Shadowing Practice: Why I’m Able To Focus 70+ Hours Per Week (stay efficient and productive) - Learn English Speaking with Video

I did some things, some changes, that transformed my brain in just one month.

I went from constantly being distracted

and unable to focus for 20 minutes to finally being able to focus and work on what matters to me.

The brain, like a high-performance machine, needs specific operating conditions to optimize and operate at peak performance.

And after diving into the research and implementing these changes myself, I've seen some dramatic changes.

In this video, I'm going to show you four evidence-based ways to upgrade your brain, all backed by scientific studies.

So the first thing is sleep.

This is your brain's operating system's number one source of energy.

This is like charging the battery.

Your brain isn't just recharging, though, while it's sleep.

It's actually restructuring certain parts of your brain.

So not only is it refilling the battery, it's changing and optimizing it to make it a more efficient battery.

But here's where it gets wild to me.

So in a landmark 2004 nature study,

researchers at the University of Lubeck taught participants a complicated number reduction task with a hidden shortcut that they weren't told about.

Some people slept between the training sessions while others didn't.

The results showed that 60% of people who slept discovered this hidden rule, while only 22% of those who stayed awake figured it out.

That's nearly three times more people having this aha moment or figuring out the problem just from sleeping.

And this is amazing to me because it shows

that your brain isn't only replenishing the energy source and kind of calming down when you sleep,

but it's also creating new connections and solving problems while you sleep.

And every hour that you have a lower quality sleep

or just that you don't sleep inside of

that seven to nine hour range is dramatically decreasing your brain's abilities to just solve new problems and do new things.

But here's the critical part.

It requires quality sleep, not just duration of sleep.

Your brain needs to cycle through the proper stages, stage one, two, three, REM sleep,

non REM sleep, and have a good duration of all those different cycles to get all the benefits of sleep.

So here's how I practically go for this.

I aim for seven to nine hours of quality sleep.

Most studies say that when you get below seven hours or above nine hours, it's actually harming your health.

I keep my bedroom dark, quiet and cold.

So I keep my bedroom at around 65 degrees Fahrenheit

and try to keep the sound pollution at less than 25 decibels and less than one lux of light pollution.

I also have a nighttime routine, and I try to not eat or drink anything three hours before bed.

And in that nighttime routine, I have a warm shower about an hour before bed.

Because the idea behind this is that your body tries to cool down inside that hot shower.

And then when you step outside of it, your body continues to cool down, bringing that core body temperature lower and helping you fall asleep more naturally.

Because when you sleep, your body temperature actually drops by about one degree centigrade.

Number two is exercise.

And this is your brain's 20% learning boost.

So physical movement doesn't just rewire our bodies, it rewires our brains.

And I'm not talking about marathon training sessions here, I'm talking about maybe six, ten minutes of exercise.

In a 2007 study published in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, researchers at the University of Munster discovered

that people who perform just two three-minute bursts of intense exercise that is sprinting like squats,

jumping jacks before learning new vocabulary actually learned that vocabulary 20% faster than those who just rested or did moderate exercise.

That's like getting an extra hour of productivity for just six minutes of exercise.

But here's what makes this even more interesting.

It's not just the immediate focus boost, it's the long-term learning gains.

They found that this exercise was associated with higher levels of something called BDNF which is called brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

So brain comes from the brain, derived, you get that.

Neurotrophic factor, so neurons troph like this thing.

So they like it because when they get exposed to it, they grow and form more connections.

That's what BDNF is, or that's what researchers currently think BDNF does.

So when you do this exercise, it increases the levels of this BDNF throughout your brain throughout the day.

Think of this as food for your neurons, growth for your neurons to help create new connections, new memories and new learnings.

Not only be it enough, exercise can release dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine.

Dopamine enhances this motivation, focus and learning through this reward pathway and epinephrine and norepinephrine at manageable levels, right, which you can get from exercise,

help you increase your focus, attention and energy.

Come on, brain, lift it, lift it.

So how can you practically use this in real life?

Maybe you can schedule a short, intense, or a longer but still intense exercise session before you get to studying or midway before studying,

as opposed to at the end of the study day.

Because you break up your study day with intense exercise, you'll get much closer access to that boost in brain chemicals.

If you use Pomodoro sessions, so studying for 25 minutes then taking a 5 minute break, you could use those 5 minute breaks to do some kind of quick exercise.

Finally, pick some kind of exercise that you actually like, because the most important thing is that over time, you actually continue to exercise instead of just being excited by this video,

exercising today and then never doing it again.

Thing number three we're gonna do to change our brain's operating system is optimize our environment.

