Today I had no internet connection!
Shock, horror – how did I manage!!
Well yes, it was a nuisance but I was teaching before the internet, before computers and even before the photocopier (all those student exercises had to be designed and written by hand and on a manual type—writer!!)
And, I haven’t put my feet up and taken the day off. No, I thought about what I could do without the internet and one of those things was to prepare articles, blog posts and presentations that I could upload and video as soon as the internet came back. So I am now prepared to make 12 videos and post 12 articles once I am again online.
I’m not writing this to boast about my work ethic but to illustrate how often when something like this happens it causes us to fly into a panic and decide we can do nothing. We become inert. I hear students all the time give me excuses for not having managed to complete their work and I think they are at best questionable. It really doesn’t need to be like that.
We as human beings are incredibly resourceful and with a bit of thought and a great deal of will, we can accomplish a lot despite hardships and obstacles. This is particularly important in the difficult times we are experiencing at the moment with Covid 19.
“Do what you can with what you have where you are” (Theodore Roosevelt)
So, set yourself daily IELTS tasks and don’t make excuses for not doing them!
The key to this is to make them manageable – set aside 15-30 minutes of IELTS study each day and be serious about getting it done. If you make it a priority then you’ll do it. If you have more time, then do more but give yourself a minimum target that is achievable and sacrosanct. Put these sessions in your diary
“We may not be able to change who we are, but we can change how we act”.
How you do one thing is how you do everything – so make yourself proud of your achievements and how you focus on your IELTS. It will help with your confidence and your IELTS development.
This is language so all skills integrate with each other – practice them all regularly
Be systematic
Keep a record from day to day
Review what you did yesterday before you start today’s work
Learn – repeat – practice – review – learn
Set a timetable
For Example: (these should take around 1 hour)
Monday:
- IELTS Listening
- Read an article
- Plan Task 1
- Practice Part 2 speaking
Tuesday:
- IELTS Reading Passage 1
- Listen to a podcast
- Write Task 1
- Check grammar exercise on articles
Review
- Review what you did yesterday
- Set new targets
- Write down what worked and what didn’t
- Now start today’s set tasks
- Finally plan tomorrow
- This is how to make steady, guaranteed progress
So, what IELTS tasks will you do today?
And me, well I’m going to be without internet for the next 3 days ☹
It’s a blow but I am sure I will find a way to do some of what I have to do despite this.