What to do when you want to learn English… But don’t have time

Cami
Aug 14
5 min read

Hey there!

How are you doing? I hope your summer is going well! But, I do have one question…

Do you feel like you have a little bit more time at the moment? But then, when summer is over, it feels like you’re back to reality; busy weeks, not enough hours in the day, hustle and work constantly.

Yep, that’s how most people feel. And it’s probably among the most common reasons for people to not actively study and practise their English 🫣. People want to improve but struggle to find the time for it. Well, I’m here to tell you one thing:

The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is consistency.

Consistency can be reached by dedicating just a few minutes every day, and that is exactly what makes the difference in the long run. Now, all I ask from you is to read this whole email, as today we’ll be sharing realistic and “non-boring” strategies that you can implement easily into your life (and no, we won’t be focusing on the typical things everyone always says…).

Small steps, big progress: Creative ways to learn on the go

Recycle your mistakes in your notes app

As scary as it sounds, you NEED to make mistakes to improve. It’s part of the learning process. Have you ever listened to a little child speak? They make mistakes, right? Even little British children make mistakes, so why do you expect not to make any? Or feel bad about it?

So, accept the fact that making mistakes is part of it and turn it into something useful for your learning! Whenever you notice that you made a mistake (or someone told you about your mistake), I want you to write it down - anywhere. In your phone app, a little notebook you have, on a post-it, whatever. The important thing is that you make it very clear what you said wrong and how to say it correctly. The more you look at it and actively think about it, the less likely you’ll be to make this mistake again.

For example:

If you keep saying “explain me”, make a note that says:

❌ explain me

✅ explain to me

Create your 3-minute ritual

Yes, you read correctly. 3 minutes. This “task” (let’s better call it “ritual”)- this ritual is so small that you can do it daily, even on your busiest days. You can be very creative with this one and can do whatever you want, as long as it’s in English (obviously).

Here are some examples of what you could do:

While waiting for the kettle to boil, read one short English news headline and summarise it out loud in your own words.
As you brush your teeth, try to think (in English!) about what you’ve got planned for the day or what you did yesterday.
Every morning, write one new phrase or word on a post-it note and stick it somewhere you’ll see it often (your laptop, mirror, or fridge).
Send yourself a 1-minute voice message in English reflecting on something from your day (how you felt, what annoyed you, what made you smile).
Instead of scrolling social media for a few minutes, open a saved English video, Reel, or TikTok and focus only on understanding 1–2 key expressions.
Review 1-2 from your mistakes collection (remember our first tip? 😉)

Use a “trigger moment” instead of a fixed time

Saying you’ll practise English every day at 7 pm might work for the first week. Maybe even the second week. But often it’s not really possible to stick to it in the long term. Rather than saying “I’ll study at X o’clock”, attach your learning habit to something you always do (habit stacking is something James Clear spoke about in his book Atomic Habits. I highly recommend reading it!).

For example:

After brushing my teeth, I’ll do a quick vocabulary review
Whenever I eat, I describe my meal in my head (or out loud)
Each time you open your weather app, describe today’s weather in English using a full sentence (bonus points if you add some flair like "It's gloomy”)
Before diving into emails, take 30 seconds to mentally translate how you might greet someone or start a message in English (e.g. “Hope you're doing well” or “Just a quick note to...”)
When you make your coffee or tea, turn this into a 3-minute listening moment: play part of a podcast or video and challenge yourself to catch one useful expression or phrasal verb (or watch 2-3 English teaching videos on Instagram or TikTok - you’re probably on your phone anyway 😉)

Practise your English socially (without calling it studying)

There are so many moments in your day that could turn into a mini English practice session. Whether you are talking to yourself (no need to deny it, we all do it!), leaving a comment under a social media post, or you could send a message to your friend in English (maybe they would like to practise their English too). It doesn’t matter if no one replies or you feel like you have “no audience”, talking to yourself or leaving a comment is still great for practising tone, register and vocabulary. And remember, the more often you do it, the better! These are the little things that build consistency.

Progress, not pressure

If you take one thing from today’s email, I hope it is that fluency doesn’t require hours every day. It’s the small, but meaningful, actions that add up and help you build consistency.

Remember, your brain wants to be trained constantly. Who do you think would see more progress in their physique?

Person 1 🧍🏼‍♂️: Goes to the gym once a week or once every 2 weeks and takes breaks when they are on holidays or tired

Person 2 🚶🏼‍♂️‍➡️: Does something every single day, whether it is walking, a gym session, swimming in the pool, playing with their dog or children, 5-minute stretching after or before bed, etc.

Well, the same applies to language learning, or any other skill for that matter.

And it is completely normal to feel like life is too busy sometimes; everyone goes through that. But language learning can still have a place in your day, as long as it fits in your life.

This is the exact reason why we created The English Life Academy, because you can adapt your English learning to your needs and your availability - with a flexible schedule, pre-recorded courses and plenty of fun!*

What is your go-to way of sneaking English into your day? Hit reply and let us know!

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