English Le podcast from speak English with class hey there English Learners welcome back to the English leap podcast your favorite place to improve your English while talking about real life topics that actually matter that's right I'm Evan and I'm aarin today we're talking about something I know a lot of you will relate to being ambitious but lazy ah that magic combination you want success but when it's time to actually do the work suddenly your bed is the most comfortable place on Earth or you open YouTube for inspiration and next thing you know you've watched five
videos on how to be productive but haven't actually done anything oh that's painfully accurate but here's the good news you're not alone and today we're going to break down exactly why this happens and how you can actually overcome it all right let's start with a question for everyone listening think about your biggest goal right now maybe you want to start a business learn a new language or finally get in shape you can picture the dream perfectly right mhm you can see yourself as that future version of you successful confident totally in control but then reality
hits and instead of taking action you suddenly remember you need to check your messages or clean your desk or worst of all make a detailed plan before you even start yep and that's where the problem begins we get so focused on planning preparing and thinking about our goals that we never actually start mhm and when we do start we quickly feel overwhelmed and stop it's like standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up and thinking oh no that's way too high maybe I'll climb to tomorrow exactly so what do we do that's what we're
breaking down today how to work with your laziness instead of against it so you can actually start achieving your goals oh before we dive in don't forget we've got a free PDF for this episode it's more than just a summary we've added a comprehension exercise and grammar practice to help you improve your English too so you'll boost both your productivity and your English skills grab it from the link in the description okay let's talk about the science behind this why does this even happen why do ambitious people struggle with laziness it's actually simple our brains
love big dreams but they hate big effort when something feels too overwhelming our natural instinct is to avoid it right it's like your brain sees all the steps you need to take and just shuts down think about it like this imagine you have to run a marathon 42 km if I told you to start right now no training no warm-up just go how would you feel uh probably like dying after 100 m exactly that's how big goals feel you see the huge distance between where you are and where you want to be and it feels
impossible so what do you do you stay in bed and scroll Tick Tock instead so the first thing we need to do is stop thinking about the entire marathon and just focus on the first step exactly so instead of writing long to-do lists let's try something different something that actually makes you start instead of just planning okay I'm listening what's the trick instead of listing out a million things you have to do write about your day as if it already happened wait you mean pretend I've already done everything exactly instead of saying I need to
study today write I sat down focused and studied for an hour I even had time to take a break and felt great afterward oh I see what you're doing so instead of a stressful to-do list I'm creating a vision of success it feels like I've already done it yep your brain sees it as possible instead of overwhelming when you describe your day in past tense it tricks your mind into thinking the hard part is already over making making it easier to follow through that actually makes so much sense when I write a normal to-do list
it just reminds me of everything I haven't done yet but if I write it in past tense my brain already believes I've accomplished something exactly and the best part no pressure no overwhelm just an easy mental shift that makes productivity feel effortless okay let's try this normally I'd write go to the gym study for 2 hours clean my apartment finish my work project but that already looks exhausting right so instead write I went to the gym for 30 minutes and felt refreshed afterward then I studied for 2 hours and it was easier than I expected
I even had time to clean up and finish my work project before dinner so I felt super accomplished oh that sounds way less stressful it actually makes me want to do it because it feels doable instead of overwhelming That's The Power of Shifting your mindset instead of a rigid to-do list you're giving yourself a clear and encouraging vision of success okay but what if I write it down and still don't feel motivated then make it even smaller instead of writing a whole day just write one thing I finished my work project today and it felt
great ah so if a full day feels overwhelming just focus on one t task and write it as if it's done yes and if you really need a boost imagine yourself at the end of the day picture how relieved and accomplished you'll feel if you actually complete that one thing okay so now I know how to trick my brain into starting but what if the task itself is just boring ah great question that's where our next trick comes in making work feel like play so you actually want to do it all right I love this
trick because let's be honest if something feels boring we avoid it but if it's fun we'll do it for hours exactly so instead of forcing yourself to work hard you can trick your brain into wanting to do the task okay but how do we do that I mean work is work right not necessarily let's say you need to clean your room what's something that makes it feel less boring music I blast my favorite songs and suddenly I'm a cleaning Superstar exactly small changes make a huge difference music a different location even a cup of coffee
these small things can make boring tasks way more enjoyable all right but what about things like studying how do I make that fun turn it into a game set a timer for 10 minutes and challenge yourself to finish as much as possible before the time Runs Out ooh like a speed round that makes it way more exciting yep or use rewards if I finish this task I get a coffee break I love it so instead of forcing myself to work I just make it fun exactly and that's what makes it easier to start and stay
focused okay so now I'm starting and having fun but what if I still don't finish things uh that's where our next trick comes in the unfinished task effect let's get into it so so we've talked about how to start and how to make work fun but let's talk about another problem starting something and then just never finishing it oh that's me I'll begin something feel productive for a while then suddenly lose motivation and convince myself I'll finish it later but later never happens and the worst part that unfinished task stays in your mind making you
feel guilty every time you think about it yes I'll completely ignore something for weeks but then the moment I try to relax my brain suddenly reminds me about it that's called the zaric effect it's a psychological trick our brains play on us once we start something our minds don't like leaving it incomplete oh so that's why when I start a Netflix show I have to finish it exactly and you can use that same trick to your advantage with work and productivity okay so how do we make the zaric effect work for us instead of against
