Hello everyone and welcome back to Mr. English Channel, where learning English is easy and fun.
I'm Emily.
It is so good to be here today, Emily.
I'm feeling very energized and ready to talk.
I can see that.
You have a very big smile on your face today.
I do.
I have a very productive morning and it makes me feel great.
That is wonderful because our topic today is exactly about that.
Oh, are we talking about smiles?
No, not today.
We are talking about time and how to not waste it.
Wow, that is a big topic.
Time is very precious, isn't it?
It really is.
Many of our listeners want to learn English, but they feel they have no time.
I understand that feeling.
Sometimes the day starts and then poof, it is suddenly nighttime, exactly.
So today we want to share some stories and tips to help everyone find more time for english and for life.
I love it.
I think i am the king of wasting time sometimes, so this is good for me too.
Don't say that paul, you are doing great, but tell me, why do you say that?
Well, it actually happened.
This morning i had a little time accident, A time accident.
That sounds serious.
What happened?
So I woke up at 7 a.m.
My plan was to read my English book for 20 minutes while drinking my coffee.
That sounds like a perfect plan.
Nice and quiet.
It was.
But then I picked up my phone just to check the weather.
Oh, no.
I know where this story is going.
Yes, you do.
One minute I was checking the sun and the next minute I was watching a video of a man building a house for a squirrel.
A squirrel?
Why were you watching that, Paul?
I don't know.
It was just there.
And then I watched a video about how to make bread.
I don't even make bread.
This is what we call a rabbit hole.
You fall in and you can't get out.
Precisely.
When I looked at the clock again, it was 7.45 a.m.
My coffee was cold and I didn't read one page of my book.
Wow!
45 minutes gone.
Just like that.
I felt so silly.
I wasted my favorite part of the day on squirrel houses and bread videos.
It happens to the best of us, Paul.
The phone is a very big time thief.
A time thief.
I like that.
It really did steal my morning.
But, you know, it's not just the phone.
Sometimes we waste time by trying to be too perfect.
Hmm.
What do you mean by that, Emily?
Well, I have a story about that, too.
It happened to me last Saturday.
Saturday is usually your relaxing and study day, right?
Yes.
I wanted to practice my Italian for one hour.
I sat down at my desk.
Okay, so you were ready.
No phones?
No phones.
But then I thought, I need the perfect music to study.
Ah, music is important.
It helps you focus.
Right.
But I spent 15 minutes looking for a study playlist.
Then I didn't like the songs.
So you looked for another one?
Yes.
And then I thought, my desk is a little messy.
I should clean it first.
Oh, I do that too.
I call it productive procrastinating.
Exactly.
I cleaned the desk, I organized my pens, I changed the music again.
And let me guess, by the time you were ready, you didn't have time to study.
Correct.
I spent 40 minutes preparing to study, and I only studied for 10 minutes.
Wow.
We are both very good at wasting time, aren't we?
We really are.
But it's good to notice these things.
It is.
It makes me realize that being busy is not the same as being productive.
That is a very smart thing to say, Paul.
You can be busy cleaning pens, but you are not learning.
Exactly.
I think we need to find a balance.
Yes.
If you are enjoying this conversation, don't forget to like the video, subscribe to the channel and share it with a friend who is learning English.
Yes please, it helps us a lot.
And if you are still listening, comment focus below focus.
That is a great word for today.
It really is so, emily.
How do we stop the time thieves?
I think the first step is to be honest.
We need to look at what we do every day like a budget, but for time.
Yes,
Remember our episode about money?
Time is the same.
We have time in and time out.
Hmm.
But we all have the same time in, 24 hours every day.
Exactly.
We can't get more time, so we have to be careful with how it goes out.
I started doing something new this week.
I call it the phone jail.
Phone jail?
Tell me more.
When I want to study or work, I put my phone in a different room.
Oh, that is a great idea.
If you can't see it, you don't pick it up.
Yes.
If it is next to me, my hand just moves to it.
It's like a magnet.
It really is.
I tried something similar with my perfectionism problem.
What did you do?
Did you leave your pens messy?
Yes, i told myself emily, you have five minutes to get ready.
Then you must start a timer.
That is very helpful.
It is even if the music isn't perfect.
I start usually after two minutes.
I forget about the music anyway.
That's true.
Starting is always the hardest part.
It is once you start you are in the flow.
I have a question, Emily.
Is resting a waste of time?
Oh, that is an excellent question, Paul.
What do you think?
Sometimes I feel guilty.
If I'm sitting on my sofa doing nothing, I think I should be studying English.
I understand that feeling, but I think rest is very important.
Really?
Even if I'm not doing anything?
Especially then.
Your brain is like a battery.
It needs to recharge.
So sitting on the sofa isn't wasting time?
Not if you planned it.
If you say, I am going to rest for 30 minutes, that is good.
Ah, but if I say I am going to study and then I sit on the sofa for 30 minutes, Then that is wasting time.
The difference is the plan.
I see.
So, intentional rest is balance.
Unintentional distraction is a waste.
Yes, exactly.
You are becoming a time expert, Paul.
I'm trying.
It's about being the boss of your own day.
I like that.
Be the boss of your day.
It's hard, though.
Some days I feel so tired I don't want to be the boss.
We all have those days, and that is okay, too.
You know, I had a funny moment at the supermarket yesterday about wasting time.
