Hey guys! If you're at all interested in poetry, my self-published debut book of poetry is going to be available on Amazon on September 25th! Buy it or don't, but it'd be really cool if ya did. A lot of love went into it.
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
NASA
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Cosmic Funnies
Monterey Bay Aquarium
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Sade Olutola
Claire Keane

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cherry valley forever
Game of Thrones Daily
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH

blake kathryn

No title available
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
hello vonnie

⁂
d e v o n

JVL
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@gradschoolkid
Hey guys! If you're at all interested in poetry, my self-published debut book of poetry is going to be available on Amazon on September 25th! Buy it or don't, but it'd be really cool if ya did. A lot of love went into it.
ig: @maryberrystudy
Waiting for classes to start up again is so agonizing. I’m itching to learn and get back to my grind!
HOW TO WRITE 20 PAGES (from one girl w/mental illness 2 the rest of u, but please keep in mind all of this is just personal Stuff That Worked for me n u might be different):
first of all, and probably most importantly, make that paper about something you actually give a shit about. if you can write an essay on how long shakespeare’s dick is when you’re talking to your friends, that’s a good topic. don’t choose something u don’t care about, you will Want To Die
“okay but the only topics are ones i don’t care about” talk 2 ur teacher 99% of the time if you’re like “here’s a well-thought-out thesis can i talk about this instead” they’re like “sure lmao i just couldn’t think of other paper topics to suggest”
“they said no” cool find the one u hate the least and try to tie it into something u like. for example i really hated this stupid paper i had to write about a stupid book so i ended up writing about the food inside the book and whether or not it was a historically accurate depiction of food. turns out i fucking love talking about food. i also remade some of the old recipes and brought them in as part of the presentation of my project and people went fuckken nuts bc BREAD. basically i thought about “what motivates me? uh food” and followed that. it was a 45-page book about bread and i looked like a really good student when really i just love bread (somewhere, oprah smiles over me)
the 20-pagers are the ones you Actually Cannot Do the night before. i know we all got real fuckken cocky back in hs when we learned how to do 5 pages in one night w/out trying too hard but 1. as a teacher now i can tell u for sure that teachers do know you rushed it, we just Don’t Care bc We’re Not Paid Enough and 2. twenty pages is not the same thing. you need to actually take the time to do it. this is the actual version of “you’re not in hs anymore” DONT lie to yourself and think “it’s fine i’ll do it in one day” you will !! Regret it!!!!
“raquel. raquel. listen to me. do you actually believe i’m capable of time management. raquel i have depression i barely manage to exist.” same. but the truth is that when i started like?? actually following the rules of timelines and taking my time etc it actually really helps mental illness. you don’t feel pressured all the time by a deadline, so your anxiety chills a little bit. small progress being acceptable means that on depression days, you don’t have to worry you’re fucking it all up. when it’s 15 minutes every day (even if it’s only 1 word a day) it feels a lot better.
ask the teacher what timeline they’d recommend. they actually Know.
always ask if it’s informal or formal (if you can use “I” statements or not). informal essays can rely on personal feelings and are so much easier and trust me if you find out on the day it’s due that you could have written 12 pages about your feelings instead of 12 pages of research, you will Be Very Upset
i lie to myself all the time and move the deadline up. i write it in my agenda as at least 2 days before it’s due. surprise!!! i tricked u, self!!! you can’t procrastinate!!
agendas/planners need to be what actually works for you. i liked to prioritize w/colors + keep lists. i really love crossing things off lists. it’s like… a balm. for me, i usually say i have to finish the first 2 things, start the 3rd thing, and “touch” at least half the list. if i finish the whole list i get a prize. also i get to cross off everything which is so satisfying i’m sure it’s someone’s idea of a rush. there’s so many “how to” documents on these that i won’t get into it but frankly?? if you don’t write it down you will not remember it. “yes i will” no you won’t greg. just do it. write it down. write it where u can see it. not there, greg. greg, somewhere good. my friend is smart af and uses a post-it on her laptop. that doesn’t work for me bc i can just? use my hand to cover the anxiety? so choose somewhere good greg.
