Shadowing Practice: how to make time for everything - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Let's talk about how I manage my time and how you can too.

And if you want to talk credentials, I've been working since I was like 12.

So between that, school, social life, and also having time for myself, I think I know a thing or two about managing my time.

I've been busy.

But among all this, I would say that how you manage your time is deeply personal.

There are a lot of factors into how someone might manage their time.

And it's definitely not a one size fits all.

So take what applies and leave what doesn't.

Okay, let's get into it.

The first thing you need to know is understand how long it actually takes to do something.

So for example, working might provide you with clear -cut hours like a 9 to 5, but you also have to factor in the commute,

how long it takes for you to get ready, or the amount of rest that you might need after work.

In this case, a 9 to 5 is more like an 8 to 6, which is horrendous by the way.

So I used to work 8 .30 to 5 and since I valued my morning so much,

I would wake up early at like 6 just to make sure that I could fit in a walk,

my coffee, some creative work before I started work.

When I worked at a cafe and I was shifted the opening hours, I would actually go in early,

set up shop, do a little bit of journaling, and then get started at work.

And this worked out for me because I liked to wake up early anyway.

I'm a bit of a morning bird, an early bird.

And so once you understand how much time something actually takes,

then you can start to work around it and find solutions to start reclaiming your time back.

So if you wanted more time in the morning like me, shorten the amount of time it gets ready, wake up earlier, start your day earlier,

get to work earlier, just be earlier, prep things, pack your bag the night before, plan your outfit the night before,

take advantage of the free time that you do have to get ahead

and speed up processes that you don't really care about

so you can spend more time on the things that you do care about.

Right, so once you start to understand how things start to fit in your day and the time that they take up,

then you can start to like hack the system a little bit.

Okay, cool.

So now we understand how much time things actually take in our day.

Now we need to prioritize.

If you have many goals to meet and you are ambitious, but you don't want to burn out, then you have to prioritize your goals.

You need to ask yourself, what do you actually want to achieve the most?

Like the number one thing, okay?

It can't be like three different things at once.

Otherwise, you're gonna burn out, girl.

For example, currently, my priorities include growing my creative career, which includes YouTube, Instagram, and Substack.

So if you'd like to support my work and see a girl get the bag,

please consider subscribing, liking, and commenting and following me on my platforms

so that I can make more content and videos that motivate you.

But anyway, another goal I have is to become more fit and athletic.

Between my creative career and my athletic journey, I am prioritizing 80 % of my brain to go towards

those goals everything else gets 20 % for the everything else

that gets 20 % I will slot in my goals here

and there and everywhere I find an in -between so

that could be on the train waiting for friends to arrive

if I'm going to meet them for dinner most of the time I'm the friend

that gets there early so I'm usually waiting on other people

so this is like literally the perfect time for me to whip out my book

and look performative except in this case I'm actually reading most of the time most of the time.

Sometimes I just want my friend to arrive

and take a candid pic of me because I look so good in that moment.

But yeah, literally there's so many in -between moments

that you could slot in a goal or slot in a task that you wanted to do.

So think about all the times that you're just kind of like standing there waiting around.

Try and see if you can slot in some of your goals in those in -betweens.

Okay, so this next tip will honestly save you so much time and that's to make decisions and stick to them.

Don't let other people sway your decisions.

Say no if you have to.

Sometimes you will be persuaded to relax on your schedule and to compromise your time.

Honestly, it's up to you to decide whether it's worth it or not.

But if you need to say no, don't feel guilty, girl.

You made a decision in the best interest of yourself.

So if you're going to compromise on it, it's going to affect your decisions later on in the road.

Another thing about decisions is

that you want to get into the habit of doing things immediately

and to cut down on as much decision making as you can.

There's a lot of times where we stand there thinking about what our next move is going to be

and that honestly can waste a lot of time.

So try to do a lot of your decision making beforehand

when you have free time and that will save you a lot of time down the road.

Getting into the habit of doing things immediately will also save you a lot of time

because if you're thinking about doing something, you might as well just do it right away.