Oh?
What happened?
Did you get lost in the cookie aisle?
Almost i was standing in front of the cereal.
There were so many choices.
Oh, i hate that.
Too many boxes, too many colors.
I stood there for 10 minutes.
Should i get the healthy one or the chocolate one or the one with the fruit?
10 minutes for cereal paul, I know.
Then a little old lady came next to me.
She just grabbed the first box she saw and walked away.
She didn't waste a second.
She looked at me and said, It's just breakfast, young man.
Don't make it a life decision.
She is a hero.
She is so right.
I felt so silly.
I spent 10 minutes thinking about cereal when I could have been home eating it.
That is a perfect example of choice paralysis.
We waste time because we have too many options.
Yes.
From now on, I am going to be like that lady.
Grab the box and go.
Maybe not with everything, Paul, but for cereal, it's a good plan.
It made me think about English learners.
Sometimes they spend hours choosing the best book.
Oh, yes, or the best app or the best teacher.
And they never actually start speaking.
Exactly.
My advice is always just pick one and start.
You can change later if you don't like it.
That's so true.
Any book is better than no book.
Yes.
Ten minutes of an OK book is better than zero minutes of a perfect book.
I'm going to remember that.
Done is better than perfect.
I love that phrase.
It's very popular because it's true.
So we talked about the phone and we talked about making choices faster.
What else?
I think we should talk about saying no.
Saying no?
But I want to be a nice person, Emily.
You are a very nice person, Paul.
But saying yes to everything is a big time waster.
Hmm.
Give me an example.
Well, imagine a friend calls you.
They want to talk for two hours about a movie you don't like.
Oh, that sounds boring.
But they are my friend.
I know, but if you have a lot of work or you need to study, you can say I can't talk for long today, but let's chat for 10 minutes.
Ah, so it's not a no to the friend, it's a no to the two hours.
Exactly.
You are protecting your time.
That is hard for me.
I always feel like I have to say yes to everyone.
Many people feel that way.
But remember, when you say yes to one thing, you are saying no to something else.
Wow.
I never thought about it like that.
If you say yes to the two-hour phone call, you are saying no to your English practice.
That is a very powerful way to look at it.
My time is a limited resource.
It really is.
It is the only thing we can't buy more of.
Even if I am a billionaire?
Even then, everyone gets the same 24 hours.
This conversation is making me want to go home and organize my whole life.
Don't do that, Paul.
That sounds like more productive procrastinating.
You caught me.
You're right.
I should just go home and study for 20 minutes.
Yes.
Keep it simple.
That is the key to everything.
You know, I also realized that I waste time by complaining.
Complaining?
About what?
About how much work I have.
I spend 30 minutes telling my sister how busy I am.
And in those 30 minutes, you could have finished half the work.
Exactly.
It's so funny when you think about it.
We all do it.
We spend more energy worrying about the task than just doing the task.
I think there's a name for that.
Is it the mountain in the mind?
Oh, I like that.
We make a small task look like a giant mountain.
Yes, and then we just stand at the bottom of the mountain and cry.
Instead of just taking the first step.
I'm going to try to stop building mountains in my mind.
Me too.
Let's promise to just take the first step, even if it's a small one.
It's a deal.
This has been such a great chat, Paul.
I feel like we learned a lot today.
We did, and it was a very good use of my time.
I agree.
No squirrel house is here.
Hey, that squirrel house was actually very nice.
I'm sure it was, but learning English is nicer.
Much nicer.
Okay, so should we remember what we talked about?
Yes, let's do a quick recap for everyone.
Okay, so first we talked about the time thieves, like our phones.
Right, and Paul's phone jail idea to keep it in another room.
Then we talked about productive procrastinating, like cleaning when you should be studying.
And the five-minute rule to just start, even if things aren't perfect.
We also mentioned choice paralysis.
Don't spend 10 minutes choosing cereal.
Yes, just pick one and go.
And finally, we talked about saying no to protect your time for things that matter.
Like your goals and your rest.
It's all about balance.
Rest is good, but distraction is different.
Exactly.
You've got it, Paul.
I feel much more in control of my time now.
Thank you, Emily.
You're welcome.
And now it's time for our bonus tip.
Oh, I love the bonus tip.
What is it today?
My tip is the two-minute rule.
The two-minute rule?
What is that?
If a task takes less than two minutes, do it right now.
Don't put it on a list.
Don't think about it later.
Like washing a cup or sending a quick text?
Yes.
If you do it immediately, it doesn't take up space in your brain.
That is so simple, but so smart.
I usually wait until I have 10 cups and then I feel stressed.
Exactly.
Do it now and your brain stays clear for the big things, like English.
I love it.
I'm going to start that today.
Two minutes or less.
Do it now.
Great.
Well, that is all the time we have for this episode.
It went by so fast, but I enjoyed every second.
Me too.
Thank you all so much for listening to us today.
Yes, thank you.
Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to Mr. English Channel.
And please give this video a big like if it helped you today.
And tell us in the comments, what is your biggest time thief?
Is it social media?
Is it worrying?
Is it cleaning?
We want to know.
We love reading your stories.
It makes us feel like we are all learning together.
It really does.
Well, have a wonderful productive day, everyone.
Yes.
Go use your time wisely.
Goodbye.
Bye for now.
See you in the next episode.