nervous system, skeleton, meat, skin. nervous system is the thesis. skeleton is quotes/data. meat is the analysis of that data. skin is the fancy transitions + beautification. meat goes on both sides of bone, and skin goes all around. nervous system has to touch everything. do what your teachers have been begging u to do since 3rd grade and start w/an outline. do this while you read/research. i usually have a starter thesis like “lady macbeth is a feminist ICON” then take the quotes i think fit. but if while you’re reading u realize u wanna talk about the use of feminine language and how shakespeare parallels daintiness w/sharpness, u still have a bunch of quotes you can use or not use. this works also w/research papers. just pull what u think is something u wanna talk about. copy-paste it but leave a link to where u got it. then put a bullet point under that says roughly why u mention it
if you just write the outline like you’re keeping notes to yourself you’d be amazed how quickly you write the essay bc we get stuck in academic language but it’s easier to translate “this is why bees are the #bomb” into a paragraph. i mean you just rewrite your notes to yourself in academic speech. “The above passage illustrates the growing necessity of pollinators such as bees in an agricultural environment.”
keep track of your sources + label them. don’t just write “(SOURCE)” instead if you’re using multiple sources use the lazygirl way which is (SA1) or whatever shorthand u have for each source. then when you need to finish your sources you go to your little source document, find the one labelled SA1 and then “Find+replace” w/the actual source.
integrate quotes so it reads w/clarity which means don’t do this but if you’re running late on it and don’t have time to look up the quote u want to fit this situation, technically you can “use any” word you want (56). so yeah “there is” a moral question about it but you “can” make up quotes (79, 90). don’t “actually” do this unless you’re seriously in a crunch. which u shouldn’t be, bc u managed ur time, right?
running late part 2 (which again would never happen bc you followed my advice and made a little time table for yourself but anyway if it does somehow magically happen) i really recommend using school computers to do your work. ur surrounded by people who will hold u accountable + u will focus
running late pt3 on the day of it being due, around 5 PM, be honest w/yourself and see where you are. if you’re like “it needs 2 more hours” okay. but if you’re like “this is……… not started” email the teacher. they’ll be so much more receptive the earlier you do this in the process. it looks like “i’m genuinely struggling and i hope to finish this on time but i’m worried i won’t” instead of “i started this at 11:58PM and am asking for an extension”. please also just… be honest?
“my teacher won’t accept late work!” they all say that, he probably will, particularly if you have a note from the school therapist being like “lmao she’s got so many mental illnesses idek how to help her”
“no he really doesn’t, he doesn’t care” you can file for disability if you have mental illness, and, in fact, you should if it’s something that often stops you from completing work on time. i didn’t bc i found that it just let me procrastinate for a longer time, but having that on file means you can go to the dean.
“no!!! raquel you’re not listening i have 2 pages and he doesn’t take late work!!!!!!!!!” okay. yeah that’s bad. but nerves, skeleton, meat, skin. what is it that you’re struggling with? is it that your can’t find any quotes to back up your thesis? impossible, tbh, you need to be more willing to purposefully misuse quotes (don’t do that). but the better option is to just change the thesis.
“i don’t even have that!!” did you. do the reading? if you even just watched the movie, you probably have an opinion on something even if it’s “this is bad.” you can use that. use why you didn’t like it to write a hate-fueled examination on how whiny the main character is and why u think the author is trying to point out how miserable cis white boys are to deal with.
“i don’t have enough sources!!!” go to wikipedia’s page about it and look @ the sources. try to like actually read some if you have time but frankly in a hurry a student (me) might be compelled to just slap the source in there.
“how the fuck do i analyze this”. u know how ppl agonize over why an actor breathed in a scene. melt into that kind of thinking. you can literally force the words to mean whatever you want. i’ve talked about word choice so specific that i based a 12-page essay on three separate uses of the words “my dear”. i talked about the possessive “my” and how it developed for like 5 of those pages. and always repeat the thesis like a million times. after every analysis you should talk about how it links to the thesis. that is like a free 3 sentences every paragraph.
“i did all that and it’s still 3 pages too short” quick ways to Beef Him Up: definitions are great in research papers + essays bc you can talk about either word choice or like the definition of every process used in getting the data. also make the conclusion hella informative (it should answer “what does this mean moving forwards” most of the time, tie it into modern life or into the past). thicken ur intro with “here’s a quote from this guy about it and what he personally felt about acid-base titrations”, use a paragraph to talk about the history of the data/book, use a paragraph to talk about the modern reception of the data/book. also look for where you can use two words instead of one even tho like grammatically don’t do that.
worst comes to worst, brevity is the soul of wit. most teachers prefer concise over rambling and all over the place. if you choose to scoot under the page limit, tho, your writing etc needs to be exceptionally clean. frankly i’ve only done this once and it was terrifying
make computer read it aloud 2 u before u submit. “raquel….. i can’t look at it anymore”. you’re not looking @ it, you’re discovering you wrote “breath” not “breathe” and u need to change it
tutoring centers exist, i worked in one, and this is how i know they actually Help and have Good Ideas
ask about extra credit and do it tbh
good luck…. breathe. and remember u are astronomically more important than a grade could ever be.
