In the last two weeks, Louis has provided excellent articles detailing how different study resources will help you effectively study. Now that we know which music to choose and which apps we need to download, we can use the following resources to get even closer to those juicy 45 points.
Get a Physical Pomodoro Timer
In a previous post, Louis taught us that the Pomodoro timer is a tried and tested study resource. It helps you stay focused by making you stick to a study interval. Twenty-five minutes of studying and five minutes break is the most normal distribution. However, you can also do 30 minutes of learning and a 7-minute break! Play around with it and figure out what works best for you.
Yes, you can use an app or a website for this. However, I found that having a physical timer was a lot better. For one, it keeps the phone away from your immediate vicinity. Putting your phone in a different room is crucial. We all know how tempting it is to grab your phone and scroll through Instagram. Don’t lie; you’ve done it, too. The other significant benefit is that you get a physical object in front of you, which feels much more “official”. My environment became more productive immediately whenever I pulled out the timer.
You can use a cheap egg timer or a dedicated Pomodoro timer.
Utilise a Retrospective Timetable as One of Your Study Resources
If your revision schedule goes something like this: “Monday: Chapters 5 & 6 in Chemistry. Tuesday: Chapters 2 & 3 in Physics,” you have created a prospective timetable. I have done this one too many times myself. This way of creating a schedule deceivingly feels super productive, but in reality, it has quite a few problems.
This technique’s major flaw is that it does not consider how difficult those chapters are. Another issue is that creating the timetable is an exercise in procrastination itself, and it is beyond challenging to stick to. Instead, you could do a retrospective timetable.
I will briefly describe how that works here, but if you want a fully detailed guide, check out this post. Essentially, you write a list of all the topics you must cover. Once you sit down and revise, colour the subject according to how well you remember it (red for not at all, yellow for ok, and green for excellent!). This way, you always track how well you know a topic and which topics to prioritise by looking for the topics still coloured red. Once you have changed the colour of all red topics, move on to yellow, etc.
Snacks as Literal Learning Resources
For whatever reason, I feel more productive when I have a little bowl of something to snack on. I asked around to ensure this wasn’t just a strange quirk of mine. It turns out that this is quite normal. And, well, it kind of makes sense.
Studying uses energy, and you need to replenish that energy somehow. So, you become snackish, and with every delicious almond, apple or grape you demolish, you fuel the organic computer in your head that we call the brain. Another added benefit is that it is another thing to fidget with, which seems to be linked to better studying (if nothing else, it is also plain and simple fun).
A word of warning, though; you might not want to use high-sugar content chocolates or sweets as brain fuel, as you will burn out quickly with those. Opt for healthier snacks, like fruits and nuts!
If you feel like all the study resources in the world might not be enough to survive the IB, you should consider getting a helping hand from our expert tutors! They are experts in the IB and can guide you toward success.
