While there have been many changes in our education system over the years, the classic Pomodoro study method or technique has remained relatively the same.

When it comes to studying, many students will simply spend as much time as they can hitting the books and hoping to retain enough information to pass everything from simple pop quizzes up to university exams.

However, knowing your learning style can help. It happens a lot that students are learning without realizing that the way they learn, their learning style, may not be their best option.

As a result, they often won’t reach their full potential. The fact of the matter is that the way you learn, your learning style, will have a huge impact on how you master and retain the presented information and how you can resolve issues.

Your Learning Style

Once you understand more about how you can study best, which learning style suits you best, chances are you will improve your test preparation and study more effectively and efficiently.

Generally speaking, we can distinguish three main types of learners, with three distinct learning styles: visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic (tactile) learners.

Visual learners benefit most if the study material is presented through posters, pictures, slides, photos, or videos. This type of learner remembers and retains information best when it is offered visually instead of verbally.

Visual learners benefit most if they work with highlighters or color pens to color-code concepts. What also works for them is underlining and circling key phrases and words in a text. They learn best when drawing charts and diagrams, and using post-it notes to stick key concepts around the house, or on a fridge, or on their computer screen.

Auditory learners learn best when they hear things. When they hear the information, they will remember it much better and easier than when they would read that material.

Auditory learners benefit most and study more effectively if they listen to a recorded text rather than reading lessons from a paper or a book. They should inform the people around them that they understand topics better when the information is told. They benefit from reading their summarized notes aloud. What helps them is recording themselves and listening to their own voices.

Kinesthetic or tactile learners will learn and retain information better if they experience things themselves while using all of their senses, such as hearing, sight, touch, etc.

Kinesthetic learners will benefit most if they write down notes after watching a video lesson and formulate the key concepts on paper. Writing concepts out will help them remember the key concepts far better. They should look for real-life references and examples in the study material and put these examples in their summaries.

Very often, you won’t just benefit from just one learning style. Most probably, you’ll find something useful, something that fits you, in one or two of these styles. But there are so many more techniques you can use to boost your results!

Unfortunately, many students may be wasting hours of their time studying because the brain does not readily retain information in the manner that many people Pomodoro and Learning Style believe.

Reading the same material over and over again does not mean it will be more easily recalled. Plus, there are also students who may not have what they believe is the proper time to study as well.

Fortunately, there is a proven study technique that takes relatively little time, yet has proven to be very effective, just like having a good study plan is essential for your future success.

Pomodoro technique

The Pomodoro Study Method has actually been around for decades, yet many students may not be aware of just how effective it is for helping them retain and recall information.

The Pomodoro method is also frequently used by business professionals as well as high school students or GED Students. The method will probably help you very well in maintaining a good GPA which is so important for success in college and your career!

What is the Pomodoro study method?

This is a method that utilizes short periods of study combined with breaks to help train your brain to concentrate better and recall more information.

The process works in a series of short bursts and can be used while studying alone or in groups to help everyone do better on exams. For students from abroad, this method is great as well, as it is not affected by language.

Created and developed during the 1990s, the essence of the study method is to use a timer set to 25 minutes and use that time to study without interruption.

Once the 25 minutes are up, take a 5-minute break so that you can relieve the pressure. If you need to study additional material, take another 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break until you have covered everything needed.

Advantages of the Pomodoro study technique

There are several benefits in using this technique, particularly if you want to train your brain to focus and cover material in a deeper, more comprehensive manner. That’s a real benefit for students working towards their college degrees.

Concentrate without Distractions,
Discourages Multitasking
Encourages to Think Deep
Better Organization of Materials Used to Study.

Because the focus is on 25-minute intervals, the result is that it keeps you from multitasking which is the type of distraction that pulls you away from the material.

Instead, by organizing your time and materials in an efficient manner, by creating a good study plan, you can study in single 25-minute sessions for short tests and in multiple sessions for longer university exams.

Decide on a Specific Section or Task that Needs to be Studied
Start the Timer
Focus on the Task until the Timer reaches 25 Minutes
Take a 5 Minute Break
Start a New Task

If you should complete four – 25 minute periods, take a 15 to 20-minute break so that you can better recover.