us simple don't aim to finish just aim to start the moment you begin your brain will naturally push you to keep going because it hates leaving things unfinished so instead of saying I need to finish this report I say I'll write the first sentence exactly once you write that first sentence your brain won't want to leave it hanging before you know it you've written a full paragraph then a page then you're done oh that's sneaky it's way easier to convince myself to do one small thing than to commit to the whole task so now we
know how to start how to make work fun and how to keep going once we've started but what if we're spending time on the wrong things what if we're just being busy instead of being productive oh I know this one I have days where I'm super busy answering emails organizing my files checking notifications but by the end of the day I've done nothing important exactly and this is what happens when we don't prioritize correctly just because you're doing something doesn't mean you're making progress right it's like running on a treadmill lots of effort but you're
not actually going anywhere Perfect Analogy that's why we need the Eisenhower Matrix it helps us figure out what's actually important and what's just just wasting time okay I've heard of this but never used it what's the deal it's a super simple way to organize tasks picture a box with four squares every task you have falls into one of these categories number one important and Urgent do it now like deadlines emergencies last minute prep number two important but not urgent schedule it like learning a skill working out long-term projects number three urgent but not important delegate
it like emails small admin tasks unnecessary meetings number four neither important nor urgent delete it like Mindless scrolling binge watching random videos o so my 2-hour research session on productivity video vide Falls in category 4 huh yep if it's not actively helping you reach your goals it's probably just a distraction okay so how do I use this just write down my tasks and categorize them exactly and once you see where your time is going you'll realize a lot of what feels urgent can actually be ignored or scheduled for later that makes sense so instead of
feeling busy all the time I focus on what actually moves me me forward exactly work smarter not harder okay but what about people who get stuck because they're afraid of failing like sometimes I avoid things just because I don't want to mess up Ah that's a big one that's where our next trick comes in learning to embrace being bad at something so you can actually improve all right I'll be honest I hate being bad at things if I'm not naturally good at something I tend to just not try oh I so get that and that's
exactly why perfectionism makes people more lazy we don't start things because we're scared of failing right like I've always wanted to learn guitar but after struggling with a few chords I thought yeah maybe I'm just not meant to play and that's the Trap if you only do things you're already good at you never grow the problem isn't being bad at something it's expecting to be great at it instantly so how do we fix that the best way to fight perfectionism is to choose something where you don't care about being good pick a hobby just for
fun oh so I should start something I know I'll be bad at on purpose exactly it can be anything bad dancing baking chaotic cookies drawing stick figures just something where you can enjoy the process instead of obsessing over results wait so I can just suck at something and have fun with it yep when you stop fearing failure you start more things and that's what leads to real progress okay that actually makes a lot of sense but let's say I get over my fear and start something new how do I make sure I stick to it
and don't fall back into Old Habits ah great question that's where our final trick comes in learning how to think like the person you want to become all right I'm curious about this one are you telling me I need to time travel not exactly but instead of asking yourself what should I do try asking what would my future successful self do okay I like this so if I want to be fit instead of thinking should I work out today I ask would a fit person skip their workout exactly your brain starts adjusting to act like
that future version of you and the more you do it the more it becomes a habit so how do I actually apply this simple first write down your current daily routine how you spend your time your habits everything oh so I create a snapshot of what my life looks like right now yep then write down a future self routine what your ideal successful version of you would do in a day so if I want to be a productive person My Future Self would wake up early work with focus and actually finish projects instead of getting
distracted exactly then compare the two routines and find small habits you can start right now to bridge the gap oh that's brilliant instead of waiting for some magical perfect moment to change I just start acting like my future self today yes and once you start thinking like your future self your decisions naturally align with your goals wow these tricks actually make sense no more excuses exactly but before we wrap up let's break down some of the key words and phrases we use today with our vocabulary expert Charlotte hey everyone it's Charlotte and I'm here to
go over some important words and phrases from today's episode to make sure you understand them completely ambitious meaning having a strong desire to succeed example Sarah is very ambitious she dreams of becoming a doctor one day overwhelmed meaning feeling too much pressure or stress from something example he felt overwhelmed with all the homework and project projects do this week procrastination meaning delay or postpone tasks example Jake's procrastination made him finish his assignment at the last minute Instinct meaning a natural reaction or behavior example when she heard a loud noise her first instinct was to run
accomplished meaning successfully completed something example after months of hard work he finally accomplished his goal of running a marathon distractions meaning things that take your attention away from what you should focus on example social media is one of the biggest distractions when studying perspective meaning a particular way of viewing or thinking about something example from his perspective the problem wasn't as serious as it seemed perfectionism meaning the tendency to want everything to be perfect often causing delays example her perfectionism made her spend hours rewriting the same paragraph Cliffhanger meaning a story or episode ending in
suspense making you want to continue example the movie ended with a cliffhanger so now I can't wait for the sequel delegating meaning assigning tasks to someone else example a good leader knows the importance of delegating tasks to their team binge watching meaning watching multiple episodes or videos in a row example she spent the entire weekend bch watching her favorite TV series and there you have it these words and phrases will help you not only understand today's topic better but also use them in real life conversations try them out that was super helpful thanks Charlotte yeah
these words are so useful especially when talking about productivity and habits all right that officially wraps up today's episode don't forget to grab your free pdf in the description it has all the key takeaways and exercises to help you apply these tricks and if you found this helpful hit subscribe and share it with someone who needs a productivity boost see you next time on the English leap podcast your progress doesn't end here to continue advancing your English skills click on the next video or explore the additional videos we've thoughtfully selected for you
