You have a finite amount and you have to use it right. That’s why I spend so much time (hurr hurrr) on TextFugu going over ways you can study more efficiently and gain more time. It’s also why we cut out unnecessary readings, vocab, and even handwriting from WaniKani, because your time should be spent learning things that will give you the most impact first (and then you can come back around when you have more of that “time” thing). This is also why I wrote the “30 Days To Becoming A Better Japanese Student” ebook. You can definitely save a ridiculous amount of study time just by changing a few small things. You’re trading time for more time. What a nice deal!

The thing is, though, learning Japanese requires a lot of time. Like, a ton. Learning Japanese is measured in years, not days or months. Time, along with “motivation,” are perhaps the two biggest factors for people when learning Japanese. They are also the two things that come up time and time again as you study, so they never really leave you once you start. There will be days where you feel like time is your best friend. There will be others where it’s your mortal enemy. I’m here to help you, though. I’ve put together two lists. One is “I don’t have enough time” and the other is “I want to spend my time efficiently.” For your sake and the sake of time, I’ll put everything into bullet points.

I don’t have enough time

This is for those of you who are using this excuse to avoid starting studying Japanese (or continuing). If you feel overwhelmed and feel like you never have enough time you should probably stop reading things on the Internet like this article, but only after you’ve finished reading this article. Okay? Good.

• Start a “ritual.” This is something you just “do” instead of “have to do.” This is like, “when I get home, I do my WaniKani reviews.” It’s not an option, it’s just what you do. Rituals don’t feel like they take time but chores do. What part of your Japanese studies can you change into a ritual?
• Do you walk places? Do you ride things? Do you take showers? If so, you should be using those opportunities to try out some passive learning. Also, consider talking to yourself like a crazy person.
• Remember that it’s about the small, consistent chunks. Don’t study 8 hours all at once, one time a week. Study 30 minutes a day or 15 minutes a day twice, or something along those lines. The time between study sessions is important for that giant brain of yours to process things. Plus, smaller chunks are easier to manage, time-wise. Do you have 15 minutes today?
• Consider your current responsibilities. Humans have a hard time quitting. But, sometimes quitting something is the best thing to do. Even though it hurts to quit, take a look at the things that take up your time. What wouldn’t kill you to stop doing? What could you pay someone else to do? Imagine how nice it would be if you had that time for Japanese. No seriously, imagine it!
• Do you have “repetitive responsibilities?” Things like Facebook, Twitter, and email? Those things take up a ton of time, especially if you are viewing them all the time / in real time. Compress these things into very strict batches. For example, 12:30-1:00pm is generally my email time. I don’t get it all done during that time, but I get a lot more of it done than if I just check it constantly. Also, I’ve only spent 30 minutes on it and I don’t feel stressed out about “whether or not I have any email to check” the rest of the day.
• Don’t let yourself get interrupted. I read somewhere that each time you’re interrupted it takes around 30 minutes to get focused back into what you were doing before you got interrupted. Do things like close the door, put on headphones, or hide/close social media and email (previous bullet point will help). Interruptions are your enemy, and they destroy huge time chunks every time they occur. Take this very seriously and you’ll find yourself with a lot more time.
• Give yourself less time. This may seem unintuitive, but the less time you give yourself the more focused you become. Also, forcing yourself to cut off what you’re doing makes you want to do it more.
• Plan a little bit. Although I’m personally not a huge planner, planning helps a ton. Deciding what you’re going to do before you do it then turning it into actionable tasks is a great way to give yourself more time. Most people spend all their time deciding what they want to do and never do what they should be doing. You should decide what you want to do and then do it.
• If you haven’t yet, learn hiragana. It makes it so you have access to all the best Japanese language resources. If you can only study with crap, you’ll only poop out slightly more digested crap, and that’s a waste of time.
• Did you read this article? Okay, you have some time then, no excuses.

Hopefully some of these were helpful. So now how about efficiency?

I want to spend my time efficiently

This is if you’re studying Japanese, but think / know you’re spending way too much time studying it. I mean, you should spend a lot of time studying Japanese, but the more efficient you are the more you’ll learn and be able to use, which will help you to get better faster. Suffice to say, efficiency is helpful for time in the long run.