Using the Pomodoro Study Method, you can vastly improve your retention by focusing fully on the task at hand for 25-minute intervals.

In this manner, you can cover a specific area of a subject deeply so that your brain can soak in the knowledge without becoming overly tired or strained. Just start using this technique. Now, let’s take a look at some frequently occurring reasons why so many students fail in college.

Reasons for failure of making the grades you desire

Are you the type of person who starts every semester with that little promise to yourself? – “I’m going to make this my best semester ever!”

Do you start the semester strong, get lazy during the middle then cram when it comes time for finals? Maybe you’re the type of person who feels like they do everything right but just can’t seem to make the grades they desire.

If you can relate to any of these questions, then this article is for you. Most students start the semester strong, and this particularly counts for freshmen, because they have a fresh slate to work with.

Then, as the semester drags on, apathy kicks in, and students lose sight of their goals. In this article, I want to address the 5 main reasons students fail to make the grades they desire. I hope these points help you see where you might be going wrong.

1. Not Believing in Yourself

The first step to achieving your goals is having confidence. I cannot stress how important this is. If a bad test grade discourages you or you accidentally sleep in and miss an important class, you can’t give up.

Some of my worst grades in college came from not believing in myself. I remember I took a class my freshman year called “History of Print Media”. Sounds interesting, right? Well, student life is full of challenges but I guess this wasn’t a real challenge…

Well, it turned out to be one of the worst grades I’ve ever received, not because the class was hard but because I didn’t believe I could write a 12-page research paper. I doubted myself, and I ended up with a bad grade because of it. Since then I’ve written several papers of that length and many of them were longer.

If you start doubting yourself, take a step back, and think about how important your goals are. Remind yourself that the only thing preventing you from achieving your goals is yourself. If you can’t prepare yourself mentally then you will never have the confidence to make the grades you want when the going gets tough.

2. Bad Time Management/Organization

If you don’t own a planner, get one. I personally use my iPhone. If you are tech-savvy (and who isn’t these days?), this is an excellent way to organize your life. Make sure your online planner includes everything:

Test dates from your syllabus
Project deadlines
Last day to drop a class
School holidays
Professor office hours
Club and Organization Meetings and Events
Doctor’s Appointments
Football/Basketball Home Games (not required but it helps me)
Final Exam/Midterm dates and times
Any other event or task that you need to be aware of

Doing this will drastically reduce your stress level. It allows you to know when your “busy” weeks will be, and to plan accordingly.

3. Lacking Prioritization

As a senior in college, I am extremely busy. I’m taking 15 hours of classes, I work 30 hours a week at an internship, I write for my own blog and guest posts like this one, I have job-interviews every other week and I still manage to make it to the gym 5 days a week.

So how do I manage to do all of these things while getting my homework done? The simple answer is prioritizing and learning how to take notes in lectures effectively will also help you to get well-organized.

I keep a ‘To-Do List’ along with my planner with things that need to be completed but do not have a deadline. For example, getting a haircut and updating my resume are both on my list.

Once you’ve created a ‘To-Do List’, choose the most important task from your planner and your “To-Do List” with the closest due date, and complete it. Read also this post that includes a few very useful mindset shifts to help you get moving.

4. Inconsistency

If you’re the type of student who starts strong and gets lazy in the middle of the semester, this section is for you. In order to make good grades, you must be consistent with your studies, even when you feel some new technology should be used. This means treating each exam, paper, quiz, project, and assignment the same. The first test of the semester is just as important as the final exam.

If you struggle with consistency, try studying in groups. If you can surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you, your chances of staying motivated increase greatly.

During the first few weeks of school, make an effort to meet your professor or TA in their office hours. Introducing yourself and talking about your goals with them will give you a head start when it comes to the first exam.

Once you have built a relationship with your professor or TA, you will have someone there who will be willing to help you when you run into trouble during the semester.

What else have you found to get in the way of making the grades you desire? I would love to hear your additions in the comments!