The days of PA school can feel long and arduous with back-to-back lectures and a wealth of important information to absorb. When it comes time to start studying, the idea of reviewing material can seem incredibly daunting. This is why maximizing your productivity is critical. You’ve got to make every minute count. The Pomodoro Technique does exactly that, while still allowing you a little time for procrastination and fun.
What Is the Pomodoro Technique?
Have you ever heard someone mention that the best way to prepare for running long distances is by training in intervals? It helps to build up speed and endurance. This exact logic can be applied to the Pomodoro Technique. It is interval training for the mind.
This method was first established in the 1980s when a college student, Francesco Cirillo, was just as fed up and overwhelmed with studying as we are today. He decided to make the task of studying more approachable by breaking it down into smaller, more digestible thirty-minute modules. The word pomodoro translates to tomato in Italian, and is representative of the old school tomato timers that used to be common in kitchens.
How to Use It
This method consists mainly of thirty-minute increments of time. Twenty-five minutes are dedicated to strict concentration without distractions. Once completed, this earns you a five-minute focus break to scroll away your study worries. Complete this cycle three times. The fourth time, allow yourself additional time with 15-30 minutes of pure joyous distraction. You’ve earned it!
The breakdown:
- 25 minutes of focus
- 5 minutes of fun
- Repeat 3x
- Add 15-30 minute break at the end of your fourth cycle
- Repeat from the beginning
The key to success is to ensure that the 25 minutes of focus time are completely distraction free. That includes social media, texting, the internet (unless you are using this for your task), email, etc. Save it for your fun time.
You can dedicate each block of time to completing a specific task, or if you anticipate needing longer to complete a task, assign multiple blocks. It is helpful to keep track of what you have accomplished by physically marking off to-do lists or writing X’s for each successful Pomodoro cycle. This documents your progress and is positive encouragement to remain focused and carry on.
Why It Works
By breaking down complex tasks or large projects into smaller chunks, getting started is less intimidating. In fact overcoming the fear of simply beginning is usually a large part of the challenge. But once you start checking off cycles, it’ll be hard to stop. Additionally, allowing yourself a dedicated portion of focused time increases your productivity and prevents you from starting meaningless distractions that end up with you finding your ex-boyfriend’s cousin’s coworker’s baby shower on Instagram. And if by chance you do find yourself down that rabbit-hole during your five minutes of fun, suffice it to say the tomato timer will kindly remind you to save your social media stalking for another time.
The 25/5 rule is only a suggestion of allotted time, so feel free to play with the numbers and see what works for you. And if you ever find yourself wishing the 25 minutes wasn’t up, the timer isn’t the law and it’s okay to keep going. The purpose is to your find your focus, and if you have it, then there’s no need to limit it.
Happy studying!