@madd-catter lots of these apply for not 20 page long essays too and are helpful so…
BS the entire thing. Need to say something that can be said in 3 sentences? Say it in 6.
『03.24.18』 Helloooo!~ Spring Break is going to end soon (but I have an extra day on Monday!) so I hope you had a productive week! If you’ve procrastinated, it’s time for you to work!!!! . 「Quick tip: If you feel a little overwhelmed by your studies, close your books, step out of your room, eat and drink, then go back recharged!~」
February Printables and Downloads
Woohoo! A new month, new downloads!! Here is everything for February!
Printables
2018 yearly overview + monthly breakdown (also includes daily + weekly + monthly planner, 30 habit tracker, class overview and timed worklog)
2018 monthly printables [3 designs, 6 colours]
2018 student planner printable pack
all my printables!
Downloads for Desktop/Tablet (all Monday and Sunday start)
Valentine’s Day [3 designs]
Serif minimalist [black or white]
Sans serif minimalist [black or white]
Motivational quotes [4 designs]
Pastel quotes [4 designs]
Patterned [4 designs]
Nature watercolour [3 designs]
Swatches [3 designs]
Chrevon [5 colours]
Tropical leaf [4 colours]
Marble and pastel [6 colours]
Floral [3 designs]
Downloads for Mobile Phone (all Monday and Sunday start)
Valentine’s Day [3 designs]
Seif minimalist [black or white]
Sans serif minimalist [black or white]
Motivational quotes [4 designs]
Pastel quotes [4 designs]
Patterned [4 designs]
Nature watercolour [3 designs]
Swatches [3 designs]
Chrevon [5 colours]
Tropical leaf [4 colours]
Marble and pastel [6 colours]
Floral [3 designs]
Hope you like them! I’d love to see them in use, so please share and tag me in any pictures on Tumblr or Instagram (@emmastudiess) or Twitter @emmajane1103). If you have me on Snapchat (@emmastudies) and would prefer to send a private picture, please do! :-)
Also, if you want to check out my YouTube, Pinterest, and Etsy printable store (get 10% off any purchase using ‘student10’ discount code!) x
How to study journal (and probably increase productivity)
As requested by some of you who read my post on Types of study methods to suit your current position, here’s how to study journal!
First of all, study journaling is an idea that I came up with somewhere in the beginning of December, and then used it for a week and checked its mechanics - which is why I think I can say that it is a nice way to boost your productivity and academic skills.
And I’m saying academic “skills” because I don’t really think that anyone has any less capability to do well in studies, it’s just a matter of time when you actually realise the right method to study. And once you do that, it’s like bam - you got it!
This idea hit me first when I heard about bullet journaling, and many studyblrs also kept mentioning to keep track of your study sessions and stuff, so I just mixed it all up and conjured this “studyjo” (lol that’s the worse name).
Here’s how you can studyjo :
1. Basic af essentials
A journal, duh.
The whole concept of studyjo is to boost your productivity, not your fancy ish, so picking a cheap ass journal isn’t gonna kill you.
My dad has a thing for collecting diaries and journals, so I usually pick one from the storeroom - which is why the one I used was of the year 2015. I mean, we’re gonna make our own custom calendar inside anyway so it didn’t matter to me.
You want a fancy ass journal? Go for it. A cheap ass composition notebook? Go for it. As long as it has pages and you can access it from your class/college /home/car/train/any spot on earth its eligible!
Writing tools, duh.
Use a brush pen, sharpie, markers or a pencil - doesn’t make a difference as long as it writes well.
So there’s a lot of you guys who think embellishing our notes/bujo is a waste of time, then by all means keep it simple.
I like colours because my eyes automatically want to look at them which complies me to go over my tasks again and again.
Of you think aesthetic is your thing then by all means use it to your advantage.
That doesn’t mean that you’ll stress over maintaining the pretty pages, we’ve already got enough stress to work with.
2. The basic spreads
Yearly calendar
You must have a page for yearly overview, where you can mark down all exam/assignment/project /event dates.
Sometimes the teachers tell us about our assignments 6 months prior too, at that point the monthly spread isn’t helping - use the yearly spread.
I write our finals dates, important exams, any birthdays, college events, orientation dates, class meeting dates, open House dates and holidays, etc in this calendar.
