3. The Pomodoro Technique
3. The Pomodoro Technique
In my previous post, I said I would talk about some of the most excellent learning techniques. During my GATE preparation, I have come across various learning techniques. I believe, developing a habit of doing your research before starting any venture is essential. During my training, I implemented multiple methods for my GATE preparation, and I know from experience, what works best and what doesn’t. I am very excited to share this with you. Today I am going to talk about the technique which I know is most effective. It is called the “Pomodoro Technique”.
You might think, “why do I have to know these techniques and make my life more complicated. Why not simply dive in and study what is there for the syllabus?”.
Well, I am glad you asked. Imagine, you have to mount a picture frame on a wall. You have only two kinds of tools which is a hammer and nails. How would you go with it? Take your time to think. Now imagine you also have an electric drill, measuring tape, spirit level. How would you go with it now? The second case is much more comfortable and fun right. It is because you have several advanced tools that made your work easier. Similarly, the techniques I am about to share will serve the purpose of tools that make your work that much more comfortable and that much fun.
Pomodoro technique is a time management method that makes use of time to break down your study session into 25 min of studying and 5 min of break and continuing another 25 min and so on. To put it, it divides your work into small blocks of time where you can focus on a specific task.
Before talking more about the Pomodoro technique, I want to address the problem it solves. Did you ever feel like your brain not processing information when you are reading? It generally happens when you study for prolonged hours. You know you have to start working on something, but you want to delay it. You procrastinate. I wonder why it happens that sometimes I will be so inefficient at learning. It used to puzzle me. I tried to find out why this happens.
According to scientists, an average man has an attention span of about 25 min, after which the ability of his brain to grasp information decreases, i.e. brain efficiency decreases. For the first 25min brain efficiency is well above 95%, and after that, it drops rapidly and goes as low as 10%. Therefore studying for prolonged hours is not recommended.
Scientists also found that relaxing from your task for 5 min will bump up your brain efficiency back to 95%. Therefore it is an excellent practice to take a 5min break after every 25 min study session. (Note: 25 min is for an average person, you can increase time up to 50 min, based on your attention span)
Pomodoro technique is developed to work at high efficiency for most of the time. In that way, we can complete more work in less time. The phrase “study smart” definitely fits here.
Steps in a Pomodoro technique:
- Decide a task you will work on
- Set the Pomodoro timer (anywhere between 25 and 50 min)
- Work on the task (don’t allow yourself to get distracted)
- When time is up, end the work and put a checkmark the task
- Take a break (anywhere between 5 and 15 min)
- Go back to step 2
- After completing the task, go to step 1
Can take longer (30min) break after 4 Pomodoro sessions
Some useful Apps:
There are some excellent Pomodoro apps which I have used, some of them are:
The Pomodoro technique is powerful. I cannot stress it enough; you will realize this when you try it out. If you try it, please let me know what you think of it through the comment section or personal message. I am interested to know your experience.
Thank you for reading. In my next post, we will know about self-criticism, why and how it is harmful to us and what to do instead.