Hello and welcome back to English Unleashed.
I'm Tom.
Today we are going to talk about a quiet problem.
It is not a loud problem.
It does not shout.
It does not break anything.
It just sits next to you and whispers, not now.
Okay, you want to study English, but the whisper says, not now.
You see your notebook, but the whisper says, not now.
You hear a podcast episode, but the whisper says, tomorrow, not now.
And the strange thing is this.
You are not saying no to English.
You are saying yes, but not today.
That is why procrastination is tricky.
Procrastination means delaying something.
You know you should do it, but you do not do it now.
You leave it for later.
But later is a very dangerous word.
Later sounds nice.
Later sounds calm.
Later sounds possible.
But many times, later becomes never.
You say, I will study after lunch.
Then after lunch, you say, I will study in the evening.
Then in the evening, you say, oh, I'm tired.
I will study tomorrow.
Tomorrow comes and the same thing happens again.
So today I want to help you stop this cycle.
A cycle is something that goes round and round.
You delay, you feel bad, and you make a new plan.
But you delay again, and you feel bad again.
We want to break this cycle.
But we will not do it with big motivation.
I will not tell you work harder.
I will not tell you be more serious.
I will not tell you study for three hours every day.
No.
Today we will use small, smart and simple ideas.
Because many English learners do not need more pressure.
They need an easier start.
That is our first big idea.
Do not ask, how can I study more?
Ask, how can I start more easily?
Starting is often the hardest part.
Imagine there is a cold swimming pool in front of you.
You know swimming is good for you, but the water looks cold.
So, you stand there, you look at the water, you touch it with your hand, you wait, you think, you wait more.
The more you wait, the colder the water feels.
But if you put one foot in the water, something changes.
You're not only thinking now.
You have started.
English study is like that.
Do not try to jump into a long study session.
Put one foot in.
Open your notebook.
Write the date.
Press play.
Repeat one sentence.
Read one line.
That is your one foot in the water.
When you start small, your brain does not fight so much.
Your brain does not like big unclear tasks.
If you say, I must improve my English, your brain says, well, that is too big.
If you say, I must become fluent, your brain says, that is too far away.
But if you say, I will repeat one sentence, your brain says, okay, I can do that.
So the first rule is this.
Make the start tiny.
Not small, tiny.
A tiny start can be 30 seconds.
In 30 seconds, say one useful phrase.
Write one sentence about your day.
Listen to one short part of a podcast.
Read one message in English.
Name five things in your room.
This may sound too easy, but that is the point.
When the start is easy, you start more often.
And when you start more often, you learn more.
Now let's talk about another problem.
Many learners make English too formal.
They think English study must happen at a desk.
They imagine a serious book, a quiet room, a long session, and a perfect plan.
But real life is not always quiet.
Real life is messy.
You have food to cook.
You have messages to answer.
You have work.
You have family.
You have noise.
You have tired days.
So do not wait for a perfect study moment.
Make small English moments inside your real life.
I call this touching English.
You do not need to hold English for one hour.
Just touch it many times.
When you make tea, say five sentences.
When you put on your shoes, say three sentences.
I am putting on my shoes.
I am going outside.
The weather looks cold.
When you open the fridge, say what you see.
There is milk.
There are eggs.
I need to buy fruit.
This is simple, but it is real.
And real English is powerful.
Many learners delay English because English lives far away from their day.
It lives in a book.
It lives in an app or in a course.
Bring English closer.
Bring it into your kitchen, your bedroom, your street, your bus, your bag, your coffee, your walk.
When English is close, it is easier to start.
Here is another fresh idea.
Start in the middle.
Many learners cannot start because they want to start perfectly.
They want Lesson 1, Page 1, Exercise 1.
They want the perfect beginning.
But sometimes the perfect beginning becomes a wall.
So start in the middle.
Open a podcast and listen from the middle for one minute.
Open a book and read one paragraph.
Open your notebook and choose one old sentence.
Open a video and listen to one sentence only.
You do not always need a beautiful beginning.
You need contact with English.
Imagine you enter a room where people are already talking.
You do not say please start the conversation again from the beginning.