Keep a little notes section below your calendar to write down extremely important stuff that happens through the year.
Motivational quotes (if they help you) are the best to write down here, because you’ll be looking at them throughout the year.
Dashboard
You are a student, which means that sticky notes are your BFF.
I note down all my deadlines on a sticky note (when in college) and put it on my dashboard.
You can also keep any board passes/bits of paper you receive from the school.
Use one of those envelopes as a pocket and store all miscellaneous papers inside it. I also keep some question papers there.
Store flashcards (the thin ones ofc) in that pocket if you’re going to be carrying the journal everywhere with you.
I also keep a list of doubts that I have in some concepts so that when I meet the respective teacher I can just whip out my doubts list and get it cleared.
Monthly spread
This is where you start the planning.
Make a checklist /whatever sort of list you want of all tasks study related that you need to do. This includes assignments, homework, project, studying a topic, study dates, etc.
It’s best if you sort that list subject wise, but mine is just a general list tbh.
Learn how to break down your tasks. If you have a test on Chapter 1 in Friday, do section A of that chapter tomorrow, section B two days later and section C the day after. And make three separate checkboxes for each section.
The smaller the task, the easier it is to accomplish it.
Have 5 checkboxes for a huge task, so that even when you’ve done a portion of the task you’ll feel that sense of achievement when checking it off.
Keep them short and to the point. Nobody is gonna read a huge ass paragraph on completing that math homework.
Study session tracker
The main purpose of studyjo is this tracker.
Everytime you sit down to study, note the time at which you started, the topic you think you’ll study now.
When you finish studying, note the time again and write down what you actually studied.
Rate your study session as per the satisfaction it gives you.
After some sessions you’ll actually want to study because you wanna add another session details to the tracker.
This works - I had three 2 hour sessions in a week because I wanted to add to my list of accomplishments and feel proud of myself.
Leave little comments on what you think you could’ve done to improve the quality of session, or what concepts you want to do next.
3. The not so basic but recommended spreads
Monthly calendar
Good to have a month wise calendar for better planning.
I note all weekly quiz dates and birthdays and upcoming holidays here, along with some plans for posting on this studyblr too!
You can totally try inspiring quotes here, along with some plans for the month.
Add little goals to achieve this month. My goal for December was to master derivatives, and I’m pretty sure I’m doing derivatives better than before.
Goal tracker
This is divided into two parts : major goals - which you add near the yearly spread and baby goals - which you can add near the monthly spread.
Major goals are generalised and just for motivation.
Minor goals are broken down major goals with details of how to achieve it and they’re the ones you actually will achieve too.
My major goal for 2018 is being consistent. I broke it into a minor goal as ‘study session of at least 30 minutes every day’ without missing!
Productivity tracker
Using graphs, charts, tables and other such diagrams to mark every day you think you spent doing something productive is very amazing.
I make a graph of each day that I got some work done, marking the wasted days with read and productive ones with blue/green.
This helps me point out the days where I’m usually not productive (which happens to be Wednesday and Thursday for me) and the days where my work is super flexible and productive (Monday is awesome).
You can fill in boxes for every day you studied for 1 hour minimum or something, if you like.
Project planner
This can be essential too sometimes. This is a spread you dedicate to planning out a long ass essay or a presentation or a speech or maybe a project.
Make tree diagrams/pie charts and write down notes on how you can structure your project - the conclusion, beginning and middle being the skeleton of each project. (want another long ass post on project planning? *everyone groans*).
Make detailed plans for the project and include dates that you can dedicate for the project making and all.
Mark those dates in the monthly calendar if it helps.
4. Random pile of tips
A weekly date strip is very useful for me. I write down the dates of the coming week on a strip of paper and stick it to the margin of my checklist page.
Mention your name and contact on the cover if the journal in case it gets lost.
Use sticky notes to leave little messages for your future self - I write stuff like 'keep going girl you got this’ and 'I’m hella proud of you babe’. It makes you smile lol.
Add a pen pocket to the journal if possible, that’ll make it easy to note things down on the go.
You can keep a mindfulness sort of page where you can dump all your feelings down?
Or a water tracker cuz damn this potato is always dehydrated.
Try writing down why you want to study - to impress the teacher? Get a good grade? Show off to others? Get closer to your career goals?
We all want to do stuff for selfish reasons sometimes, it’s okay if you note them down because what I noticed is that whenever I wrote down stuff like 'prove to them that I’m awesome’ or 'make the bio teacher adore me’ I actually wanted to work towards it. Maybe it’s just me. Worth trying tho.
