I have previously stated that the pomodoro method doesn't work for certain types of work, but there is still more to be said, or rather explained. Firstly I'd like you to bring your awareness the process of sitting down to work. It will of course be familiar to nearly everyone that you can not just run at top speed from the moment you decide to run, as even a cheetah needs to accelerate. Newton once told me that its much easier to keep going as you were, than to stop and change directions. This mental inertia incurs a large start-up cost, which in the realm of studying reduces our total capacity for cognitive load.
In the effort to overcome this mental inertia, it is important to remember that an objects ability to accelerate is not only dependent on the force it can generate itself. Opposing forces such as air resistance can either aid a runner or making running more effortful. Friction is useful term to borrow here. Think on your environment, Is there anything that causes friction?
For me the largest source of friction is an unfamiliar environment.
If I have a mental map of where everything that I need to accomplish my task is, the quicker I can accelerate.
In conjunction, intentionally ritualizing small-prep primes my mind for cognitive load.
That means that spending 1 minute to clean my desk, closing all those browser tabs and opening the few programs I need, probably requires neural pathways very closely linked to to those which are responsible for learning.
- The pleasure factor
Naturally this could come from interest in the subject itself, though as students thats out of our control. All subjects carry boring topics, sometimes even entire modules. So again introducing new tech, a clean environment or pens, pencils and luxurious papers are all tools which can be leveraged.
That girl in class who drew MS word art and amateur calligraphy is taking it too far though, at that point its a distraction and she's really got to ask herself again why she's sitting in a french lesson at all.