Tag: law school study technique

Time Management Using the Pomodoro Technique

Post author By Beau Baez
Post date April 19, 2018
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Do you struggle with wasting time and need a tool to help you focus your attention? The Pomodoro technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980’s, is been used by me and millions of others. Let me quote from his book, The Pomodoro Technique. “Every day I went to school, attended classes, studied and went back home… feeling that I didn’t really know what I’d been doing, that I’d been wasting my time…. It was clear to me that the high number of distractions and interruptions and the low level of concentration and motivation were at the root of the confusion I was feeling. So I made a bet with myself, as helpful as it was humiliating: Can you study – really study for 10 minutes?” Does that sound familiar? Do you have problems keeping focus? Even if you are reading, do you ever find that you’ve been reading but you stopped thinking about the reading several pages earlier?

Franceso’s Plan

So here is what Francesco did. He went to his kitchen and grabbed his tomato shaped timer (this is the link to the one I purchased). By the way, the Italian word for tomato is pomodoro. He then forced himself to study in concentrated bursts, with small breaks in-between each study segement.

Recommended Approach

First, decide what task you are going to work on. Second, set a timer for 25 minutes. Third, start the timer and continue working on your task until the timer goes off. Fourth, stop when the timer rings, place an X on a piece of paper, and take a 5-minute break. Fifth, after the break, go back to the second step and do another pomodoro. A pomodoro is each uninterrupted 25-minute session, so if something breaks the 25 minute session you don’t mark that down as a completed pomodoro—your good intentions don’t matter. Finally, when you have four X’s on your piece of paper, take a longer break: 15 to 30 minutes. For those of you that are already studying for long periods of time, you may find that this method helps you with mental exhaustion. Also, it will help you with knowledge retention. Our brains need breaks to process what we have just learned, so you may learn more by taking mini-breaks rather than longer breaks every few hours. In other words, this technique may allow you to study more efficiently.

Kitchen Timer

With regards to the timer, Francesco recommends a manual kitchen timer, a piece of paper, and a pen or pencil. He believes that taking the timer and winding it creates a psychological decision on your part to complete the task. From a behavioral perspective, you now associate setting the timer and working till the timer goes off, which strengthens your commitment to completing the task. The key is to not give up right away. You should notice a difference within a few days, and mastery of the pomodoro technique anywhere from a week to three weeks of use.

My Experience

As I was preparing this episode I decided to search for pomodoro apps. Sure enough there are several, so I downloaded a free one called Focus Keeper Free. It makes a ticking sound, just like a manual kitchen timer. It has a digital countdown and an analog rotating scale like a kitchen timer. At first I thought the clicking sound would be disturbing, but the sound was actually soothing. Ironically, I usually have long periods of time without interruptions, but during my first 25 segment I got a phone call and my wife came in to talk to me. This means I can’t count that segment as a pomodoro. The app also has a five minute timer that comes on for break time. After a few weeks, I decided to purchase an analog kitchen timer. I like the physicality better, and it also allows me to move my phone away from me (one of my main distractions). As with any time management technique, the pomodoro technique may or may not work for you. Some people swear by it and others despise it. All I can do is suggest that you try it for a few weeks and see if it works for you. For example, do some practice essays using the IRAC method. If you’ve got a kitchen timer start with that, but if not, try it with a free time management app for a couple of days.

Tags law school academic success, law school study technique, law school success, law school tips, pomodoro technique, time managment

Deep Learning with Elaborative Interrogation

Post author By Beau Baez
Post date November 11, 2017
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Elaborative Interrogation Exemplified with question mark in maze

The elaborative interrogation technique may sound like a spy how-to manual, but it is used to go beyond simply memorizing difficult concepts to understanding them. For example, you may be able to recite the three elements for res ipsa loquitur, but have no idea what they mean or how to apply them in a fact pattern. This method helps you remember and understand by having you ask how and why questions, thereby allowing you to see connections between the various concepts.

Compare and Contrast

As you use this technique you will compare and contrast ideas by asking how two concepts are similar and how they are different.

Let’s go back to our res ipsa loquitur example. You’ve memorized the three-part test for this concept and that is where most students stop. So when they get to the exam, they don’t do well because they really don’t understand how to apply res ipsa loquitur to get the maximum number of points.

In reality, these students learned how to recite a test that they did not truly understand.

Res Ipsa Loquitur Example

So step one is to connect res ipsa loquitur to what we do know. You might ask yourself, how does it connect to negligence? You then answer: it is connected to breach of duty.

Now go deeper. Ask yourself, how does res ipsa loquitur connect to breach of duty? It helps us determine if somebody breached their duty of care.

Go even deeper. Why do we need res ipsa loquitur? When the evidence against the defendant is circumstantial and not direct.

