By: Harman Cheema
Hello everyone! In case you guys don’t know me, I’m Harman. Contrary to popular belief, I am in fact a Grade 12 student. If you’ve ever seen me in the hallways, you have probably seen me with various books, pencils , pens and other random items, jumbled in my hands. I’m that person who probably has 40 pens with them at all times. Despite my “focused” persona, I can be quite a mess sometimes. My study tips are dedicated to those who need that extra little bit of help, on their path to their goals.
Study tip #1- The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a marginalized time management technique. It was created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. Basically, he hypothesized that people work best with fixed intervals, and breaks. The best way to focus on any said task, is to manage yourself to hyperfocus for a fixed amount of time. After that time, you will be “rewarded” with a break.
The best way that I’ve found to study, is by using this technique. What I like to do, is set my timer, for 25 minutes. Once I set the timer, I put my phone on silent, and just aim my attention on my homework. Once that timer goes, I set another timer for 5 minutes, as my “reward”, or break. During the break, I can do whatever I want. Scroll mindlessly on Instagram, grab some chocolate, have an existential crisis. It’s totally your call what you want to do during those 5 minutes.
However, if I reward myself too early, or I keep on wanting to procrastinate, than I take a deep breathe, and start the timer again. Self control and persistence is necessary when using this technique. But once you start getting the gist of it, it can be more than useful, not only for your schoolwork, but in your everyday lives!
I hope you find this technique useful!