Don’t just take it, plan for the day after.
What are you going to do after the JLPT?
If you are thinking “Take a few days off”. Stop. Right. There. No, taking time off from studying would be a bad idea!
Why? Let me explain…
You have been building up momentum for these past few weeks and probably months. You have formed a tidy habit. You probably even have a schedule. Maybe it is printed out and on the fridge. Maybe it is programmed as reminders in your phone. It will have structure, will have been well thought out. It will be perfect going forward!
You are thinking “Nah, I’ll take a couple of days off and then go back into it”… are you sure?
Each time I took a break from something I was doing regularly, I lost the flow and found it harder to return. It was as if I lost my way. I forgot how to use my time. Lost my way of working and forgot some of what I had learned.
A year ago I had an amazing stretch on my app for Memrise. In case you have not used Memrise, you need to use it every day to log progress. I had been and I was unstoppable. Not a day missed for months! It felt good! I was on a roll…then I went abroad. I live in Scotland and I went to Florida on holiday. I had switched off my data and put my phone in flight-safe mode to stop it updating to the new time zone. Just to be safe I did extra sessions in the Memrise app to keep my scores safe. The first day it all went according to plan, my scores were safe and I was able to play using WiFi without the time resetting, it all seemed great, then I woke the next day…
Gone.
I was back at day one.
My stretch was gone.
I couldn’t understand it. Somehow my phone had updated with the correct time and had decided that even though I had done the work for that day, that day was to play again. It was a horrible moment, and I never recovered. Memrise was dead to me. I uninstalled the app, ached inwardly for the next couple of days (still on my holiday!) and fell off the wagon…I didn’t study for months. Yes, I still ran my weekly Japanese Conversation Club, but I didn’t make any effort to learn anything new. It was a dark time.
That may be an extreme case but I think we are all guilty of relaxing after we have been working hard at something. We pass that goal and then there is nothing. We lose it, we relax, we become unfocused and dare I say, Lazy?
We start telling ourselves that we earned a rest. We deserve a break.
No.
Don’t stop the habit. Just add a treat on top.
Don’t remove what you have been working so hard on. Add a treat if you will but keep that habit where it is and you will see improvement much sooner.
Good luck for your test on Sunday and keep that momentum going!
頑張りましょう！
Support or join Nihongo Connection here.
Check out further tips on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest
Sign up to my newsletter and get notified about my Online Japanese Conversation Club here.
Grab a badge to wear and find Japanese speakers in your community.
Let’s speak, increase confidence, fluency and all around Joy in Japanese!
FTC Disclosure. I participate in affiliate advertising programs for products and services I believe in. By purchasing through my affiliate links, you are supporting my ability to provide you with free language learning content.
Recent Comments