Keep the last two pages for emergency note taking and instructions given by the teacher just in case you have nothing else atm.
Voila, here - your studyjo is ready!
Do let me know if you found this method useful and feel free to drop by any questions - my inbox is forever open!
1.2.18 first post of 2018!! one of my biggest resolutions this year is to not slack off on posting both here and on my studygram. hope this year treats all of us well and we all move one step closer to our goals!
goodbye 2017 ✌🏼
was studying for sat when suddenly pretty pretty light filtered through my window. i couldnt resist so here it is yall
how come some people can just be …. so focused all the time. where do u get ur motivation from. can i have some
i used to think this, but i’m starting to be able to focus for a whole day and the trick honestly is just lots of little breaks and change of scenery.
I used to study super hard for a 4 hour session then get bored and waste the whole day. But now I study for about two hours with little breaks every 20-40 minutes, then do something like grab lunch with my friends or play squash or take a nap or go on youtube, then keep going like that. I also switch study spaces every couple hours as well when i feel like i need a brain refresh (or right before I feel like I’ll need one).
Some people might like to keep track of it but I sort of just do as I feel. It’s like study a little, play a little. I do use Forest to help me stay focused and keep me going for those extra 10 minutes :)
My grades are telling me to be a trophy wife, but my looks are telling me to study harder.
“If you can’t beat ‘em, party.”
it’s happened to all of us: we’ve failed that test, forgot to hand in an assignment, or just seemed to be horrible at a subject, and in doing so, found ourselves with a less-than-desirable grade. so how do we fix that?
this is the method i’ve used in the past, and i hope it helps you out! they work really well for me, but obviously your mileage may vary.
don’t panic! this doesn’t mean you’re stupid or a failure. even if you end up with a bad grade, it probably won’t matter in the long run. get some perspective. obviously this is much easier said than done, and i’m particularly bad about this haha
find the root cause. why are you stuck with this grade? did you do badly on an important test, paper, or essay? or is it more consistent in that you seem to get mediocre grades on everything? figure out what’s bogging you down so you can fix it.
talk to your teacher. it’s more than likely that your teacher will understand if you talk to them – it shows that you are driven, and care about the class. don’t worry if you’re nervous, just go to them after class or during a study hall, and say that you wanted to talk about a certain test/your grade in the class. if the root cause of your grade is an important assignment, go through what you missed, and if you don’t understand why you missed something, ask them about it!!!! if you just can’t understand the subject, you should let you teacher know as well. obviously, if your teacher is rude or if you don’t feel comfortable talking to them, you don’t need to do this. try asking a parent or friend for help instead.
find your problem areas. now you need to go through all your assignments and see what you tend to get wrong! if it’s more detail-oriented (i.e. dates, percentages, formulas), try using flashcards or repetition to memorize these. if it’s the other way around, and you seem to have issues fitting the big picture together, lighten up on memorization and try drawing diagrams or mind maps.
study smarter. find a well-lit, comfortable place to sit that fits your preferences, and get to work! using the strategies to fix your problem areas detailed in #4, take a look at your material. if you find yourself getting distracted, try to move on to a different subject, find a different study area, or just take a break.
if you are still having problems, talk to someone! tell your teacher/parent/friend that you looked over what you missed and tried harder, but you still aren’t seeing a change. from there, you can get more tips on how to improve.
and that’s basically a general strategy to use! a few miscellaneous tips:
if you tend to not do well on exams but do well on your homework, try to go over the big picture more. also, to make up for them, try really hard not to miss points anywhere else. so you may not do great on the test, but if you do well in assignments, reviews, homework, etc. you can really bring your grade up! not the healthiest tip, but it got me through geometry with an a!
if you have a midterm/final, study really hard for it!! this goes without saying but it can really make or break your grade
try having a snack before you study! it helps if you aren’t thinking about food when you need to study for that final!
listen to music!! i love lofi hip-hop, try one of these livestreams!
so yeah! i hope these tips help you out!! this is my first ever resource post, so please give me tips and let me know how i can improve haha!
- amulya ♡
a small wisdom that I need to remember 🌿
current mood: i’m gonna prove everyone wrong and study hard to be better than the people i hate
current mood: i’m gonna prove everyone wrong and study hard to be better than the people i hate
my masterlist of 'how to life’ tips
Cleaning & Tidying
Make your bed in the morning. It takes seconds, and it’s worth it.
Reset to zero each morning.
Use the UFYH 20/10 system for clearing your shit.
