Japanese Language Study Habit to work Overseas

So I’ve decided to cut down my daily blog time from 4 hours to 3, and I have replaced that one hour with studying Japanese. 1 Hour is the most I can go for now, but the smallest way to start my habit is to learn a new Japanese word and write it down, practising how to use it for 15 or 30 minutes. There aren’t other times of the day that I can do this, so if I have to break it in sets of 4 hours each, I’ll do it at the weekend. I’ll stop increasing the intensity after 2 sets of 4 hours each during the weekends. The farthest I can go during weekdays is two hours.

I can’t fit that in the morning because my morning routine not only includes personal hygiene and breakfast but also includes preparing for my day job. The only thing I can cut down is my blogging since it’s just a hobby and side venture.

Speaking of, I’ve decided to study Japanese before I blog and not after. That way, it’s the first thing I do after I get back from work at 5 PM and I don’t forget. I use the same space for my blogging to study Japanese as the materials I use are online. That being said, it can be necessary for me to get a book or two. During weekends, the triggers I use are basically whenever I finish my daily routine or whenever I finish eating lunch, depending on what else I have to do that day.

I have a calendar near my PC that I can mark so that I can keep track of my habits. I already had it before I started the Habit Chalenge.

I don’t exactly “prepare” dinner since I cook the meals I will have for the day during the morning and just reheat them as needed. I can try to study after blogging but that also runs the risk of me blogging for too long. I can also try alternating between blogging and studying so that I maintain both habits.

My study time always starts with learning a new Japanese word and writing it out. That will make me continue on to the rest of the lessons that I need to do.

My Identity Mantra is “I don’t skip studying the Japanese language.”

I normally have to decide which new word I want to learn every day, but what I do is that I take a list of English words on a sticky note and look for their Japanese translations instead.

I also normally have to decide what lessons to study, but the online course that I have purchased does it for me. |

I’ve made it a habit to make sure that I keep my cellphone in my room when I am studying. I don’t answer calls or texts and I don’t surf the net when I should be studying.

For accountability, the online course has tests that help me measure how well or how poorly I am doing. If I don’t study regularly, I’m going to do poorly in the test and I don’t want to do that.

The expenses I’ve made for the course are already a big enough burden that I don’t think I want to spend any more money, so I won’t be doing the beeminder or stickk thing.