⏰ 5 Reasons You Can't Find the Right Time for Your Language Habits

Hey Reader,

Once you have clarity on what language habits you need to do, the next step is to decide when you'll do them.

This isn't as simple as it seems. There are many people competing for your time and attention every day. And while language habits are an important part of being a successful learner, they're not as urgent as the obligations you have at work or home.

If that wasn't enough, you also have to deal with the unexpected:

The internet goes out
Your business flight gets delayed
A bad accident buries you in traffic

Is it any surprise that language habits are one of the first things you skip when chaos strikes?

But remember: Language habit frustrations are not a who problem. They're a what, where, when, and why problem. And when executed correctly, habit design can help you make time for your daily practice. That's why it's the foundation of the services I offer through Flight Plan English and Rocket Fuel.

So today, I'm sharing the 5 reasons students like you struggle to find the right time for their habits, and what you can do to change them.

REASON #1

You're Using Schedules Instead of Sequences

"We waste our lives railing against traffic jams and toddlers for having the temerity to take the time they take, because they’re blunt reminders of how little control we truly have over our schedules."

– Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks 📚

Here are a few real examples of habits that I've helped my students design and sustain over a long period of time:

I will listen to a podcast on Spotify while I drive to work
I will watch YouTube videos on my phone after breakfast
I will make a flashcard on Quizlet after I reply to Rocket Fuel

Can you tell what they have in common? If you noticed that none of them have a scheduled time (e.g. 7am), you are correct.

As the great Mike Tyson once said,

"everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face"

You probably get punched in the face by the chaos of the day more often than you realize. But the most important thing is to keep going, so it's okay as long as you don't get knocked out.

Thinking you have full control of your calendar is an illusion. Stop depending on schedules, use sequences instead, and connect your new habits to existing ones so you can roll with the punches.

REASON #2

You're Connecting New Habits to Weak Habits

"You already have a lot of reliable routines, and each of them can serve as an action prompt for a new habit."

– BJ Fogg, Tiny Habits 📚

Once you see the value of adding new habits to sequences instead of schedules, you have to find the right sequence to connect it to.

The best connectors for your habits are the existing habits you never miss, no matter the day or time.

Some examples:

waking up
having coffee
taking a shower
driving your car
checking your phone

As a nomad, one of my biggest challenges on the road is keeping my routine. Every time zone change brings chaos to my calendar and disrupts any consistency I had developed.

But after a lot of trial and error, I've learned that the only way to stay consistent, on the road or at home, is to use connectors that never change to trigger my habits.

Add your new habit to one of your most consistent habits and use the domino effect to help you develop your daily practice.

REASON #3

You're Waiting Until the End of the Day

"Our attention span drains throughout the day. When we do something has a large impact on how well we do it."

– Ryder Carroll, The Bullet Journal Method 📚

Whether you're consuming or creating, language learning requires your attention and concentration if you want to grow.

My best students are all world-class at noticing things, but not so much when they're low on energy and focus in the evenings. The drop-off is so noticeable that I don't let students book late-night calls anymore, regardless of my current time zone.

That aside, the time of day that you choose for your habit reveals a lot about where it is on your priority list.

Anyone who has ever developed a good exercise routine knows that the earlier in the day you do it, the lower the chances are that something will affect it. Language habits are no different.

Leave the low-hanging fruit (i.e. low-effort tasks) for later and do your language habits when your energy tank is still full.

REASON #4

You're Rewarding Yourself Before You Start

"Cravings are what drive habits. And figuring out how to spark a craving makes creating a new habit easier."

– Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit 📚

Now that you're thinking in sequences and using an existing habit when your energy is high, what could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, most of your consistent habits aren't very productive. Checking Instagram, binge-watching Netflix, or sending memes on WhatsApp are all forms of procrastination – and terrible connectors.

Why would you switch to a difficult new habit if you could keep getting cheap dopamine from an app with zero effort?

The good news is that you don't have to quit Instagram, Netflix, and WhatsApp to design better language habits. It's simple, actually: Use those habits as rewards instead of triggers.

Swipe left on those apps until after you've completed your language practice for the day and celebrate your wins in style.

REASON #5

You're Not Doing It Daily

"Don’t break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive."

– James Clear, Atomic Habits 📚

The biggest mistake related to time isn't even about when to practice your new habit. It's about the frequency of the habit.

Humans are creatures of habit, and it's a lot more difficult to do something that you don't do every day.

The whole point of building habits is to put the first action on autopilot. Open your app, press record, create a new flashcard, etc. That first step will take you in many directions, but it needs to become daily for you to benefit from the compounding.

I know that doing a little bit every day doesn't always feel like enough, but this is exactly how my students have been able to:

Finish multiple books per year that help you level up
Incorporate hundreds of new words into their vocabulary
Deliver presentations at work or conferences with confidence
Crush their interviews and get that life-changing job

Language learning is a practice, just like yoga, jiu-jitsu, or meditation. Language habit design is the best way to cultivate that practice, and the best time to start is now.

school cafeteria 🍕

Things I consumed consciously while writing this

"Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by."

– Austin Kleon, Steal Like An Artist 📚

📺 Derek Sivers, Episode #668, The Tim Ferriss Show (YouTube)

Author Derek Sivers credits his tendency to be a satisficer (i.e. someone who accepts satisfactory solutions as good enough; the opposite of an optimizer) for a lot of his success and happiness.

If you want to do your language habits earlier in the day and do them every day, don't wait for the optimal moment or try to do too much. Be a satisficer, start small, and don't break the chain.

🎧 A Mulher Da Casa Abandonada, Folha (Spotify)

I'm a language learner too, which means I've got to make time for language habits, too. This Folha de São Paulo podcast does the job with an intriguing story and plenty of Brazilian Portuguese to learn from and mimic while I'm stuck in Miami traffic.

📝 Everything Must Be Paid For Twice, David Cain (raptitude.com)

Paying a price to solve a problem is often the first step, but are you calculating the time and effort required to extract its full value (i.e. the second price)? This thought-provoking essay will help you examine the hidden costs of your purchases, and the risk of not finding time to pay down your second-price debt.

🔂 Time, Pink Floyd (Spotify)

"Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time..."

📊 Chart of the Week via George Mack, Genuine Impact (Twitter)

Fun fact: The most spoken language in the world is still English, but if you look closer, it's actually Non-Native English (ESL).

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Have a great week!

– Juan

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