• A good SRS is going to be key. If studied with on a daily basis, this will make sure that you study what you need to when you need to, and make sure you don’t see things too often (thus wasting time). We recommend Anki / Memrise for general SRS systems, and our very own WaniKani for the radicals/kanji/vocab system. Over a long period, an SRS will save you many months, possibly years of study time.
• Learning in the correct order is important, though this is hard for a beginner to figure out on their own because they have no idea what is used and what is not. There are “order” vocab / kanji lists out there, though. iKnow has a “Core 2000″ list which seems like it’s based on the most common words from newspapers (you can get this on Anki as well). There are also other lists out there that do similar things. Doing this for kanji is important too (what we do on WaniKani / TextFugu). The idea here is to study the words that will give you the most impact right away so that you understand more, earlier, allowing you to study with more advanced and realistic resources earlier as well.
• Early on, study kanji more than you think (or more than anyone tells you). The fact is, the more kanji you know the easier and everything else will become. Literally every part of Japanese has some reliance on your ability to read kanji. You should absolutely be learning this as quickly as possible, even if it’s the only thing you focus on for a while. Try WaniKani, Remembering The Kanji, or KanjiDamage for this.
• Sometimes spending some money will make things more efficient. While there are plenty of free resources out there that will get the job done, one drawback is that they are very disorganized and require you to do a lot of the footwork. While this is fine for some people it is very inefficient for others. Time ain’t free, as they say.
• Really focus on “why” something works the way it does. Even if you have to spend extra time doing this, the time it will save you in the long run is incalculable.
• Focus on the things you’re bad at. The things that you’re bad at are holding you back and slowing you down. People who are really good at something aren’t good because they ignored what they’re bad at, obviously. Figure out what these are and tackle them head on. Then, everything moving forward will go quicker, saving you more time.
• Fix the things that slow most people down. They eat away at your study speed over a long period of time but they really shouldn’t.
• Spend some time learning how memory works. For example, learning that “recall” (pulling something out of your head) is what builds memory was a big breakthrough for me. It’s not about what you put in (or how many times you put it in… I’m looking at you people who write kanji over and over again), it’s what you pull out.
• Forget about writing Japanese. Although a little bit helpful (people type these days anyways), it doubles or triples the amount of time you have to study. Instead, focus on reading because this is something you can use right away. With all the time saved from not writing things, you can learn twice as much Japanese.
• Also don’t forget, there is no speed limit.

As the venerable Douglas Adams once said, “Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” While time can be dicey at times, all of you have some time to study Japanese if that’s what you want to do. Don’t let time be an excuse. In fact, you’ll make time for anything you want time for, so the question is, do you really want it? Maybe you should JFDI.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Oh, hello there. Learning some Japanese, are we? HA HA HA HA.

Even before you get started, there are so many things out there that can scare you away from doing something new (including Japanese). The number one thing? Clowns Excuses. Excuses are so easy to come up with. And, even as you continue on, excuses will still keep popping up. There are, however, an easy way to cancel out excuses so you don’t really have an easy way out later on. Unfortunately, this will not cancel clowns out, no matter how hard you try.

The process involved with canceling out excuses is super easy. In fact, all you have to do is think about them before they happen. Actually, the thing that makes a lot of people stop in their tracks even before they start to learn Japanese is the fear of excuses (now or down the road). I hope you’ll do an exercise with me right now. In fact, I have TextFugu people do this as well, because I think it works quite well.

Step 1: Figure Out What Excuses Will Hold You Back

You want to do this even before you run into any of these excuses. Common excuses are “I don’t have time” or “I’m no good at languages” – B.S. like that. The strange thing, however, is that if you write down all the potential excuses (which will be different with every person), they sort of become more manageable. They become things you can actually handle, and not things that are abstract and hidden, waiting to pounce out at you.

So, before you move on, make a list. What excuses could hold you back in the future? What excuses hold you back now? Write them down.

Step 2: Ask, Is It True?

Most excuses are just that… excuses. They’re things that aren’t particularly convincing if you really think about them carefully. For example, if one of your excuses is “I don’t have time” – take a good look at yourself and how you spend your time. Ask yourself how much you want this (“this” being “Learning Japanese”). Where can you be more efficient? Where can you cut out Farmville? When can you wake up earlier? Go to sleep a little later? Learning Japanese is more about consistency than anything else. A consistent 15 minutes a day is worth quite a bit, and even if you have absolutely no time at all (at least in your mind) I’m sure there’s a way to get 15 tiny minutes a day in, you know? There’s always holes in excuses, you just have to take the time to face them head on and ask what’s going on with them.

Step 3: Keep In Mind Future Excuses

Not all the excuses are excuses that are relevant right now. That’s okay. In fact, that’s great. Writing down possible future excuses you might have (and you’ll know better than me what these are, since they’re personal to everyone individually) actually makes those future excuses less likely to happen. And, even if they do happen, they won’t happen as badly, resulting in an end to your Japanese studies. If you know something’s coming, it’s way less scary. In fact, you can prepare for it. Take for example the clown in the image above. If you’re in a dark hallway, and you hear something nasty coming towards you, you’d freak out. What is this thing!!??! But, if you know it’s a clown that’s coming, and you know where it’s going to come from, you can get your anti-clown repellant ahead of time, and just wait for it to round a corner before taking that clown down. You still have to deal with it (the excuse / clown), but it’s so, so, so much easier.

