Study Skills and Learning How to Learn · Lesson 5 of 8 · 12 min

Planning your time

A plan turns 'I should study more' into specific blocks you can actually keep. The aim is not to fill every hour, but to protect time for what matters and stop deadlines sneaking up on you.

Map your real week

The University of Southampton advises mapping your whole week, including classes, travel, sleep, meals, family time, exercise, socialising and rest, so you can see how much time you really have.
Enter fixed commitments first (school, tutoring, sports training, family events, prayer times if relevant to you), then fit flexible study blocks around them.
Use one tool consistently: a paper diary, a wall planner or a digital calendar. Colour-code categories so you can see the balance at a glance.
In the UAE, remember to plan around early starts, long school days and summer heat when choosing times for exercise and study.
Spend 10 minutes each weekend reviewing the coming week and adjusting your plan.

Prioritising: urgent versus important

Southampton suggests sorting tasks into four boxes: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but less important, and neither.
Urgent and important: tomorrow's deadline, revision for this week's test. Do these first.
Important but not urgent: spaced revision, reading ahead, exercise, long-term projects. These are easy to neglect, so schedule them deliberately.
Urgent but less important: many messages and small requests. They feel pressing but can become a way of avoiding real work.
Neither: scrolling and catch-up TV. Fine as breaks, but easy to overspend time on.
Ask: is this assessed, how much does it count, how long will it take, and when is it due?

Planning backwards from deadlines

Work backwards from each deadline and set mini-deadlines for each stage: research, plan, draft, edit, final check.
Southampton recommends building in contingency time by treating deadlines as earlier than they really are.
Example: an essay due on the 20th becomes: research done by the 8th, plan by the 10th, draft by the 15th, edit by the 18th, submit on the 19th.
Put exam dates on your calendar now and plan spaced revision sessions for each subject in the weeks before.

The Pomodoro Technique: honest evidence

The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and named after a tomato-shaped kitchen timer.
The usual pattern is 25 minutes of focused work, then a 5-minute break; after four rounds, take a longer break of about 20 to 30 minutes.
A 2023 study by Biwer and colleagues with 87 university students found that those using fixed breaks (including Pomodoro-style timing) reported less fatigue and better concentration and motivation than those choosing their own breaks.
However, the same study found no difference in how much work students completed. So Pomodoro may make studying feel easier, but it is not proven to make you learn more.
Treat it as a useful tool to get started and avoid marathon sessions without breaks, and adjust the timings if 25 minutes does not suit the task.

Making a plan you will keep

Match tasks to energy: Southampton suggests getting tasks you dislike done while your energy is high. Lighter jobs, like organising notes, can fill lower-energy times.
Group similar tasks: reading and note-making, then writing, then a break.
Keep your phone out of sight during study blocks and treat checking it as a reward.
Plan rest and fun too. A plan with no breaks is a plan you will abandon.
Say no to extra commitments when your week is already full.

Practise in real life

Tick each one off when you have done it.

Draw your week from Sunday to Saturday with every fixed commitment, then add four study blocks of 30 to 50 minutes.
List your tasks for the next two weeks and sort them into the four urgent and important boxes.
Try three Pomodoro rounds on one task and write down whether it helped you start and focus.

Remember

Map your real week before planning study.
Schedule important but not urgent work, or it will not happen.
Plan backwards from deadlines with built-in buffer time.
Pomodoro may reduce fatigue, but evidence it improves learning is limited.
Include rest in your plan so you can stick to it.

Note: Evidence on the Pomodoro Technique is limited. One 2023 study (87 Dutch university students) found mood benefits but no difference in task completion; Wikipedia also mentions a 2025 scoping review reporting benefits, which we have not checked directly, so we present Pomodoro as a helpful tool rather than a proven learning method.

Check yourself

1. According to the University of Southampton, which type of task is easiest to neglect and should be deliberately scheduled?

2. What is the usual Pomodoro pattern?

3. What did the 2023 Biwer study find about task completion with Pomodoro-style breaks compared with self-chosen breaks?

4. Why does Southampton suggest treating deadlines as earlier than they really are?

5. What should you put in your weekly plan first?