Study Strategy: Pomodoro Technique

Happy Sunday! I have had a crazy couple of days with Halloweekend and other stuff and now it is definitely catching up to me. Sometimes I struggle to find the balance between school and social life, as does almost every college kid I know. There are weekends I don't see anyone because I am locked in the library, and then there are weekends where I never see the library. Now that I am back in full swing school work mode, I have a busy day and a long to-do list that is going to spill over into the week. I decided that I needed to work more efficiently a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to figure out exactly what that will entail.  

woohoo...studying in the stacks last year! {original}

College is all about management, it is all on you. Anyone who was that busy kid in High School with sports and/or a job had almost their entire day planned out and that included a block for studying. Now, if I want to take a nap at 3 and then spend the rest of my day watching Netflix, I can, and no one will say anything...my grades would definitely do the talking if I ever did that though!

sometimes I paint my nails while studying... {original}

Well, today is the day, I am starting a new efficiency tool. Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro Technique? I had heard of it before, but never really considered using it until I saw it on HerCampus the other day in a great post with a bunch of different study strategies. You commit yourself to 25 minutes of uninterrupted work or study time and then you reward yourself with a 5 minute break. Then, after 4 blocks of 25 minutes, you take a 15-30 minute break. It makes you work more efficiently, and studies show it is easier to focus and retain information if you break it up into blocks. If you want to know more about it, they have a great little video on the website.

For the timer, you can get the cute little tomato timer or use this website, which is probably best if you're doing it in the library where you have to be silent. If you aren't on the internet, just use the timer on your phone, but make sure it's set to vibrate if you're in the library!

A tool like this is perfect for me because my biggest struggle with working is staying focused. Emails, texts, and random website hopping always seems to cause me to waste my time. With a technique to make myself more efficient, I will have time to pin all the things and feel more relaxed about doing it because I will have my work done! The reviews for this technique are really promising, but most people says that it takes a little while to get used to. I am going to start trying it today and for the rest of this week and then next weekend I will post a recap of my experience with it.

Oh, and I actually used it while writing this post. The early results show that hiding my phone would probably be a good idea because I am very tempted to look at who the texts are from!

What is your favorite study tool?

xoxo,

SSP

P.S. Update: the 5 minute break is basically the perfect amount of time to send out an email or two! Yay for efficiency!