How to Study Productively!
- Dec 21, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 13
Studying for can be overwhelming, especially in high school, as exams become more challenging. A good mark can raise your grade percentage by 1%! (Though it's good news, you shouldn't gauge your abilities through marks alone.)
Effective studying isn't about cramming for hours on end. Research shows that information not revisited within 24-48 hours is likely to be forgotten. This phenomenon is called the forgetting curve. Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that people forget up to 70% of new information unless they review it!
In this post, we will be sharing great studying strategies (in no particular order), which are scientifically proven to help you learn faster, remember more, and walk into your exam with confidence. Just don't forget a calculator.
Feynman Technique
The Feynman Technique is a learning method named after Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist famous for explaining complex ideas in simple language.
"If you can't explain something simply, you don't really understand it."
— Richard Feynman
Step 1: Pick a Topic
Pick a topic you want to learn—anything from photosynthesis to calculus to economic inflation. Then write the topic at the top of a blank page. It's best if you have a friend beside you who knows nothing about the topic.
Step 2 - Explain it
It's not just explaining it. You should talk as if you're teaching it to a 10-year-old. In other words, someone with zero background knowledge. Be sure to use simple words, examples, and analogies, and avoid jargon (specialized language and acronyms, such as terms like metacognition, synergy, and algorithm).
Here's how Feynman did it:
Feynman worked at Los Alamos for the Manhattan Project, the operation for the development of atomic bombs during World War II.
A summary of his explanation on neutron diffusion calculations:
"A neutron hits a nucleus, the nucleus splits, and more neutrons come flying out.
If more neutrons hit other nuclei before escaping, the process grows.
If too many escape, the reaction dies."
FUN FACTS!
In Medieval universities, exams were entirely oral! Students had to memorize and explain ideas aloud.
Socrates believed that learning happens through questioning, not memorization.
Pomodoro Method
The Pomodoro Method is named after a tomato (yes, really.)
Pomodoro is Italian for tomato. It was invented in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, who used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer while studying. He just asked himself: "Can I focus for 10 minutes?"
The Classic Structure
25 min of focused work
5 min break
After 4 rounds, take a longer 15-30 minute break.
Science Backs it Up!
Research shows that most people struggle to stay deeply focused beyond 20-45 minutes without a performance drop. Faced with a shorter timeline, this method boosts task initiation, reduces perfectionism, and fights procrastination.
Because it's only 25 minutes.
Keep in mind that you should not multitask; stay focused on one task and one subject. Neuroscience shows that task switching increases errors by up to 40%—it spikes cortisol (stress hormone), and protects your brain from cognitive overload (basically when you study for too much stuff). Plus, research from Stanford shows that heavy multitaskers perform worse on attention tests. In other words, it can lower IQ! The drop is comparable to missing a full night's sleep.
The brain also learns faster with a clear start, clear end, and clear reward. Each Pomodoro gives a completion signal and a tiny dopamine hit. Today, Pomodoro is used by software developers, writers, medical students, and ADHD communities.
Versions of Pomodoro:
50/10 for deep thinkers
15/5 for burnout days
90-minute cycles with ultradian rhythms
FUN FACTS!
The original Pomodoro was not 25 minutes; Cirillo's first timer ran between 10-15 minutes, and the 25-minute version only developed after trial and error
In 18th-century Europe, tomatoes were called poison apples
Aristocrats got sick eating them because of lead plates, not tomatoes
Interleaving
Interleaving is a study method in which you mix different topics or problem types in a single study session, rather than practicing just one thing at a time. You can combine this with the Pomodoro method.
Blocked practice: Study Topic A → then Topic B → then Topic C ❌
Interleaving: A → B → C → A → C → B ✅
But then you might ask: "Didn't you say in the Pomodoro method that we shouldn't switch subjects during sessions?"
Well, that's definitely true. Interleaving during Pomodoro is only effective when you switch DIFFERENT topics of the SAME subject. For example, you might want to study math. First you'll start with algebra for 20 minutes, take a break. Then geometry for 20 minutes, take a break. Finally calculus for 20 minutes, and take your long break. They're the same subject—math—but different topics.
You can also switch up question types. E.g., Multiple choice for one session, then short response, then applications.
Why it works
Interleaving doesn't just help you remember—it helps you apply knowledge in new situations. It improves the ability to choose the right method for the right problem, a term called pattern discrimination. This method introduces a desirable difficulty, a challenge that slows down learning during practice but strengthens memory later. So it's just "harder now, easier later." And by easier, we mean a lot easier.
FUN FACTS!
It's similar to how classical musicians practiced back then: teachers recommended practicing pieces in a mixed order, not block by block, because it improved performance under pressure
People who use interleaving often think they're learning worse than blocked practice, even though they're actually learning better
CONCLUSION
Here are the top 3 recommended study methods that you can choose from, backed by science and history. You can switch around or combine these techniques, and study with friends!
Remember, stick to two to three, because too many study methods might mess up your schedule and productivity. Once you start studying regularly, it becomes a habit that's hard to break.
REFERENCES
iLovePDF. (n.d.). Explore the best study methods & how to use them. https://www.ilovepdf.com/blog/best-study-methods-techniques
Pomodoro Focus Timer. (n.d.). The science behind the Pomodoro technique: Why it works. https://pomodoro-focus-timer.io/blog/article/the-science-behind-pomodoro-why-it-works
Young, A. F. (n.d.). Interleaving: Boost learning by mixing your studying. https://blog.alexanderfyoung.com/interleaving/
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