Death By IB -The girl went and completed it

cause of death:IB currently studying my second year of IB. EconomicsHL, PsychologyHL, GermanHL, EnglishSL, MathsSL and BiologySL this will mostly be a blog of revision notes and useful things for me and my subjects but also an update of the struggles of ib.

[ibsucksass]

if you want to keep up to date with my uni studyblr and just life in general, follow @lifeofemma, i use that account and the study insta associated with it more xox

[ibsucksass]

gonna delete this account. IB was a big part of my life but that ended over two years ago and I haven't used this account properly in over 2 years.

[lifeofemma]

Today I created a new yearly already in my new leuchturm 1917. I’m so excited to start using this in October when I go back to uni. Summers been good but I’m ready to start studying again 😊

I also created some monthly spreads and a timetable for my classes at uni - more posts to come

Also posted on my Instagram @Emisstudying_ feel free to check it out 💕

Emma (@emisstudying_) • Instagram photos and videos

94 Followers, 143 Following, 18 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Emma (@emisstudying_)

[ibsucksass]

Love this 💕

[ibsucksass]

YA GIRL IS AT UNI AND STUDYING LIKE NEVER BEFORE

[ibsucksass]

Guess whose leuchtturm just arrived in time for uni. 2 days to go!! Now I need to set this up with calendars, timetables and weekly spreads for the first week of fresher's at least, any recommendations for speeds pre starting would great Thanks

[contrast]

[ibsucksass]

I love this

[intellectys]

Since it’s the beginning of the school year and so many of us are going to university for the first time, I thought a masterpost on handling homesickness might be helpful, since I’m sure I’m going to need it!

Before you go

Tips

Get excited about going! Research fun things to do and think positively about moving. Make a list of all the things you want to when you get there, and other upsides of going away.

Meet other people who will be there. If you already know a friend going, great! If not, try talking to your roommate or people in your college’s Facebook group so there’s someone familiar.

Take bits & bobs from home with you. Mementos are a great way to connect your old home to your new one!

Connect with your family & friends on social media. Having a way to keep them updated & see what you’re doing without fixating on constantly texting them keeps you just connected enough.

Links

‘Inoculating’ Yourself Against Homesickness

8 Ways to Prevent Homesickness at University

Separation Anxiety: On Feeling Homesick

While you’re there

Tips

Try and get out of your room. Your life won’t get any easier without friends, and you won’t make any friends from staying cooped up inside! Take part in some extracurriculars to give yourself a reason to get out.

Remember you’re not alone. It might feel that way, but everyone else is away from home, too. Talk to some new friends or your uni’s counselling service and stay positive.

Get to know your new city! Make your surroundings more familiar by volunteering, going sightseeing, or exploring with friends. Make the most of all the new opportunities that are available!

Links

Save The Student

10 Tips for Managing Homesickness

Feeling Homesick? Try These Tips

26 Ways to Reduce Homesickness

Staying in touch

Tips

Don’t overdo it. The best way to make yourself feel more homesick is by reminding yourself of home, so get to the point that you’re spending more time with your new friends than on the phone with your parents.

Ask for a care package! Get your parents to send a package once you’ve been there a while to give you a taste of home you can anticipate.

Try scheduling regular calls. Putting calls on a calendar forces you to strike a better balance, and also gives you something to look forward to. 

Ask your family to not communicate quite as much. Morning texts from mum can be a constant reminder from where you aren’t, so even though your parents are anxious for you, try asking them to leave you be a little more so you can settle in. 

Links

50 College Care Package Ideas

Best Apps for Free Video Chats

The Best Way for Adult Children & Parents to Communicate

[burn-the-whole-house-down]

Did you ever realize how much your body loves you? It’s always trying to keep you alive. It’s making sure you breathe while you sleep, stopping cuts from bleeding, fixing broken bones, finding ways to beat the illnesses that might get you. Your body literally loves you so much. It’s time you start loving it back.

[treadtheworld-deactivated201603]

Fuck. I needed this.

[ibsucksass]

Holy shit this was needed

[angel-macabre]

“jealousy is so disgusting” “anger is so toxic” did u know? these are emotions every human has

[cpt-glasses]

I’ve always been a fan of an analogy I heard once. Your emotions are like one of the lights on your car’s dash. When one of them turns on, it means you need to check under the hood and fix them. It’s not bad that the light turned on, per se, and it doesn’t always mean something is broken. But what IS toxic, dangerous, and likely to break something, is when you let that light stay on, pretending it’s normal, until that braking fluid finally fails and you crash into someone, or your engine fails completely.

Feel jealous. Feel anger. 