Power Overwhelming

This is obviously some kind of earthquake hazard

Once you start studying Japanese, however, other problems start popping up. Other things that could scare you away like a little baby (what, you some kind of baby?). Being overwhelmed happens a number of ways, I think, but these are the most common I can think of. There is one thing that remains consistent, though – everyone has a limit – for some people, all it takes is a little overwhelming pressure to snap their Japanese Language learning spine. For others, it can take a lot more. But everyone has a snapping point, and getting overwhelmed for too long is what does it. This is definitely scary for a lot of people, myself included.

Here are some ways to avoid that power overwhelming, whether you’re a beginner or not in learning Japanese.

Diving In Face First

It’s hard not to do when you’re first starting out. You’re so excited that you dive in face first, and while you get through that first 6 inches of water really quickly, you end up hitting your face on some rocks. That sucks. Those rocks are “reality” setting in. That’s when unconscious incompetence (this is what you are when you start anything new) suddenly becomes conscious incompetence (where you know just enough to to know that you don’t know a lot). This is discouraging, for sure.

Now the way I see it, diving in face first like this causes a couple of problems. First, you hit conscious incompetence too all-at-once. Second, you burn out because you went all out during that adrenaline rush of starting. Both can cause you to quit, which is obviously what we’re trying to prevent here.

For the problem of burning out, there’s some neat little tricks you can do. First, you can use a trick a lot of writers use. When you feel like continuing, you should stop. This makes it so you’re really excited to start the next round of study. It also prevents you from burning out as easily, and eases you in to a regular routine of study. Now, this alone often isn’t good enough.

The second problem (hitting conscious incompetence) happens to everyone, whether you go all in or not. Hitting conscious incompetence is painful, and it’s painful for everyone. It’s where you start to become conscious of your incompetence, and that’s no fun. You know that you aren’t very good at Japanese, and because of this, you think you’ve actually gotten worse at learning. The opposite, however, is true. Really, you’ve gotten better at Japanese learning, which is why you’re even noticing what you’re not good at in the first place.

There’s not a ton you can do about this stage, other than fighting it everyday. But, just knowing that it exists, and knowing that you’re not actually getting worse (you’re getting better) really helps a lot. This is an experience everyone shares. If you feel like you’re at this stage, and you want to know more, you should check out our article on Conscious Japanese Incompetence (and the scary pains that are involved).

30-30

The 30-30 practice method is a more practical way of getting around some of the “overwhelming” problems you might face in the future. Here’s how it works (in the simplest of ways).

1. Study for 30 minutes
2. Do something you enjoy for 30 minutes
3. Study for 30 minutes
4. Do Something you enjoy for 30 minutes
5. Rinse and repeat

This probably seems like you’re cutting possible study time in half. I totally understand. Why not study those entire 2 hours instead? Well, I think you should just try it and see for yourself, but there’s some magic in the 30-30 schedule. I’m going to try my best to explain it, but doing it really is the best. I know a ton of people have had great success with it because I have TextFugu people emailing me all the time telling me how awesome it has made things (one of the lessons in TextFugu is about the 30-30), not just with Japanese. I use it too. Here’s the idea behind it:

30 minutes isn’t a long time. Sometimes getting started is the hardest thing of all, and the 30-30 schedules helps you to get over that. Only 30 minutes? Nice! I can study 30 minutes. If 30 minutes seems too long, change this to the 20-20 method… or the 10-10 method. Whatever it takes for you to get started. “I only have to study 10 minutes? Okay, I guess I can” – I think you’ll find yourself studying more, once you actually start.

So, after it gets you started, it then does some other things for you. You have a limited amount of time (30 minutes, maybe less). That means you suddenly focus on the important things. i.e. things that will actually move you forward, not just side-things. You become more efficient without realizing it. You study more of the right things and fewer things that don’t matter. Over a long period of time (months, years, etc) all this focus on “important” things will add up. You’ll be much better at Japanese in the long run. The “other fluff” can be learned later. The important stuff is… well… important.

Lastly, in terms of focus, the 30-30 schedule really does some great things. You only have 30 minutes… that helps (as you know). But, because the other 30 minutes is filled with things you enjoy, you no longer feel as drained (assuming studying drains you a bit). I’d recommend doing something you aren’t “supposed” to do. Like, playing a video game… or watching a TV show… or something like that. I play Starcraft during my other 30 minutes. By doing things you aren’t “supposed” to do, you’re making sure that you don’t do these things during the study time 30 minutes. If you feel tempted to check Facebook while you study, make Facebook your “other” 30 minutes. Make it a rule that you have to check Facebook during that 30 minutes. That’ll actually change the way your mind thinks of Facebook. If Facebook becomes a scheduled chore, it won’t be as interesting to you anymore, and eventually will no longer be a distraction. The point is, do opposites in your 30-30. You’ll recharge yourself, and you’ll get rid of the things that distract you when you are trying to focus.

