I've heard about the Pomodoro before. I might try it out with something like this. It sounds like a good idea, but if I focus too much on time I'd be afraid it would distract from actually learning. I've found that it is very easy to fool yourself when it comes to learning, that glossing over something for thirty minutes feels like accomplishing a lot. Make sure that you keep challenging yourself in those thirty minutes!But I've started using the pomodoro method and trying to just see studying as time put in towards a goal and see that as a success instead of feeling like I need to understand everything right away and preform.
Will do! For me feeling accomplished means I want to do more, so it has helped me in just sitting and studying for a long time because it is broken down into half-hours and the 5 minute break helps "resetting" so that I can concentrate. I have terrible study habits by the way, so the fact that this is a step up might just be because anything would be.