You listen, you catch a few words, and you slowly join.
English can be like that.
You can enter from the middle.
This removes pressure.
Now let's talk about the almost study problem.
Almost study.
This is when you feel like you are studying, but you are not really studying.
For example, you search for the best English podcast.
You look at many videos.
You choose a notebook.
You organize your apps.
You watch videos about how to learn English.
You save many lessons.
All of this feels useful.
But sometimes it is not study.
It is preparation.
Preparation is good, but too much preparation becomes procrastination with nice clothes.
You remember what procrastination means, don't you?
Procrastination means delaying something, okay?
Now you will always remember this word.
So, ask yourself a simple question.
Am I using English now?
Not planning, not searching, not organizing your words or sentences.
Using English.
Am I listening?
Am I speaking?
Am I reading?
Am I writing?
Am I remembering?
If the answer is no, do one small action.
Say one sentence out loud.
Write one sentence.
Repeat one phrase.
Listen to 10 seconds again.
Use English now, not later.
Now I want to give you a special tool.
It is called the English receipt.
A receipt is the small paper you get after buying something.
It shows what you bought.
It also shows the price.
At the end of your study, write your English receipt.
Only three lines.
Today I used this phrase.
I put it off.
Today I said this sentence.
I keep putting off my English study.
To put off means to delay something.
Tomorrow I will start with this.
I will repeat yesterday's sentence.
That is your receipt.
Now, you may ask, why is this useful?
It is useful because it proves that you studied.
Your brain can see the result.
You do not finish with a weak feeling like, maybe I get something.
You finish with a clear proof.
Many learners feel bad because they do not see progress.
A receipt shows small progress.
And small progress gives you energy.
Okay, now let's talk about energy.
You cannot have the same energy every day.
Some days you feel strong.
Some days you feel normal.
Some days you feel like a tired potato.
Yes, a tired potato.
On tired potato days, do not use your normal plan.
Use your tiny plan.
A tiny plan can be this.
Listen to English for one minute.
Say three sentences.
Review just one phrase.
Then stop.
That's it.
Do not laugh at the tiny plan.
The tiny plan is important.
It keeps the door open.
A learner who does five minutes on a bad day is not failing.
That learner is protecting the habit.
Think of your English habit like a small plant.
On good days, you give it water, you give it sunlight and time.
On bad days, you just give it a little water.
So when you have low energy, say, Today I will not grow the plant a lot.
I will just keep it alive.
This is a kinder way to learn.
Now let's talk about fear.
Some learners delay English because they are afraid.
Afraid of mistakes, afraid of forgetting words, afraid of hearing their own voice, afraid of sounding slow, afraid of seeing that they are not as good as they want to be.
This fear is normal.
But we need to make practice feel safer.
Here is one way.
Use private speaking.
Private speaking means you speak English when nobody is listening.
You can speak to the wall.
You can speak to your phone.
You can speak in the car.
You can speak while walking.
You do not need an audience every time.
For example, ask yourself one easy question.
What did I do today?
Then answer for 30 seconds.
Today I woke up early.
I had coffee.
I worked for a few hours.
I felt tired in the afternoon.
Now I am practicing English.
That is enough.
Do not stop for every mistake.
Keep moving.
After that, choose one sentence and make it better.
Maybe you said, I worked few hours.
Make it better.
I worked for a few hours.
That is real improvement.
Okay, before we finish, I want you to remember this sentence.
Procrastination wants English to feel big so make English small.
Small enough to start.
Small enough to repeat.
Small enough to do on a bad day.
Small enough to bring into your real life.
One sentence is small.
One minute is small.
One phrase is small.
But small things become big when you repeat them.
So today, after this episode, do not make a big plan.
Do one thing.
Say this sentence out loud.
I kept putting it off, but today I finally started.
Say it again.
I kept putting it off, but today I finally started.
Now change it for your life.
I kept putting off my English practice, but today I finally started.
Good.
That is your first step.
That is your one foot in the water.
That is your small door.
And that is how you stop delaying, how you stop procrastinating.
Thank you for listening to English Unleashed.
I'm Tom.
Start small today and I will see you in the next episode.
Bye for now.
