The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into 25-minute intervals called “Pomodoros,” separated by short breaks. After completing four Pomodoros, take a longer break.
I have used this technique for studying, but I don’t know this technique’s time is set in stone. Do you need to work for exactly 25 minutes? Can it be longer? Can it be shorter? What about the breaks?
To build a habit, you need to be doing the new habit all the time and in the same manner. If you want to make your bed, you might decide to make your bed right when you wake up. By doing this, you are programming your mind to do this habit at a specific time.
But what happens if you just make your bed at any random time? You lose the consistency, motivation, and neural pathing to remember to getting the habit done. It would seem the same ideas would apply to using the Pomodoro technique.
If you study for 25 minutes one day and 10 minutes the other day, you are never building up the habit of working straight for 25 minutes. Not building the mental stamina you need or discipline to stay focus for that long.
Maybe the basic idea of the Pomodoro technique is the most important take away: study for x then take a break for x. You will be able to adjust the times to meet your need.
If you are terrible at studying, you can study for 10 minutes with a 3 minute break. Then over time, you would keep upping the time of how much you study maybe by a minute or two.
I think the hardest part when trying to find techniques for studying and learning is following the technique exactly. The technique is setup in a specific way so it must be the best or most optimized. Not true at all!
What do you think about the Pomodoro technique? Have you used it or something similar?