Don’t stop there; go deeper. What is circumstantial evidence? It is evidence that can be inferred from a fact that I know to be true. What is the effect of using res ipsa loquitur at trial?

Keep interrogating yourself and you will establish connections between interrelated concepts. Soon you will understand the concept better and expose gaps in your knowledge that will encourage you to do more research.

By the way, I strongly recommend that you go through this process in writing. It’s just too easy to skip steps or not see the gaps without writing it down or typing it out on your computer.

This technique will work very nicely with the Feynman technique, which I discussed in the episode “Learn Law Faster: The Feynman Technique.”

International Shoe v. Washington Example

Let’s try another example, this time using everybody’s favorite topic, civil procedure. You just read International Shoe v. Washington.

First questions: what is this case even about? How is it similar to Pennoyer v. Neff? How is it different from Pennoyer v. Neff?

Next questions: in real life, how does this case affect people? Do I still need personal jurisdiction after International Shoe?

More questions you could ask: what is personal jurisdiction? How does this case change personal jurisdiction?

See what we’re doing? We’re making multiple connections that will help you understand all the various aspects of the case.

Rationale

So why do you even need to use this technique? The reason you need it is because you don’t know what you don’t know. You need a process to move beyond knowledge to comprehension. By creating those connections between different concepts, you won’t be fooled by some strange fact pattern on exam day. Your professor sees those connections and will test you on your ability to see those connections, not on your ability to memorize a rule statement.

Don’t misunderstand me; you still need to memorize the rules–I recommend the Leitner box flashcard method. But law school exams require you to move beyond memorization into analysis—the kind of analysis that is only possible if you truly understand the material. For an interesting article on how students learn, check out this article on how students learn. Also, if you need help, you may want to look into working with a law school tutor.

Tags deep learning, elaborative interrogation, law school advanced study technique, law school study technique

Study Technique Time Management

Akrasia: How to Overcome Procrastination

Post author By Beau Baez
Post date October 19, 2017
No Comments on Akrasia: How to Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination

What’s the most creative excuse you’ve used for your procrastination? There is the usual: Facebook, surfing the net, checking your phone. Successful people do better because they put the important things, like studying, first and avoid the unimportant, like watching that 10,000^th cat video.

Akrasia

Socrates called this problem akrasia, which is when someone acts against their better judgment. In the Bible, some English translations use the word self-indulgent. Regardless of the translation, the idea is that you know what is best for you and instead you do something else. For an easy-to-read article on why we procrastinate, read this article 0n procrastination.

100 Mile Hike

Last year I decided that I wanted to go on a two-week hike with the Boy Scouts at the Philmont Camp in New Mexico. But I had a problem: I needed to lose 75 pounds to be eligible to go. Over the course of 18 months, I experienced akrasia numerous times by indulging in several pizza buffets or eating ice cream. Each time I deviated, I knew I was hurting my chances to go on the hike.

I am glad to report I reached my goal and completed the entire two-week, 100 mile hike! To see how tan I got on this hike, and for some lessons I learned that apply to law school, check out my video on tips from hiking you can use in law school.

Tip #1

You need a commitment reminder system. I began doing this years ago by using a day planner. If you haven’t used one, this is a paper calendaring system where you place your activities into a schedule. Today you can do this with any calendar app, or if you want something a little bit different there is an app called BeeMinder. This app allows you to track any goal that can be measured by numbers. For example, you may want to spend 60 minutes a day studying for Constitutional Law. BeeMinder will send you reminders, where you can input your commitment into the app. But here’s the twist: the first time you don’t meet your goal, BeeMinder will ask you for a credit card. And if you get off track a second time, BeeMinder will charge you five dollars. By having a disincentive to lose five dollars, you are more likely to keep your commitment.

Tip #2

A second approach is for you to use short-term rewards to help you defeat akrasia. The part of teaching that I hate is grading exams. To force myself to grade, I place all the exams in stacks of five. When I grade five, I then have permission to go do something else, like get some coffee or talk to a colleague. Think about short-term rewards that will work for you. Maybe that means Facebook for five minutes or eating a chocolate kiss. Keep in mind that these have to be short-term rewards rather than long-term rewards. If you know that that 5 minute Facebook break will turn into a 60 minute Facebook break, then you should think about doing something else like going for a short walk. Exercise is a great way to get your blood flowing, which in turn helps you focus and retain information better. Watch this video on how the brain benefits from exercise if you want to learn more.

For more ideas, here are 10 more tips for overcoming procrastination. One good book you may want to read is Procrastination: Why You Do It and What to Do About it Now by Da Capo. If you need help with your procrastination, reach out to our tutors and let us help you overcome this bad habit.

Tags akrasia, law school, law school study technique, law school tips, procrastination, study technique

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