What can be done in 5 minutes?
Take a moment to think about it and then scroll down.
What did you think of? Here’s a few ideas…
- Win an Olympic medal
- Theorise a new cancer treatment
- Design a new kitchen gadget
There’s a surprising amount that can be achieved in just 5 minutes. In my blog post for The Tutor Team I’m here to help you change the way you see time and to give you a few starting points on what you can achieve in 5 minutes. After all, 5 minutes once a day for a year adds up to over 30 hours!
When someone says you should start revising it can feel a daunting task. You might be 3 months into a course and already have a full folder and exercise book. Perhaps you don’t know where to start. You might feel like you haven’t got the time with managing homework, coursework and extra-curricular, when could you actually revise?
I propose a challenge that for the next week you take 5 minutes every day to revise. I’ve included some ideas but why not think of some of your own too. When you take ownership for your learning you will enjoy it more.
- Summarise one of your lessons from the day
- Write on a post-it note questions you need to ask your teacher next lesson
- Practise spelling a difficult word
- Sketch a still life
- Read from a book you are studying
- Practise a verb in a foreign language
- Read a news article
- Research a person from the past
- Sketch a timeline of key moments from a novel or history
- Summarise a geographical case study
- Write out some key words and their definitions, then test yourself
- Answer one or two maths questions
- Summarise the last science experiment you did
- Listen to a piece of music you are studying
- Draw a flow chart of a process you will be following in design or information technology
Doing a 5 minute activity is achievable for everyone, and you’ll soon start to feel a sense of accomplishment.
If you’d like some extra challenge why not:
- Challenge a friend and see how many days in a row you can do without breaking the 5 minutes
- Increase your time to 10 minutes then once you’ve secured that increase by another 5 minutes and so forth, take it slowly!
Good luck, I know you can do it! But don’t just take my word for it…
Vincent Van Gogh “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together”
Chinese Proverb “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still”
Lao Tzu “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”
Related: Starting the school year with A* study skills & Revise for your exams: 5 Study tips that really work
About Jessica
Jessica is a psychologist who loves inspiring and encouraging others to develop. She is also published in ethics and cognitive psychology – See her profile here.
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