself. For writing, you can try journaling, you can write emails at work, even if you don't have to send them, but...
Think of imaginary scenarios that would allow you to write an email for, and then write emails for those scenarios.
You can engage in creative writing as well, if you are more of an imaginative, creative type of person. or even join online forums about topics that you are interested in for reading of course you can read books articles news anything that interests you And I really recommend you also mix and match the skills.
For example, on Monday, you might want to focus on listening.
And then on Tuesday, on writing. On Wednesday, you can combine reading and vocabulary.
This keeps things fresh and engages different parts of your brain.
It prevents you from feeling bored as well.
Just like when you go to the gym and maybe after... one or two months with the same workout, you might wanna change the workout just to add some variety and keep things fresh.
You also wanna do the same thing here. add variety to your English study time and English study practice.
Which brings me to the next point you want to consider as a busy person. target microsessions. break it down.
Instead of study English, be specific. What exact aspect of English are you going to be practicing during that time slot, right, from 7 a.m. to 7.30 a.m., what exactly are you going to be doing?
Here are some examples of micro-sessions you can plan for yourself.
Grammar focus. It could be about grammar.
For example, today... I'll spend 15 minutes on the present perfect continuous. or it could be about vocabulary acquisition.
I'll learn 10 new idioms related to business today.
It can be pronunciation practice. I'll work on the TH sound for 10 minutes today. or even cultural insights.
I'll watch a short documentary about a specific English-speaking country. and see if I can understand the accent or learn something new about that culture.
Specificity breeds success. Remember that.
When you know exactly what you're doing in those short bursts, you're much more efficient and effective.
The next point I want you to consider is the power of review.
Yes. Let's call it your Friday check-in.
I really recommend you do that on Friday by the end of the working week.
Your Friday check-in. Don't just learn. internalize.
Learning new things is great, but without review, A lot of that just slips away and you forget.
So plan a dedicated review time. Schedule 30 to 60 minutes on a Friday or whatever day works for you.
Some people like to do that on Sundays, for example.
I would recommend doing it on Fridays, but you got to make that decision.
But the point is, in those 30 to 60-minute sessions, sessions for review, you look back at what you studied and what you learned during the week.
How to review? Well, you can reread your notes, of course.
You can re-listen to audio that you found challenging during the week.
You can redo some practice exercises. You can try to recall new vocabulary without looking.
In the case of my students and also in my private community, every session that we have together is recorded and made available.
So maybe on Friday or on Sunday, whenever you do your review time, You might want to watch a session from the week.
Yeah, just to review the conversation, what we discussed, what we learned together.
That's a way to review. consolidation, this review time is critical for moving information from your short-term to your long-term memory.
It's like watering the seeds you planted all week.
So think about your micro study sessions that you have every day for 5, 10, 15 minutes. as planting seeds you are planting seeds of knowledge there but then on friday or on sunday When you do your review, it's like watering those seeds so they actually grow into something.
As a busy person, I also recommend you view your weekends as English immersion moments, but for fun, okay?
I really don't recommend studying on the weekend.
I did that. 25 years ago when I was a teenager, because you know, I was a teenager.
I had a lot of free time, so I didn't mind. to spend time on the weekends studying.
But as a busy adult, as a busy person, I don't recommend you study during the weekend, but you can take the weekend and turn it into English immersion moment, fun times.
So, no formal study here, Please, all right, give your brain a break from structured learning and just engage in active immersion.
Maybe you can watch English movies or TV shows for pleasure, not for learning.
You can listen to your favorite songs in English.
You can read an English book that you genuinely enjoy.
You can have casual conversations in English with friends or language partners if you have that opportunity.
But you see, it's something really light. on the weekend.
Getting back to the gym analogy here, let's say you have your proper workout routines during the week, but then on the weekend, you might want to go to the gym just to do some light cardio.
You see? That's kind of the idea there. You know, so...
Yes, do something with English during the weekend, but something light, something fun.
Don't worry about learning new things, necessarily, or studying.
The weekends are designed for you to recharge and refresh.
This prevents burnout and keeps the relationship with English positive and enjoyable.
It transforms English from a chore into a natural part of your life.
Then we get into something called micro habits. from consistency to optimization.
I've already covered the book Atomic Habits here on the channel in the past.
It's a great book by James Clear. I really recommend you pick it up and read it.
I think it's one of those books that everybody should have on their bookshelves.
And as a matter of fact, the members of my private community this month are discussing that book, they are reading a few segments of it and they are discussing in live calls so by the way if you are interested in joining my private community the link is also here in the description of the video but Applying here the atomic habits philosophy to this topic,
The core idea here is make habits so small and so easy that you can't not do them.
