​I Don’t Have the Time to Practice

Author: Ela Britchkow, Speech and Language Pathologist, Accent Reduction Specialist

Schedule time to improve your English pronunciation. Be heard the first time and precisely understood.

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
-Gail Sheehy

You want to do something for yourself, improve your speech skills for example, so that you can be better at the job that you are doing; receive a pay raise, receive a promotion; get the job you always wanted; be more confident when you speak on the phone or in a meeting; or be sure that others hear what you are saying clearly. But… when are you supposed to do this when your day is so busy? 

One woman laments that she works all day, comes home, makes dinner, cleans up, takes her daughter to ballet class, her son to soccer practice, comes home does some paper work, does something around the house and goes to sleep. It’s obvious from this example, she has not allotted any time for herself to address her own needs. ​Her daily schedule is basically unsustainable. Sooner or later she will lose the necessary physical, emotional and spiritual energy to keep this grinding routine going to anyone’s satisfaction. I am not a particular believer in time management as I am in life management. No one can put the brakes on neglecting yourself but you. Do so before you are too sick or too exhausted and forced to finally make better decisions about how you spend your time. We think that having clear speech and being understood is a basic survival skill in a world that appears to be increasingly uncertain and threatening.
 If you are reading my blog I am assuming you want to improve your ability to communicate and be better understood. One person I spoke to recently, said her English pronunciation was quite good and did not need to improve. She was partially right.  When I listened to her in person I did understand her. Her charming manner and helpful nonverbal communication made understanding her possible. What she was probably not aware of is that when I spoke to her earlier on the phone to get directions, I could only get a fraction of what she was talking about. I could not observe her gestures and facial expressions that allowed a basic understanding of her speech possible. I was very frustrated with the conversation and needed to find another way to locate her office. Better awareness of the intelligibility of your speech and some realistic self-doubt can be helpful in increasing motivation. 
I hope you will find the following motivational strategies useful: 

1. Be specific. Decide how you’re going to do it. For example, Speech Improvement Now American Pronunciation Software or one-on-one sessions would be an efficient use of your time. (Thank you for allowing me this one time to briefly and sincerely offer my product and services that I am deeply committed to and believe in). 
2. Then you need to figure out when you will find the time to consistently practice.
3. Break down what you need to practice every day to 15 minutes at a time - that’s it, but do it 3 to 4 times a day. In the time that it takes to turn around and scratch and think about how you don’t have time, you have put in 15 min. of practice.
4. Reward yourself for each ½ an hour that you practice.
5. Have a routine. Write into your schedule when you can fit in a few minutes of practice as if it’s an appointment.
6. If you find yourself making excuses about not doing something, ask yourself why. What is holding you back?
7. Always keep in mind what improving your speech skills will do for you. Be clear in understanding why you want to achieve this goal. (job satisfaction; feel happy and confident)

Learning new skills is often intimidating. You may be afraid that you won’t be able to be successful and the easiest way to stop feeling afraid is to stop. Give up. Learning new skills is usually frustrating. Let’s say you push through the uncertainty long enough to actually sit down and practice. Here’s what’s going to happen: You may find it difficult. What’s the easiest way to stop feeling stupid? Stop practicing, and say to yourself, “it really wasn’t that interesting to begin with.”Here’s the thing: indecision, intimidation, and frustration are universal barriers to skill acquisition. They’re entirely predictable, so you can prepare accordingly. The key to rapid skill acquisition doesn’t involve complicated memorization techniques. It’s just a simple, systematic way to spend your time and energy doing things that help you build real skill, and avoid things that don’t.
LOSERS SAY: “I don’t know how to do that… so I can’t do it. It’s too hard. I’m too old. Learning is so hard: I heard it takes at least 10,000 hours to be any good. I don’t have that much time anyway, so I’ll wait until someone finally invents a magic pill so I can upload new skills directly into my brain while I sit on the couch watching Real Housewives of New Jersey.”
SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE SAY: “I don’t know how to do that… but it’s important, so I’m going to figure out how. I’m going to practice in a way that helps me improve as quickly as possible, and stop doing things that get in the way. I don’t have an unlimited amount of time and energy to do this, so I’m going to MAKE time for practice, and use it as efficiently as possible.”
The result? Successful people get better and better at skills that help them make more money, be more effective at their jobs, get more done, and have more fun…
Make Your Time Count. 

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By Ela Britchkow, Speech and Language Pathologist
©2017 Ela Britchkow​