Just don’t let it fester. You need to look inside of yourself, find out why you’re feeling the way you are, and bring yourself to a satisfied, stable state of mind. You can look at philosophy, meditation/introspection, religion, or actual therapy, or at least talking to someone about it. You’ll find you’re much more content and happy when you do something about those feelings, and come to some sort of conclusion or resolution.

[mistersaturn123]

That is a  wonderful way of looking at it, thankyou. Makes me feel better about myself when I DO feel that way.

[khanos-deactivated20170219]

life hack: do ur readings and go to class

[ibsucksass]

Gonna need this at college

[queen-haiz]

i love Legally Blonde so much. all of the women are so supportive of each other im??

when Elle was supposed to get engaged, none of the girls were jealous, they were genuinely happy for her n helped her get ready for the big dinner

when her bf broke up with her they were supportive

when Elle says she wants to go to harvard the counselor lady is like but ur major is fashion, do u have any backup plan? n elle is like nope im going to harvard n the lady is like okay then here’s what u gotta do.

her friends didnt get why she wanted to go to law school but supported her anyway, and helped her study

when she got 179 on her exam (more than her goal), they treated her like a queen

and that’s only in the first 18 minutes of the movie

[deviousdiggy]

Legally Blonde is a “girl power” movie with killer inspirational and positive attitude disguised as a stereotypical blonde movie.

[badwitchtips]

pros of drinking tea: it tastes good, warms the soul, magical

cons: ive peed 15 times today

[ibsucksass]

Planning course details and stuff before I go because I don't have time for this during fresher's

[mrssharpsplace]

I needed this.

[designyoself]

Me too. 

[chasoul-]

!!!!

[emmastudies]

As you probably already know, many studyblrs rely on bullet journaling to organise their day-to-day lives. I have received numerous questions about bulleting journaling ranging from how to start one to whether there is a limit of who can use it. In an attempt to summarise everything to do with bullet journals, I’ve created this post! I’m hoping to outline each possible question you could have and provide some answers.

What is bullet journaling? Bullet journalling is a customisable organisational tool which uses indicators to map out and prioritise your monthly, weekly and/or daily tasks. It can be a planner, a to-do list, a sketchbook, and a notebook. There is no limit to what it can be. You are in total control. Bulletjournal.com is a great place to start if you’re looking to find out more!

How is it better than a planner? This is very dependent on you as a person and what organisational tools you find to be most effective. If you find planners restricting in terms of customisation or layout, then bullet journaling is perhaps a good alternative. Many people enjoy the freedom and creative outlet which it gives. 

Can anyone do it?  Yes, absolutely. I’ve received messages from people saying they aren’t artistically talented and therefore don’t think they can be a bullet journalist but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Using a bullet journal doesn’t require you to be an artist. I certainly am not and still use it! I choose very simple spreads without the fancy calligraphy, doodles or complicated designs. The important thing to remember is that it is usefulness over aesthetics!!

What notebook do I need? Any notebook is perfect - that choice is yours to make. Most bullet journalists use either grid or dotted paged notebooks. However, others choose to use blank or lined ones. I personally use grid notebooks - I find this easiest to write. Whilst the brand of your notebook doesn’t matter, popular ones include Moleskine, Leuchtturm1917 or Rhodia. I use the Arc Customisable Notebook by Staples in A5 for my bullet journal. I find it offers everything other notebooks would but, instead, uses a discbound system which means you can add and remove paper. The refill paper is also thicker than other brands so bleeding or ghosting aren’t a problem. Here are some pictures of my bullet journal in case you don’t know what a discbound notebook looks like!

Everyone differs in the notebook they prefer so do some research and figure out one that might work for you. A couple of tips for choosing would be, find a design that lays flat (I seriously hate when notebooks don’t!) and find one which doesn’t have really thick/dark lines. If they are dark it can sometimes be difficult to see your writing at a quick glance, especially if you use a black pen. 

What supplies do I need? Again, there is no set supplies. You can use anything you fancy. I tend to stick with using a black Pilot G2 in 0.38 and Zebra Mildliners. Other people will use coloured pens to differentiate between subjects or special brush pens for headers. Some people also choose to decorate their spreads with stickers, washi tape and post it notes. Your choice of supplies is totally up to you - again there is no set requirement!! It is also worth noting that you shouldn’t feel pressured into buying anything just because it is popular! 

