Shadowing Practice: i don't work as much as i think i do - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Kat says no. This is a video about time management.
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Kat says no. This is a video about time management.
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Like, I do not use time the way I think I do.
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Something I do these days is I time myself on my phone to track how much work I actually do.
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I got this idea on the internet somewhere.
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And I do this on days where I don't have to physically go into work.
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So I'm like often at home working on music or on videos or whatever.
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And it has given me a lot of insight.
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I'd recommend this to anybody if you haven't tried it if you want to get better at your time management.
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But the glaring conclusion that I have come to is
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that I do not use my time the way that I think I do.
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It's not even close.
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I do not do as much work for as long as I think I do.
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It's weird.
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We all obviously value time.
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We all have to maneuver it.
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We all understand how it works.
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But I've observed in myself the mental gymnastics that I do that misrepresents in my mind how I actually use my time.
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How time actually moves for me and the typical results that are attained from a certain amount of time.
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Bro, for years, like, I convinced myself that on a day in which I didn't have work,
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right, I would say to myself,
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like, oh, well, like, this is my day off.
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Like, obviously, I can get eight hours,
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maybe 10 hours of great work done.
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But it's like, no, I don't.
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I don't have 10 hours of time.
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That is impossible.
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I realistically will have to do other things.
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Other things will pop up.
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I can't possibly spend 100% of my waking hours making music.
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So a couple years back,
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I started implementing this thing where I would set a timer on my phone whenever I was working.
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And the explicit rules that I had to follow were that I had to stop the timer anytime I did anything else.
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So if I got a phone call,
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if I had to cook,
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if I had to clean,
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if I get distracted in any way,
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if I have to do anything else,
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I have to turn the timer off until I begin again.
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And I would do this on days where I thought I had plenty of time to get stuff done.
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And needless to say, what I thought going in would be like an easy eight hour workday,
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I very quickly realized like,
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dude, I only spent three and a half hours doing work today.
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And the strange thing was that that would feel like a lot to me.
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It felt like I was locked in all day when in reality,
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I spent more than half of that hypothetical eight hour day doing other things.
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It's my day off.
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And realistically, a lot of other things need to get taken care of.
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I think as I was leaving college,
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I started to watch those like Kenny Beats videos where he would be like,
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if you're really about this music shit,
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like you should be making beats 14 hours a day.
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And as like a 22 year old,
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I was like, you're right.
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Like I could do that easily.
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And that's just not the case, unfortunately.
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Setting the timer and all that,
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like it doesn't have to be a strict disciplinary thing.
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It doesn't have to be torture because I think what it demonstrated for me was
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that would I realistically be able to spend a meaningful,
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precocious eight hours doing work?
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I don't know, to be honest.
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Now, that depends on the person, of course.
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Ultimately, it is about long-term consistency,
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but consistency is more achievable if I have actual information that backs up.
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Like, how do I use my time?
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How do I function?
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How do I get work done?
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I guess I've been trying to shave off as much fat from my life as possible.
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And I've learned that this is easier said than done.
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But yeah, I still do it to try to hold myself accountable.
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Maybe it will help you as well.
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Those are just some insights that I've had.
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Yeah, thank you for watching.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice English by listening to a discussion on time management and self-reflection. The speaker shares personal insights on how they miscalculate the amount of time they actually spend working versus their perceived productivity. By engaging with this content, you will improve your English speaking skills and enhance your understanding of time management vocabulary. This lesson also encourages you to reflect on your own efficiency, making it relevant for both personal growth and your English language journey. With this learn English with YouTube approach, you can combine language practice and practical life skills.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Time management - the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between different activities.
  • Insight - a deep understanding of a complicated problem or situation.
  • Timer - a device that measures time intervals.
  • Distraction - something that prevents someone from concentrating on something else.
  • Waking hours - the hours of the day when a person is awake.
  • Productivity - the effectiveness of productive effort measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.
  • Hypothetical - based on or serving as a hypothesis (an assumption made for the sake of argument).
  • Realistically - in a way that is practical and reasonable.

Practice Tips

To effectively improve your English pronunciation and speaking ability, consider using the shadowing technique with this video. Start by listening to the speaker at a natural pace; focus on their intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation. Repeat after them, mimicking their voice as closely as possible.

This video features a conversational tone, which is perfect for English speaking practice. Since the content discusses personal experiences, feel free to pause and reflect on your own experiences related to time management. After you finish shadowing, try summarizing what you learned in your own words to practice speaking fluently.

For those preparing for the IELTS speaking test, this lesson offers opportunities to practice speaking about topics like productivity and time management, which could be useful prompts during the exam. Remember to take note of the key phrases and vocabulary, as they can enhance your responses and boost your confidence in speaking.

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.

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