Circle your completion

Ten stages of growth

We want studying to feel like something you can see. Learning is slow and mostly invisible, and it can feel like you are getting nowhere. Imagine a page that rises and proves the work you put in, so that on a hard day you can look at it and keep going. It is not a test, and it is never used to mark you down: a sun always shines.

Why it matters

• Seeing progress keeps you going. Research on motivation found that noticing even small steps forward is one of the strongest drivers of staying engaged.
• The closer the goal, the harder people work. Studies of the goal-gradient effect show effort tends to pick up as people see themselves nearing the finish.
• Believing you can do it helps you do it. Psychologists who study self-efficacy find that evidence of your own progress builds belief in your ability.
• Learning builds on itself. What you learn today is the base for what you learn next. That is why a page's growth never shrinks or resets.
• A page for each subject keeps study organised. Keeping one subject's work together, rather than scattered, makes it quicker to find and easier to come back to.
• Little and often builds habits. The same study spread over several days is remembered longer than the same hours in one go, and a study of people building a new habit found it took about two months on average. That is why days in a row earn an extra bonus: the more days you keep going, the more it grows.

Six levels of shine

Radiate the rays of your sun for each created page to make the most out of its growth. The shine is you and all your efforts, where dedication to this gives you bonus points to rank up to the top of the world leaderboard! The longer you stay with it, the brighter your sun shines, and each level shows the time you have put in.

• The first 30 minutes – First light, as you begin.Starting is the hardest part. A clear start, with everything else put away, helps your attention settle onto one thing. Points count at their normal rate, 1 times, as you begin!
• 30 to 60 minutes – A steady glow, with soft rays fanning out from the horizon.Staying on one task, without switching, is what lets your focus deepen. With 1.1 times bonus points awarded!
• 1 to 1½ hours – More rays, and the first glowing ring.Researchers who study how experts practise found that the best performers work in focused sessions of around an hour to ninety minutes. With 1.2 times bonus points awarded!
• 1½ to 2¼ hours – With greater rays.Attention naturally tires on long tasks, and studies find that short breaks help people keep their focus. A break under ten minutes does not cost you your shine. Try it: stretch, get a drink, listen to a song! With 1.35 times bonus points awarded!
• 2¼ to 3 hours – More and more glints of light.Where skill grows with long, focused effort. Focus achieves! With 1.5 times bonus points awarded!
• 3 hours and beyond – The full, brilliant sun: a crown of rays, rings and sparkles.Three unbroken hours of real focus is rare, and it is the kind of effort that builds mastery. This is the top of the shine, with 1.75 times bonus points awarded!