How do you stop translating from Hindi (or your mother tongue) in your head?

My English reading is fine and I understand almost everything in meetings. But when I have to speak, I build the sentence in Hindi first and then translate it, and by the time it's ready the conversation has moved on.

Things I've started trying this week:

• Describing what I'm doing in English in my head ("I'm getting ready, I'm late again").
• Learning whole phrases like "It depends on…" instead of single words.
• Writing a five-line diary in English at night, without looking anything up.

It's too early to tell if it's working. For those who got past this: what made the biggest difference, and roughly how long before you noticed you weren't translating any more? Does it happen for everyday talk first and interviews later?