Your physical space is programming your life, whether you realize it or not.

I found that designating certain parts of my apartment for specific learning tasks helps optimize myself during those specific tasks.

It helps my brain create shortcuts.

So for example, if I know whenever I sit at this desk, I'm going to be working on YouTube videos.

As soon as I sit down, my brain snaps into YouTube video mode.

Or if I go to sit at that desk over there, I know I'm going to be working on my personal projects, my programming or my electrical engineering.

Or if I go to the couch back there I know I'm gonna be relaxing

and chilling out especially in maybe this hour before bed.

It kind of short circuits and conditions myself to get into these brain modes as soon as I go to these places.

And the more I just do those things in those places the stronger those neuronal connections

and the stronger

that instant switch of my brain is the key is consistency only use these zones for this certain thing

and you'll change your brain to be trained to be ready to do those things in

that place so i keep each space as minimalist

and clean as i possibly can

and focused on only the thing i'm going to be doing

so for example right now i just have one screen with the script the camera

and that's it i don't have my phone i don't have

any other notes i have nothing in front of me on that desk other than the thing that I'm doing right now.

And the most critical thing is never to do those other things in those places.

So for example, my bed is a sacred place.

I never read books.

I never look at my phone.

I never do things that aren't just sleep in my bed

because otherwise it distracts and makes my brain confused when it goes into bed.

And this is what top sleep doctors around the world recommend as well.

Consistently stick to these certain places for your certain work.

You'll classically condition your brain and the next time you sit in these places it'll be

that much easier to actually sit down and do that work.

Number four is focus on your mindset when you're learning or thinking or doing certain things.

The mindset is the mental environment that you put all your tasks and all your life under.

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This upgrade is very simple but amazingly powerful.

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Instead of saying I have to do certain things say I get to do certain things.

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When I was in medical school this was the most magical shift for me.

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Instead of saying, I have to memorize these things about the heart rhythms and drugs that affect it, I get to say, hey,

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I get to learn about these things that may one day save someone's life who's having a heart issue.

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I get to learn how the human body works.

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Some of this is research that people have been working on for centuries.

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Suddenly, these flashcards weren't a burden, but they were a privilege.

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And neuroscience research shows that reframing these things in a gratitude practice can help release more dopamine

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and serotonin and help you actually get the work done.

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When I frame something as an obligation, so I have to do this, my brain's threat system goes into overdrive.

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But if I get it to, I get to.

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It's some exciting, passionate, cool thing that my brain's chemical switches.

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And it's a very small switch, but just trying to trick yourself into that switch can be a game changer.

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So how do we practically do this?

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Simply change the things that you have to do to you get to do.

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I have to go to this meeting becomes I get to collaborate with people and learn from these people on this project.

117

I have to study this material becomes I get to learn about these amazing things

118

that people have been trying to perfect and understand for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.

119

Or instead of I have to exercise to be in shape, say I get to exercise.

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I'm so lucky to have these functioning limbs and heart

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and body that I can put them through these paces

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and I get the chance to grow them and become stronger and become more healthy.

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All this might feel very forced in the beginning and very weird in the beginning.

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Trust me, it's completely normal.

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Your brain is used to those other ways of thinking, but over time you can slowly turn it around and slowly switch

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and activate the different parts of this brain that'll make it lock in

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and stay with you and dramatically make you feel better when you're doing these things.

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Trust me.

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What the author Dale Carnegie says is that we need to just live in day tight compartments.

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Don't focus on tomorrow.

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Don't worry about the past.

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Plan your day and then focus as much as you can on accomplishing what you set out to do that day.

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If you don't, no worries.

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Don't worry about pushing it to the next day.

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Don't worry about how little you did yesterday.

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Just focus on what you can do today.

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As your brain tries to juggle multiple things, multiple concerns, multiple tasks, the actual chance that it's going to accomplish one thing decreases dramatically.

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So change the brain from I have to to I get to.

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Focus specifically on what you're going to do today and forget about everything else.

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Okay, so overall, how are we going to upgrade our brain operating system in one month?

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So we're going to focus on everything that actually builds our brain, everything that feeds our brain and allows us to learn and do things with it.

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Number one is sleep.

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We're going to aim for seven to nine hours of quality sleep every single day.

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Remember, when you sleep, your brain restructures your brain to focus on important things and get rid of less important things,

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making you nearly three times more likely to solve challenging problems the next day than those who don't sleep properly.

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We're going to try and integrate some form of exercise in between our studying

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or before our studying or work or productivity

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or whatever we're doing during the day because exercise is shown to release things like BDNF, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, which help our brain grow and develop.