So whenever you are trying to implement a new habit in your life, first you should focus on consistency.
Build consistency first. You can start with something incredibly tiny, incredibly small.
It's so small that it's ridiculous. It's ludicrous.
You look at it and go, really? I can do that.
For example, read one sentence in English.
I'm not kidding. It's not one paragraph.
It's not one book. You say to yourself, today, I'm going to read one sentence in English from this book. or today I'm going to listen to 30 seconds of an English podcast.
I know it sounds insignificant or even ridiculous, but if you do that every single day, you are building consistency.
You are building the habit. The goal here at this stage is just to show up every day. don't worry about perfection or optimizing this new habit yet.
Just focus on building the consistency that will be required for this to become a true long-term habit for you.
After that, after you have spent enough time doing this consistency building, then you can start worrying about optimizing this new habit.
Once that small habit is ingrained, it's natural, it's part of your life, just like brushing your teeth, then you can gradually increase the duration or intensity.
So from one sentence that you read, you can turn to one paragraph and then you can turn to a page, all right?
From 30 seconds of a podcast that you listen to, you can turn it to five minutes and then 10 minutes, and then half an hour.
Something else you can try is called habit stacking.
James Clear talks about that in the book, The Habit Stacking Technique.
Link your English micro-habit to an existing habit.
For example, after I brush my teeth, I will listen to one minute of an English podcast You see, you are linking one existing habit, something you already do every day, like brushing your teeth, and you are linking that with your new English micro habit.
Or imagine you have coffee every morning.
So, As I have my cup of coffee every morning, I'll be reading a little bit of an English book here or listening to something in English.
It's those... five, ten minutes that you are having your coffee, you are also doing something in English.
You see, this is habit stacking. You are stacking new habits on top of existing habits.
And the cool thing about this approach is that success builds confidence.
Once you start realizing that you are following through, You are doing these micro habits.
You are being consistent with them. that will give you that sensation of a tiny win or a small win.
And that reinforces your identity as someone who is consistently studying English, all right?
Really pick up the book, Atomic Habits. I think you're gonna have some pretty good insights there that you can apply into your English studies and practice. as a busy person, as a busy professional.
Highly, highly recommend it. All right? And there you have it.
This is a comprehensive guide for busy people on their journey to English fluency.
Remember. It's not about finding more time.
It's about making the most of the time you already have and being strategic about your efforts.
Now, let me ask you, what's one change you're going to make to your English study routine after watching this video, after listening to this podcast?
Let me know in the comment section below.
But now, before we wrap up today's episode, let's jump into the learner's corner.
For the Learner's Corner today, I have here a very nice comment that one of my viewers on YouTube left. recently here on the channel, Juan.
So let's see what Juan says. Hi, Thiago.
I just passed my first interview speaking 100% in English.
I don't know if you will read this message, but I wanted to let you know that your channel was a golden resource to me. you are the best professor in the world.
All right, Juan, thank you so much for being an avid viewer of the channel here, being an avid follower of my work.
I have seen many of her comments before here.
I know that you consume the content here regularly, and I'm glad to know that My work has been helping you, all right?
Congratulations on passing that job interview 100% in English.
That's awesome. You see, that's a victory.
Celebrate that. Just one tiny correction here Juan, I think you called me professor in the comment, right?
You are the best professor in the world.
Look, better to use teacher here. You are the best teacher in the world.
I really appreciate the comment, by the way.
Thank you so much. But, you know, say teacher because we usually call professor a person who teaches in university or a college okay now for regular courses or for regular schools we will call the person a teacher so here If you want to say that, you can say you are the best teacher in the world.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate the comment and congratulations once again. on passing that job interview, right?
If you want to do it just like Juan, you can leave me a nice comment here under the video with a testimonial. or you can also write me an email at hello.teacherchiago at gmail.com or even send me an auto message to be featured here on the podcast.
You can do that by going to speakpipe.com slash English with Thiago.
Thank you so much for hanging out with me today.
I hope you enjoyed this episode today. Don't forget to learn more about my Speaking Accelerator program Registrations go until July 6th, to be exact.
I think it's a game changer. It's gonna be a great opportunity for you to practice your English speaking skills while getting my feedback in an asynchronous way.
It's perfect for you who are a busy person, a busy adult, a busy professional, all right? of course like this video leave me a comment letting me know what you thought about today's episode Subscribe to the channel if you're not a subscriber yet, and share this video with a friend who's also learning English.
If you are on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, also leave me a five-star review on those platforms because, you know, it helps me tremendously.
I'm Thiago. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today.
And I'll be talking to you very soon in the upcoming episode.
I'm signing off and I'll be talking to you very soon.
Bye bye.
