Need an innovative advice/idea for consistent preparation

This has been my problem too for a very long time and still takes conscious effort not to discard one-hour pockets of time (and waste them) just because I have the predisposition that "I'd better save this valuable material for when I have a larger chunk of time"...

The only panacea I have found is (very un-innovative) - to have a "plan"...

Meaning solely: Planning the SEQUENCE of thinks to learn.

Now, the "trick" that works for me is having 3 planned sequences (threads):

1) One for the large chunks of time that I will have - practice tests, etc.

2) One for smaller chunks of time, but in a "comfortable" learning environment - i.e. "I have 30 minutes only, but I have the materials before me, pen, paper and can comfortably reads, write, jot, solve, etc."

3) One for unpredictable pockets of time (with lesser quality), when I do not have all the materials before me, but carry a single preparatory item with me (such as flashcards, some fellow test-taker's shared notes, secondary/tertiary material that I would not spend my "best" time on, etc.)

(My fourth thread is actually listening to audio files, that I have prepared myself - when cooking, washing dishes, commuting, doing what you do in the morning, jogging, etc. - no other way to really learn during that time. The only time I have to worry about this "sequence" is when I actually put the audio files on my audio player...)

Now, this may turn out to be not such good advice, but it does work for me - just have these 3 sequences for these 3 types of clearly discernible situations.

It may not look too consistent, but neither all study time is made equal, nor all prep materials are made equal... and this is why it works for me.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!