All this thinking is taking so much of your time so just get rid of the thinking and do it girl.

This next tip is something

that I've had to learn a lot over the course of my life

and that's knowing what is worth my time and energy.

As I get older, I am getting really discerning about what is worth my time and energy.

When I was younger, I mean I'm still young, but like when I was younger,

I was really open and down for anything and I would have the energy to bounce back.

But now that I'm older, I'm like, ooh, some things I just cannot do without it sacrificing my next day.

So for example, going out late at night, drinking, partying.

Although I do love to have fun, guys.

Don't get me wrong.

I love to have fun.

I love to laugh.

I love to have fun.

But sometimes laughing too much and having too much fun will cost me my tomorrow.

So I have to be really discerning about what is worth it for me and what will not derail my routine.

So yeah, not everything is worth your time and energy and that can mean people, activities.

And so 80 % of the time, if I have commitments to myself,

I will usually say no to plans or things that will compromise my commitments.

But I do love a 20 % buffer that allows me to be spontaneous and have fun.

I'm high key, a type B person forced to be type A.

And so low key, this is how I balance the books.

Otherwise, I might crash out.

That's just me though, that's just me.

I love a good 80 -20.

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But for you, maybe that's 50 -50, maybe that's 60 -40.

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I don't know.

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It's really all up to you.

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You need to know how you value your energy and your time.

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So yeah, not everything is worth your time and energy.

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So you got to figure out what you value and see how this fits into your life and your commitments.

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So just for fun, let's do like a quick segment of deal

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or no deal where I give you a situation and you decide whether it's worth it for you or not.

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There is no right or wrong answer to this it's just really up to you and for you to get thinking about,

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you know, how to manage your time.

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So your friends are inviting you out on a Thursday night and it's 8 30 p .m.

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You've set a strict schedule of a 10 p .m bedtime and you have planned to do some work in the morning.

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Deal or no deal?

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And that's for you to figure out.

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For me personally, it kind of depends on who is inviting me out

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if I've seen them in a while or if I've seen them recently.

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But usually it would be a no deal for me because I really value my sleep.

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And these days my sleep is very sensitive.

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I know, so sad.

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The way that I've been navigating that is by having a very, very strict schedule.

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Like I am in bed by 8 .30 and I am falling asleep by 9 .30, 10.

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Yeah, my sleep hygiene is super important to me.

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And if there is something spontaneous that is going to compromise that and it's not a Friday night, sorry girl, it's no deal.

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I'll see you another time.

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But that doesn't mean that I won't see my friend.

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I'll just reschedule or find another way to slot them in.

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The next thing I want to talk about is being efficient.

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To have more time, you need to make more time.

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And that means you have to be efficient, which means using the least amount of time to do something.

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I'm sure you guys have already heard of these things, but actions that support being efficient include habit stacking, having routines, being good at something,

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automating it, and then setting it so that you forget about it, paying attention, getting rid of distractions,

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you know, your phone being next to you put in the other room, being in a quiet room so that you're not being distracted by noise.

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A two -hour work session might be a one -hour work session if you're spending the other hour scrolling reels.

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So get rid of the distractions or experiment with your working blocks.

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See what kind of working style is the most productive for you.

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Resting is also really efficient because you can't work an overworked brain and have backups.

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If you really can't get yourself to be productive on the thing that you're focusing on at the moment,

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what else is on your to -do list?

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Swap it out.

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If you can't do any work in the moment, go wash the dishes.

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Do you know what I mean?

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I'm sure if you have a million things on your to -do list, you can find backups for each one if you find

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that you can't really do the one that you're working on at the moment.

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One other tip that I have for being efficient with your time is setting a minimum

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and a maximum amount of time that you want to work on something.

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The minimum will help you work for an acceptable amount of time that you need to get started.

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It really helps if you've been avoiding the work or really don't want to do something.

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And this should be an amount of time that is palatable for you.

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Like 15 minutes, 10 minutes, even 5 minutes.

