In a recent survey, we asked more than 500 of our customers to identify some of their biggest challenges when it comes to learning a language. More than 41% indicated that finding the time to learn was a major problem. Fortunately for them (and for you!), this is a problem you can solve if you’re proactive.

It’s not about having the time, it’s about making more time. The good news is you only need 15-20 minutes every day to make progress in a language. There are plenty of ways to squeeze those few extra minutes out of your day.

Use up dead time. You may not have much down time, but you probably have more dead time than you realize. Look for situations during the day where your body may be active, but your mind is not.

• During your daily commute, listen to a podcast or news report or read a newspaper or eBook in the target language.
• Get a shower radio for your bathroom, or play YouTube videos while you brush your teeth and put on your make-up.
• Pull out your phone and spend 5 minutes on your favorite language app while waiting in a long line at the grocery store.

Plan ahead (and not just for studying). Planning what to study is a good start, but only if you have the time to get to it. Try planning other aspects of your day to save up a few precious minutes.

• Group your errands together. Take note of what’s in your fridge, how much dog food is left, when you’ll next need gas. Then kill all of those birds with one proverbial stone. Don’t wait until the last minute and waste time making multiple trips.
• Plan meals in advance. Planning a week’s worth of meals means only one trip to the store. It also means you can prepare meals ahead of time or plan simpler meals on nights when you want to study at home.

Have a back-up plan. Even if you’ve worked hard to make extra time, life is unpredictable. You suddenly have to pick up a sick child from school, your boss calls an emergency meeting, a traffic accident doubles your commute time, you name it.

• Always have extra materials at your disposal. Keep a set of flashcards in your desk drawer, keep target language CDs in your glove compartment, download apps to your phone, etc.

These are only 3 of the 10 time-saving ideas we provide in our free eBook 10 Ways to Make More Time for Language Learning. Download now for the rest!