Books used in this video:
Grammar book
Reading book
Listening book
Kanji book
Vocab book
Question practice book

My study routine

My study routine is mainly a morning one as I am a big morning person. I usually wake up at 5 in the morning, have my breakfast, which is always cornflakes, and then I start being productive as having had a productive morning makes me more motivated and happy for the rest of the day. Even when I’m having a busy, difficult and slightly frustrating day at work, knowing that I have achieved some things in the morning can make my overall mood a lot better.

Starting

After I finish my breakfast I start going over my Anki reviews. When those reviews are done, I switch to some of my books to study from. Whilst going through those books I add the new words to my Anki so I don’t forget about them.

I usually just take random books which have things in it which I don’t know yet, because at this moment, I have no idea what my actual level is. I’m able to have simple conversations, and I can probably get through most situations with the knowledge of Japanese which I have, … but I would really not consider myself to be fluent nor even slightly fluent.

Background music

Now background music for me is kind of a hit or miss. I am really picky about my music as I don’t want it to distract me, so most of the time I am going for just background music. On the other hand, having quiet study sessions is something I also find quite beneficial. I’m still deciding which I prefer, but on rainy day’s I’ll be taking the sound of the rain as sufficient background noise. I love the sound of rain. ^^

Studying with a baby?

Sometimes my baby wakes up quite early as my wife is still asleep, this makes my studying more difficult as he wants my attention … or wants to play with my pen or books. He really love books for some reason. I guess he got that from me? hahah

How about the morning coffee?

I’ve been drinking less and less coffee, but I don’t drink coffee for the caffeine, I mainly drink it for the taste. But recently I have been noticing that I’m drinking more than usually, so I have been trying to limit myself.

One cup in the evening, and on my off days I will have another coffee for our 4 o’clock break.

4 o’clock break?

Yep, we call it tea-time. On my off days I would study a lot more then normal or I work too much on my pc. Having this break really helps to reset my mind so my productivity goes up again.

Like I said before, I’m a morning person, in the evenings I feel worthless as I am too tired to move, or do anything. I often tested myself with Sudoku and such to see if there is a real impact on me on each time of the day. In the evening Sudoku’s take me double as much time, when I take a 4 o’clock break, it’s only 65%-70% longer compared to the morning.

Do I take study breaks?

Yeah, there are day’s that I just can’t be bothered, on those day’s I’ll try to just finish my reviewing on Anki so I don’t feel completely bad about having skipped my morning ‘ritual’. I really like to be productive and having this morning routine really helps me a lot to stay productive and to feel good about myself.

Studying at work?

I used to be able to study during my lunchtime at work, however since I got back at work after my paternity leave, my lunch breaks have only been 15 minutes to maximum 30 as there are just too many things to do.

I leave for 6 months and my work got doubled, not sure what the other teachers have been doing. ^^” I don’t mind working and staying busy, but I can’t say that I appreciate it when people give me more work because they don’t want to do it.

Will I be fluent in Japanese by doing this routine?

Nope, a short and simple answer. This is only improving my knowledge, I don’t really get any practice out of this like actual conversations. But it builds a foundation and that’s all I’m after for now.