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And the maximum will make sure that you don't overdo it and let it bleed into the rest of your day.

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In case you have other things that you need to work on.

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I really like this method and I've relied on it a lot.

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The next tip I have is to plan ahead.

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Yeah, know what you need to do and map it out.

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This is the important part you need to map it out.

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It can't just stay in your bread, honey.

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Bread, honey.

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It just, it can't just stay in your brain, honey.

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You need to like take it out of your brain and put it onto paper or something that you can see tangibly.

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Every Sunday, I'll map out what I need to do for the week and the tasks that I need to do daily.

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So this way, I don't spend time thinking about what I want to do for the day.

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I just have to do what I wrote down already on my to -do list.

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Every end of the month, I'll jot down what I want to achieve for the month and any major events that are going on.

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I won't bore you guys with the details, but my system is essentially Google Calendar for events, appointments, and my monthly outlook.

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Notion for my detailed day -to -day and my weekly tasks.

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And that's pretty much it.

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My system is very simple and

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that brings me to my next tip is to spend less time maintaining the system and just get the system going.

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If you have trouble managing your time but you are an aspirational to -doer, you need to have a basic ass system.

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And so the reason why I have such a basic ass system is

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because I need to spend more time doing and less time maintaining.

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Right now, I'm in a season of my life where I need to create

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and produce a lot and that means I have to execute.

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But I can't do that if I'm changing the layout of my notion every single week.

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And so the simplest systems are the ones that work for me.

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My meals are super simple.

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My organization setup is simple.

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My routines are simple.

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And this is how I'm able to stack so much on top of each other.

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My systems are simple, but my capacity is large.

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And so simple looks different for everybody.

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But my version of simple is just minimalist, I guess.

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And so my last question for you guys is,

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is it time that you don't have or is it that you don't want to figure it out?

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And that's tea.

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That's T, clock tube.

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Okay guys, thanks for watching so much and I'll see you in the next video.

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Bye!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “how to make time for everything”. This video has 187 sentences and 2380 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:57. The speaker talks fast, about 217 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
efficient adjective	/ɪˈfɪʃənt/	Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.
slot noun	/slɑt/	A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it.
compromise noun	/ˈkɑmpɹəˌmaɪz/	The settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions.
commitment noun	/kəˈmɪtmənt/	The act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review.
honey noun	/ˈhʌni/	A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans.
routine noun	/ɹuˈtin/	A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
habit noun	/ˈhæb.ɪt/	An action performed on a regular basis.
arrive verb	/əˈɹaɪv/	To reach; to get to a certain place.
invite verb	/ɪnˈvaɪt/	To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something.
strict adjective	/stɹɪkt/	Strained; drawn close; tight.
productive adjective	/pɹəˈdʌk.tɪv/	Capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile.
backup noun	/ˈbækˌʌp/	A reserve or substitute.
notion noun	/ˈnoʊʃən/	Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.
athletic adjective	/æθˈlɛt.ɪk/	Having to do with athletes.
stack noun	/stæk/	A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, larger at the bottom than the top, sometimes covered with thatch.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.
burn out verb		To destroy by fire.
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
get ahead verb		To advance toward success.
go out verb		To leave, especially a building.
plan ahead verb		To schedule or plan extensively for problems before it is needed; to come up with solutions before problems occur; to prepare for future situations.
set up verb	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	To make ready for use.
speed up verb	/spiːdˈʌp/	To accelerate; to increase speed.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Otherwise, you're gonna burn out, girl.
Don't let other people sway your decisions.
That's just me though, that's just me.
It's really all up to you.
Do you know what I mean?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been working · I've been navigating · you've been avoiding
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've been · I've had · You've set
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was shifted · will be persuaded · being distracted
Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain	might manage · might provide · might need

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 61 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, notion /ˈnoʊʃən/, distraction /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, dish /dɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: spontaneous /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, acceptable /əkˈsɛp.tə.bəl/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like efficient, slot, compromise.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: how to make time for everything - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?