Get a reed diffuser and stick it on your windowsill.
Have a ‘drop-zone’ box where you dump anything and everything. At the beginning/end of the day, clear it out and put that shit away.
Roll your clothes, don’t fold them - or fold them vertically.
Automate your chores. Have a cleaning schedule and assign 15mins daily to do whatever cleaning tasks are set for that day. Set a timer and do it - once the timer is up, finish the task you’re on and leave it for the day.
Fold your clothes straight out of the tumble dryer (if you use one), whilst they’re still warm. This minimises creases and eliminates the need for ironing.
Clean your footwear regularly and you’ll feel like a champ.
Organisation & Productivity
Learn from Eisenhower’s Importance/Urgency matrix.
Try out the two-minute rule and the Pomodoro technique.
Use. A. Planner. (Or Google Calendar, if that’s more your thing.)
Try bullet journalling.
Keep a notebook/journal/commonplace book to dump your brain contents in on the regular.
Set morning alarms at two-minute intervals rather than five, and stick your alarm on the other side of the room. It’s brutal, but it works.
Set three main goals each day, with one of them being your #1 priority. Don’t overload your to-do list or you’ll hit overload paralysis and procrastinate.
If you’re in a slump, however, don’t be afraid to put things like “shower” on your to do list - that may be a big enough goal in itself, and that’s okay.
Have a physical inbox - a tray, a folder, whatever. If you get a piece of paper, stick it in there and sort through it at the end of the week.
Consider utilising the GTD System, or a variation of it.
Try timeboxing.
Have a morning routine, and guard that quiet time ferociously.
Save interesting-looking shit to instapaper. Have a set time where you read through the stuff you saved to instapaper and save the shit that you like from instapaper to evernote (or bookmark it properly).
During your working hours, put on your footwear, even if you’re sat on your bed. (Why?)
Have a folder for all your important documents and letters, organised by topic (e.g. medical, bank, university, work, identification). At the front of this folder, have a sheet of paper with all the key information written on it, such as your GP’s details, your passport details, driving licence details, bank account number, insurance number(s), and so on.
Try using StayFocusd and RescueTime (or similar apps/extensions). (I promise, you’ll find that you’re not as busy as you think you are.)
Schedule working time and down time alike, in the balance that works for you.
Money
Have. A. God. Damn. Budget.
Use a money tracker like toshl, mint, or splitwise. Enter all expenses asap! (You will forget, otherwise.)
Have a ‘money date’ each week, where you sort through your finances from the past seven days and then add it to a spreadsheet. This will help you identify your spending patterns and whether your budget is actually working or not.
Pack your own frickin’ lunch like a grown-up and stop buying so many takeaway coffees. Keep snacks in your bag.
Go to your bank and take out £100 in £1 coins (or w/e your currency is). That shit will come in useful for all kinds of things and you’ll never be short on change for the bus or the laundry.
Food & Cooking
Know how to cook the basics: a starch, a protein, a vegetable, and a sauce.
Simple, one-pot meals (“a grain, a green, and a bean”) are a godsend.
Dried porcini mushrooms make a fantastic stock to cook with.
Batch cook and freeze. Make your own ‘microwave meals’.
Buy dried goods to save money - rice and beans are a pittance. (Remember to soak dried beans first, though!)
Consider Meatless Mondays; it’s healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly.
Learn which fruits and vegetables are cheapest at your store, and build a standard weekly menu around those. (Also remember that frozen vegetables are cheap and healthy.)
Learn seasoning combinations. Different seasoning, even with the exact same ingredients, can make a dish seem completely new.
Don’t buy shit for a one-off recipe, especially if you won’t use it all. If you really want to try out a recipe, see if a friend would be interested in making it with you, then pool for the expenses.
Make your own goddamned pasta sauce. Jamie Oliver has a decent recipe here, but the beauty of tomato sauce is that you can totally wing it and adapt the fuck out of it.
Misc
Have a stock email-writing format.
Want to start running, but find it boring? Try Zombies, Run!.
Keep a goddamn first aid kit and learn how to use it.
Know your OTC pain relief.
Update your CV regularly.
Keep a selection of stamps and standard envelopes for unexpected posting needs. (It happens more regularly than you would think!)
Some final words of advice:
Organisation is not a goal in itself, it is a tool. Don’t get caught up in the illusion of productivity and get distracted from the actual task at hand.
Routines and habits will help you. Trust in them.
You have the potential to be an organised and productive person, just as much as anybody else. It just takes practice.
this is truly excellent 🙌🏻