Overcoming laziness (not just in language learning)

The other day, during one of our monthly Zoom meetups with members of the Daily Dose of Hungarian program, Judith — who has been learning with us since June 2023 — joined us again after a couple of months' break. I told her how lovely it was to see her; it had been a while! She smiled and said, “Yes… I’ve just been a bit tired. Or maybe lazy.”

I completely understood. And honestly, I think that kind of "summer laziness" is totally normal.

The weather is hot. School is out, the kids are home all day. Your routines are disrupted. You're thinking about your next holiday. Your brain is somewhere between “let’s relax forever” and “ugh, I should be productive.”

I feel it too sometimes.

So today, I want to share my favorite trick for overcoming laziness — one that works all year round, not just in summer.

Prefer watching instead of reading? Click here to watch me talk about this tip in Hungarian (with both Hungarian and English subtitles):

The trick is really simple. And it really works.

Lower your expectations. Dramatically.

Set a ridiculously easy goal.

The kind of goal that makes you think, “Well, I guess I can easily do that.”

Let me give you two real-life examples before talking about laziness in learning Hungarian.

Example #1: the mess trick

When the house is a mess (which happens often when you have a 6-year-old child), I sometimes just stare at it and think, "Nope. I don’t want to tidy up. Not today."

I don’t tell myself, “Okay, time to clean the whole house.”

I just say: “Put away one single thing.”

That’s it. One item.

And once I stand up and put away that one toy or cup or book… I usually put away another. And another. And another.

Often, before I know it, the room is tidy. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Example #2: the walk trick

Or sometimes, when I’d been lazing around the house because it was way too hot to go outside, I have absolutely zero motivation to take my dog, Mangó, for our usual long evening walk.

So I say: “We’ll just do one short loop around the park for a “bathroom break”. That’s all.”

But once I’m out, it’s not so bad. The weather feels nicer than I expected. I start to enjoy the walk.

And suddenly we’re doing our usual one-hour walk again.

So what does this have to do with learning Hungarian?

The same idea applies.

Sometimes the hardest part is just starting.

And starting becomes so much easier when you give yourself permission to do something tiny.

Here are a few “tiny goals” you can try on a lazy day:

• Listen to today’s one-minute dialogue in our Daily Dose of Hungarian program. That’s it. Just press play – even while brushing your teeth.
• Pick just one new word from the dialogue of the day to learn. Only one.
• Read the question of the day and think about it – maybe on your way to work or while doing the dishes. No need to write anything – just reflect on your answer.

And who knows?

Maybe you press play again and listen more carefully the second time, reading along the transcript.

Maybe that one word leads to three because you can’t pick your favourite one.

Maybe you do end up writing your answer in the comment section to share it with your fellow members.

Whatever you do – even the tiniest thing – it counts. You don’t need to do it all.

Just do something. Start small. And let that small step carry you a little further.

Join our Daily Dose of Hungarian program and get a new dialogue and question every weekday — so even on lazy days, you’ll always know exactly where to start. 😊