“Tradition” Vs. “Chore”

Lastly, there’s one thing that pros do that nobody else does. You should do this too. It’s an amazing hack. Here’s the difference between pros and amateurs.

When a pro does a “chore” it isn’t a “chore” it’s a “tradition.”

When an amateur does a “chore” it’s simply a “chore.”

So what do I mean by this? Pros make chores into traditions. They make chores things they do, not things they have to do. There’s a subtle but important difference.

Think of this way. Each person (including you) has a limited amount of focus. If you do something that requires focus, your focus battery drains. This is a limited resource, and in general, everyone in the world has a similar amount of focus power. Not the same amount, certainly, but if you average things out, it will be similar enough.

So, if this is true, a pro and an amateur have the same amount of focus power in them. But, why is the pro so much better? What makes them so amazing and why is the amateur still an amateur?

Well, it comes down to tradition.

When the pro comes home, she has a tradition to study her Anki deck for 15 minutes.

When a pro goes to sleep, she has a tradition to read one chapter of her Japanese book.

When a pro finishes dinner, she learns 5 new kanji.

…and so on.

These aren’t chores. These are traditions. These are things the pro does, automatically, because they are what she does (not what she has to do). You can do this too, though it will take some time and some changes in the way you think. In order to pull this off, you have to create some things that “set off” Japanese study. So, perhaps coming home from work “sets off” some kind of study session with Anki. Or, perhaps waking up “sets off” 15 minutes of reading. One thing sets off another thing. It can’t be random. It has to be a tradition. It’s what you do, right?

Not Being Any Good

The last thing I want to talk about that I think scares a lot of people is the idea that they’re “not going to be any good at it.” Perhaps you think you’re bad at learning. Or, maybe you think you’re bad at learning Japanese.

Maybe you are… maybe you aren’t. But you know what? That isn’t genetics, or anything like that (most likely). People learn to learn better, believe it or not. The smart kids in your class aren’t smart because they’re special… they just learned how to learn more effectively than you. You can learn to do the same thing. It’ll take some time, but it’s totally doable (and it will help you in everything you do for the rest of your life).

But, not being good at something is totally terrifying. I don’t think it should be, but for a lot of people it is.

Learn To Enjoy Learning

I’ve probably said this a bunch of times before on Tofugu… but seriously, you have to learn to enjoy learning. The enjoyment of learning is taken away from you when you’re in school. You learn to learn for grades, so you learn how to learn to get the best grade possible. You should try to change your thinking on this. Learn for the gratification of learning. Learn because it’s fun to solve mysteries and have epiphanies. It’s not easy to do… but it’s possible with time. Learning shouldn’t be about getting a better grade or anything like that. It should be about becoming better yourself.

Every time you start learning or start studying, try to think of this. Remind yourself. Eventually, I hope, it will come true for you. It’s kind of like that period after you graduate from college (or maybe high school). There’s about three years where you don’t read anything because you’ve learned to dislike reading. Then, it slowly starts coming back, like plants after a volcanic eruption. You learn to enjoy reading again. You can do the same thing with studying too.

Learn To Love Failure

Failure is awesome. For some reason we’re taught to hate it. This is another thing that takes some getting used to if you’ve always thought getting an ‘F’ sucks and deserves punishment.

In real life, however, getting an ‘F’ just means you failed. What is failure? Something you can learn from. In fact, there’s nothing better to learn from. It means you took a risk, and it means you know more than the other guy. It also means you probably have an idea how to do things right the second time, or the third time, and so on.

Most of the time, though, our failures will be small (and possibly a part of success). Even when you do something right, there’s something that’s wrong about it. Instead of basking in glory with your success, focus in on your failures. Think of how awesome they are when you take a look at them. Why are they awesome? Because they’re teaching you a lot more than your success is teaching you.

And, with Japanese, there are going to be things you’re not as good at. Maybe it’s kanji. Maybe it’s vocab. Your automatic inclination will be to avoid those things more and more, because you fail at them more. No. Don’t do it. Guess what? People who focus in on their failures and spend more time with their failures win in the end. Do what you suck at and do it a lot. Everyone else is only focusing on what they’re good at. You know what happens if you do the opposite? You jet ahead… really, really fast. No competition.

Consistency Wins

And lastly, if you’re worried about not being any good at learning Japanese, remember this. Consistency wins over everything. Study every day. Even if it’s a little bit. This is a war of attrition. Consistency will win you that war, every single time.

So What’s So Scary About Learning Japanese?

Hopefully not much, now, but let me know in the comments what scares you, and I’ll see if I can help out a bit.

P.S. Boo! We’re on Twitter.
P.P.S. I ain’t scared of no Tofugu Facebook Page

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