Learn to procrastinate Procrastination through Pomodoro - A Guideline for students:
Procrastination can rob you of more opportunities than poor execution. You will continue to make excuses if you don’t find a reason to start now. I was an excutive chief personal of"procrastination" and "laziness". They both had a grip on my existence until I ate every bit of them from the root. I mean this was me before I was introduced to the Pomodoro Technique:
I’m finally free and the credit goes to Pomodoro Technique. So here’s how the technique actually works. Take a closer deep look at the picture below:
Now this technique is extremely effective in enhancing not only your productivity but if performed frequently this technique will overcome your procrastination issues especially the ones you face whilst studying! So here are my tips on:
HOW TO STUDY BETTER?
Arguably the #1 most prolific study tool is Pomodoro technique - 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of incentive break - which can help you immensly if you know how to use it properly.
How to do it then? 🤷🏻♀️
Be strict with yourself, for 25 minutes. During the study time, FOCUS ON THE MATERIAL and do NOTHING else. Put everything away, switch your mobile to silent mode, disable wifi on it, prepare tea, coffee or water, prepare all your books. You should not get away from your chair during this time.
Anytime your mind encounters a thought that is unrelated to the subject, have a paper ready to write it down. That way, you will focus completely again and your mind will be reassured that it does not neglect the thought/question/task that has appeared.
HOW TO RETAIN THE MOST OF THE MATERIAL? Following works best for me, it is simple and worth reading:
1. Write down the name of the topic you are about to study. Right below, in shortcuts and quickly write down everything you already know about this topic. This way your brain will later know that you can skim faster through these parts of the text and that you don’t need to give much energy into relearning these again.
2. Now ask yourself: What do I want to know after reading this chapter?What is important for me to know about this? What professor might ask at the exam? Write down shortly as many points as you can. Do not take much time with it, 1 minute is enough. You are creating a skeleton of the knowledge, which will be soon enlarged and covered.
3. Start reading and your mind will automatically focus on answering the questions you asked before and do not give much attention to facts already known. Whenever the answer comes, remind yourself that this is it.
4. IMPORTANT - do not revise the topic immediately after reading - this will give you a false illusion that you know much more than you actually do. Wait for one more 25-minute session (during that time read another topic/chapter) and only after that, REVISE. (Ideally by creating a questions for yourself and answering them)
Good luck!