Once I’ve gathered everything, where do I start? The best way to start is by planning a few pages to go at the front of your notebook. Some people choose to start with a contents page and therefore will number each page throughout their journal. Usually, they will begin with a yearly overview or yearly breakdown. Followed by an index page where you write out the key that you’ll follow. It can be a comprehensive list or just a couple of symbols, your choice. Here are some examples. Other popular pages include yearly goals, a to-read or to-watch list, habit trackers (e.g. for mood, sleep, grades, exercise, etc), expenses lists. Here are some photos of my 2017 bullet journal and a run-down of all the pages I’ve included and plan to include during the year. Once you’ve done the initial set-up, you can get onto making either your monthly, weekly and/or daily spreads!

What other pages can I include? This is a really limitless question. You can make absolutely anything you desire. Here are a few more ideas:

pages for habit tracking:

sleeping on time; chores; exercise; spending (e.g. under $10); mood; skin care routine; water intake; updated your social media; eat fruit/something healthy; complimenting someone; did an act of kindness; using a new word; did over the recommended 10,000 steps; read at least one chapter; practiced your hobby; ‘don’t break the chain’; 100 days of productivity; 

pages to log:

movie review; music reviews; book reviews; travel; dreams; future goals; expenses; gratitude log; sentence-a-day log; tv series episode tracker; weight gain/loss/maintain; follower count; savings; accomplishments; upcoming releases; self-care practice;

pages for fun:

pen swatches; washi tape samples; doodles/sketchbook; movie tickets; flower press; photographs/polaroids; stickers; quotes; recipes; playlists; bucket list; favourite lyrics; ‘fuck it’ page (rant about things that annoy you); jokes/puns; diary; concert ticket pages; outfit inspiration/ideas; handwriting samples; six word stories; writing prompts;

pages of use:

contact information for family/friends; birthdays; gift ideas; wishlist; important events; emails/passwords (don’t write your full passwords! just easy hints); discount codes/coupons; random reflections; self-care tips; mental health tracker;

pages for planning:

monthly overviews; monthly goals; monthly reflections; weekly spread; weekly goals; weekly reflections; daily spread; daily goals; daily reflections; (just to clarify I wouldn’t suggest doing all of them but maybe a monthly overview + review and then weekly or daily spreads)

pages for students: 

exam dates; semester dates; semester information (e.g. course info/teacher/rooms/etc); revision checklist; homework tracker; colour code; assessment due dates; grade tracker; definitions; achievements;  

Where can I find inspiration? Here, there and everywhere! Tumblr is full of it, Pinterest has loads of boards dedicated to spreads and Instagram has the entire bullet journal community to look at (and join!!). Below are a few places to look at:

my bullet journal tag

my bullet journal pinterest board

bullet journals on pinterest

bullet journals on instagram

Any final tips for beginners? Just give it a go! Test it out, see how you like it. Play around with different layouts and spreads. Find out what works for you and what doesn’t. It is all about improving your own organisation and productivity. If it turns out you don’t like it, try another method of organisation!

Hopefully, this post has answered a few questions if you’ve been thinking about starting a bullet journal. It’s a great way to organise yourself whilst customising it exactly to your needs! If you want to, you can share your own spreads! Remember to use the #bulletjournal or #bujo tags!

Thank you so much for reading! If you’ve started a bullet journal that you’d like me to reblog, tag #emmastudies in the post!

Other masterposts by me:

how to create a study schedule

how to improve your handwriting

how to deal with moving schools or university

how to create a colour code

how to take notes from a textbook

how to take effective in class/lecture notes

popular apps for students

step-by-step guide to writing a five-paragraph essay

10 small tips to improve your productivity

60 stationery brands to check out

school and university related tv shows and movies

microsoft oneone tutorial

my note taking system

[userobiwan]

okay but elle woods though

had a 4.0 as an undergrad

got a 179 on her LSATs when a 180 is a perfect score

got into HARVARD LAW SCHOOL which is one of the most prestigious law schools in the country

after she’s humiliated by several professors and peers alike instead of quitting elle makes up her mind that she is going to kick law school’s ass

refused to reveal a secret told to her in confidence even though it would have advanced her career 

is an amazing friend who not only helps her friend get her dog back from her deadbeat ex, but she also helps her friend meet a new man 

instead of competing with her ex’s new girl friend the two of them eventually become best friends and ditch the jerk together

even after following her ex to harvard in an attempt to win him back, elle realizes that he’s a jerk and she’s so much better than him

turns down said jerk when he comes crawling back

wins her first trial using not only ingenious deductive reasoning and her knowledge of fashion and proves that she is not a helpless “dumb blonde”

elle woods though

[ibsucksass]

My absolute idol

[your-instructions-from-moscow]

if you’re reading this, it’s too late

I already sent good vibes your way… they’re coming. there’s nothing you can do to stop them

[everystarstorm]

This is the most threatening way I’ve ever been cheered up.