I use the Pomodoro at the end of a semester to study for longer periods without burning out. That way of studying works better than anything else for me.

Breaks are short enough that your mind doesn't wander too far and often enough, to not feel like a break is still 4 hours away.

The benefit of this is that it turns the whole process into a habit. It's not about today or tomorrow, but rather about the 2-3 weeks that you spent studying. This helps me with feeling positive about the progress I made (even if it's small).

Some things that help me:

- Reminding myself that I took those 8 hours for myself (to get things done)

- Having a deadline (exams) allows me to schedule topics (set expectations low)

- I don't have any apps to doomscroll (twitter, facebook, instagram), so a 5 minute break is plenty to respond to a friend

- Most of my breaks are not spent on my phone (getting water, fresh air, walking around house, stretching, talking to people)