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Number three, we're going to create dedicated zones in our apartment, our workspace, our things to do only those things in those certain areas.

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So we help our brain get into the zone that much faster.

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And finally, number four, we're going to reframe our brain to switch it from I have to to I get to

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and focus on what we're actually doing in the moment during the day

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instead of worrying about what we did yesterday or what we're going to have to do tomorrow.

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According to the research, it seems brain optimization isn't about working harder.

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It's about creating the right conditions for your brain to have the ability to work harder.

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And these four upgrades are synergistic.

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Quality sleep consolidates the memories that you created during your enhanced learning from your exercise.

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While your optimized environment and mindset create the optimal conditions for you actually to bring in information and solve problems.

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Your brain is already capable of doing these amazing things.

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I just wanted to help you show you how to remove the weights that are bringing down most people's mental performance

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Before they even get started.

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I will see you on the next one.

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My head hurts now

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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “Why I’m Able To Focus 70+ Hours Per Week”. Las palabras que más se repiten: brain, sleep, exercise, focus, hour. Este vídeo tiene 163 frases y 2270 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 11:56. El hablante habla rápido, unas 190 palabras por minuto, así que espera sonidos enlazados y reducidos. El 86 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
optimize verbo	/ˈɑptɪmaɪz/	optimizar
dopamine sustantivo	/ˈdoʊ.pəˌmin/	dopamina
epinephrine sustantivo	/ˌɛp.ɪˈnɛ.fɹɪn/	epinefrina
neuron sustantivo	/ˈn(j)ʊɹɑn/	neurona
norepinephrine sustantivo	/ˌnɔːɹɛpɪˈnɛfɹɪn/	norepinefrina
mindset sustantivo	/ˈmaɪn(d)ˌsɛt/	mentalidad, actitud
researcher sustantivo	/ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/	investigador, investigadora
dramatically adverbio		dramáticamente
practically adverbio	/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/	prácticamente
nighttime sustantivo	/ˈnaɪtˌtaɪm/	conticinio, noche
restructure verbo	/ɹiːˈstɹʌkt͡ʃə(ɹ)/	reestructurar
rewire verbo	/ɹiːˈwaɪə(ɹ)/	recablear
shortcut sustantivo	/ˈʃɔːtkʌt/	atajo, atrecho
derive verbo	/dɪˈɹaɪv/	derivar
distract verbo	/dɪˈstɹækt/	distraer, despistar

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
cool down verbo	/kuːl ˈdaʊn/	enfriarse
sit down verbo		sentarse
break up verbo		separar, cisionar
calm down verbo		calmarse
figure out verbo		averiguar, captar

Frases que vale la pena repetir

Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:

Your brain isn't just recharging, though, while it's sleep.
It's actually restructuring certain parts of your brain.
Trust me, it's completely normal.
If you don't, no worries.
Don't worry about how little you did yesterday.

Gramática en este vídeo

Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:

Estructura	En el vídeo
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — una acción que empezó antes y continúa	have been working · have been trying
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	being distracted · weren't told · was associated
Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosa	people who slept · people who perform · those who just

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 46 contracciones y formas reducidas, como don't, I'm, we're. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

Los sonidos de “th”: pathway /ˈpæθˌweɪ/, rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/, marathon /ˈmæɹəθən/
Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: shortcut /ˈʃɔːtkʌt/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, duration /dʒʊˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, pollution /pəˈluʃən/, flashcard /ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/
Palabras largas — cuida el acento: epinephrine /ˌɛp.ɪˈnɛ.fɹɪn/, norepinephrine /ˌnɔːɹɛpɪˈnɛfɹɪn/, practically /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, productivity /ˌpɹɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/

Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:

/v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: derive /dɪˈɹaɪv/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, productivity /ˌpɹɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/, overdrive /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdɹaɪv/, activate /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/
/z/ — sonora, no /s/: optimize /ˈɑptɪmaɪz/, designate /ˈdɛz.ɪɡ.neɪt/, memorize /ˈmɛm.əˌɹaɪ̯z/, amazingly /əˈmeɪzɪŋli/, optimization /ˌɑptəmaɪˈzeɪʃən/
/dʒ/ — no es la “y” ni la “ch”: duration /dʒʊˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, changer /ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒɚ/, juggle /ˈd͡ʒʌɡəl/, manageable /ˈmænəd͡ʒəb(ə)l/, recharge /ɹiːˈtʃɑː(ɹ)dʒ/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como optimize, dopamine, epinephrine.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

Técnica de shadowing: lee la guía completa paso a paso →

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