At first, I was a bit reluctant to post this article too early as it hasn‘t yet been clear neither if I will survive nor if I will actually manage
to keep my language learning routine during the few last months of madness.
After nearly eight months in the game, I now feel a little bit more confident
to talk about how to be faithful to your hobbies and possibly give some little
tips on how to stay sane even if you have many things going on in your life. But
don’t take me wrong – there are many things which I don’t handle and where
there is a big room, you can kind of call it a hall, for improvement – and let’s
talk about them too.
Studying two ongoing university
programs, having student jobs and volunteering at the same time when I was
younger taught me how to focus on priorities, multitask and be productive but also
how to appreciate my free time. When I decided to start working on my PhD, I was
single and lived alone and I had a demanding but only one job related to the topic
of my studies. Soon after life happened and I decided to leave my job, start
another full-time contract elsewhere but continue to cooperate as an external
consultant with my former employer and another public office. I haven’t yet
known I was pregnant, anticipated it to be only temporary and assumed that
after a certain time I would be able to choose what I like the most and give up
the rest. Surprisingly - like if I didn’t know myself and how difficult it is
for me to give up on things – I’m now doing even more than I initially expected
but somehow still manage to squeeze in also other things, such as learning
languages. I’m lucky enough for not having to do this for financial reasons but
rather because I actually enjoy it all.
To start, there is one key point
I want to make. If you want to prevent burning out from work, focus on other
things than work although you feel like you have absolutely no time to spare. The
same applies for languages, studying, sports or, as I assume, taking care of
your family. I don’t care if you have to sacrifice your lunch breaks or even
your sleep – just do it. Distracting your mind from your daily routine, however
important, urgent and actually even enjoyable your tasks are, it’s a necessary
part of everyone’s mental hygiene. I’m obviously not saying that eating and
sleeping well isn’t important, but I believe that temporary physical sacrifices
are more bearable than the mental ones.
There are several general rules I
try to adopt to keep my sanity:
Don’t
be too harsh on yourself
Keep in mind that you are doing what
you can (unless you really aren’t) and don’t feel guilty for sometimes wasting
your time. Don’t be afraid to take a weekend off and do things that have no
purpose, even if it’s binging on Netflix or scrolling down your social media
the whole day. We are not programmed to be always productive. If I should
choose a quote that really made a difference in my life, it’s the Kurt Vonnegut’s
“You are a human being, not a human doing”.
Prioritize
people
Relationships are the most important
thing in our lives and even if it seems they aren’t they actually are. Realizing
this helped me to be much happier than when I only focused on my performance in many areas. Of course,
nothing is eternal and you can lose a friend or boyfriend as same as you can lose
a job, but you can’t lose your memories of the time spent together and, trust
me, having the regret of losing an important person over your career or another
activity it’s way worse than the other way around.
Don’t
compromise your goals
If you can’t keep up and deliver
a quality work, it’s time to give up. When you just can’t force yourself to
work hard enough or your multitasking leads to crappy results, it isn’t worth
your time and the time and money of the people who pay you. If it’s possible,
choose a slower pace to get where you want to be to achieve your goals, but don’t
be afraid to let others know you that are overwhelmed and need more time or even
a break. There is nothing worst than people pretending to manage their workload
when they actually don’t. But be aware that sometimes you may only feel
overwhelmed and crappy for a while, even when you are actually doing ok. Then
it’s time to step out and get feedback from someone you trust.
Consistency
is the queen
Especially when it comes to
learning languages, keeping a routine is the most important thing. Spending 5
minutes a day reading news headlines in your target language, learning one
word or listening to one video is always better than binge learning at the end
of the month. The best thing is that even if you have the busiest day, you can
always find those five minutes to keep you on track. Use language learning as a procrastination when you are lazy to work on other things (this has actually worked great for me!). Schedule an italki lesson with a new teacher or have a coffee with your language partners in person every once in a while. Make it fun and it will do the work –
make you feel proud and help you to learn more than you would actually expect. Moreover,
stronger your habit is, harder it will be to fall off the wagon.
Hobbies
are hobbies
I see many people around me who,
once they start doing something regularly, feel the need to shift their hobby
to the next level. They start to learn a language and soon want to become a teacher
or a language mentor. They start to exercise and soon they are working on their
trainer’s licence. While there is nothing particularly wrong with this, I think
you should always consider keeping your hobbies just hobbies and not to try
making profit out of everything. It's simple - you don't have to call yourself a blogger when you run a blog :) Don't let everything to define you or people to push you where you don't want to be. Realizing this has also made a big difference
in my life and helped me to feel more relaxed when it comes to my languages or running
performance. Doing something for yourself and focusing on the journey rather
than your results can be sometimes very refreshing. So what that my French
still kind of sucks? I enjoy learning and speaking it and that’s what it’s all
about.
Monotask
while multitasking
This may be the most challenging
one. Moreover, monotasking while multitasking may sound as an oxymoron but it actually
isn’t. Remember that good work is never done mindlessly. To spend our time
effectively, we need to focus on one thing only and pay attention to details. Whatever
you are doing try to be present and mindful. Plan and think ahead. Then take a break
and do the same with another task. Be patient with yourself as it may take a while
to change your focus. But if anything, this really is worth the energy and your
results will prove it.
Now it may seem that I have an
answer to everything, but I actually struggle a lot keeping all my shit
together. I find myself not motivated enough when deadlines are still far
(which wasn’t happening to me before as I had enough of self-drive to set my
own early deadlines and respect them). I don’t sleep well and I’m often just
too tired to do anything outside of my regular full-time working hours. I spent
way too much time on the social media. I also wished I was able to read and
study more and I improve my long-term memory. But trying to stick to the rules
mentioned above has really helped me to relax, recognize what is important and
I actually hope that also to deliver a good job in all directions. Or at least I
didn’t yet go crazy J
Žádné komentáře:
Okomentovat