shower. not a bath, a shower. use water as hot or cold as u like. u dont even need to wash. just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. sit on the floor if you gotta.
moisturize everything. use whatever lotion u like. unscented? dollar store lotion? fancy ass 48 hour lotion that makes u smell like a field of wildflowers? use whatever you want, and use it all over.
put on clean, comfortable clothes.
put on ur favorite underwear. cute black lacy panties? those ridiculous boxers u bought last christmas with candy cane hearts on the butt? put em on.
drink cold water. use ice. if u want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost.
clean something. doesn’t have to be anything big. organize one drawer of ur desk. wash five dirty dishes. do a load of laundry. scrub the bathroom sink.
blast music. listen to something upbeat and dancey and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. sing to it, dance to it, even if you suck at both.
make food. don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. take the time and make food. even if it’s ramen. add something special to it, like a hard boiled egg or some veggies. prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something.
make something. write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. even if you don’t think you’re good at it.
go outside. take a walk. sit in the grass. look at the clouds. smell flowers. put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.
call someone. call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. talk to a stranger on the street. have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. if you can’t, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. even if you don’t say much, listen to them.
cuddle your pets if you have them/can cuddle them. take pictures of them. talk to them. tell them how u feel, about your favorite movie, a new game coming out.
It’s not often you see depression tips that are actually useful on this hellsite, these are all good though. Also good things to do (depressed or not) if you’re feeling lethargic or can’t focus!
Tumblr is showing me ads (in Portuguese) about home recepies to lose weight, when I have actually been avoiding any type of ads about weight because I am struggling because of weight gain from medication. This place has a large pro-ana movement. I feel like tumblr ads are never what I look for, the algorithm here is shit, but to keep saying they are constantly improving their website so they can get better ad revenue is just bs. They want that $ and that's all. Then they pretend to care about people in risk?
When people ask you to improve your website, but you never finish what you start. That's why post+ seemed so unreliable. Because tumblr is unreliable.
The ad says: "homemade recepy to boost weight loss is the new bet to "dry out". New protocol for weight loss is approved by women all over the country. Know more (on the button)"
I am a Psychology MSc student at a Dutch university. I currently have an 8.5 GPA which is roughly equivalent to a 4.0. I've studied in the Netherlands for almost 4 years now and I thought I would put together some tips on how to maintain good grades and stay organized. While I hope this is helpful, please keep in mind that these tips just come from my experience!
Study smart, not hard
There was a time during my studies when I wouldn't take any notes in class and my exam preparation focused on re-reading summaries and lecture notes. While this sounds like a stupid idea, the main reason I did this was that I only had multiple choice exams for most of my bachelor's. Would I have done better if I would have been able to reproduce all materials in my own words? Probably. But for MC exams, the most important skill to develop is being able to recognize concepts not to reproduce them.
Of course, I don't want to encourage you not to take notes or only re-read and highlight during exam preparation. However, before preparing for an exam, you should always ask yourself: What is expected of me? Do you need to recognize buzz words? You might be fine with re-reading. Do you need to explain complicated concepts in your own words? Active recall is your friend. Do you need to write a piece of code on the fly? Do some practice problems.
It's very important to get crystal clear on what is asked of you in an exam and spend time practicing that skill. Else, you risk wasting your time or even worse getting bad grades because you only re-read your notes for a test that requires you to put concepts into your own words.
Fry the big fish first
Before I start a new year, I make an overview of each subject I will be taking. How many credits is each subject worth? What is the breakdown for each subject? How much of your grade comes from the exam? This gives you an indication of what you need to spend the most time on.
For example, I had to do an internship during the first year of my master's. The internship report was worth 21 credits, which is more than a third of the credits for the entire year. Naturally, I spent a lot of time doing this and making sure it was good. I actually managed to pull up my GPA a little bit just because the report was worth that much.
Practice your writing
Now, this might not apply to all courses, but if you study at university, chances are you will have to write a thing or two. Even if you don't like writing, here are a few tips:
Stick to the formatting guidelines. In psychology, we use APA guidelines, which detail the structure of a paper, fonts, title formatting, and much more. It's super tedious but also an easy way to get down-graded if you don't stick to it. Make sure that you know what is expected and follow it. The same goes for word counts.
Know what your professor wants. Sort of contrary to the first point, but some professors have special rules that they want you to stick to. When in doubt, I would always follow what the person grading you tells you to do, even if it goes against some official guideline.
Get feedback on your writing. For example, write a couple of paragraphs using different writing styles (e.g. formal vs. informal) and have your professor check them to see which style they prefer. You might not always get the chance to do this, but if you can definitely get some feedback. You could also use office hours or ask if it is okay to submit a draft to get more feedback.
Learn more about how to write. Believe it or not, I've had several classes on how to write throughout my four years at university. I don't consider myself a good writer at all, but these classes have shown that there are certain tips that anyone can use to become a better writer. The book Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace offers a good idea of what you could improve if you need to do academic writing.
Use a spell and grammar checker (I use Grammarly).
Proof-read. Always.
Get organized
To be fair, this is probably the one I struggled most with throughout the last years. Again I would like to give a few examples:
Have a calendar. Or two. Have a central place where you keep all of your deadlines. Take some time at the beginning of the semester to create an overview. I personally use Google Calendar, which allows me to import all of my lectures and course deadlines.
Time block. I've only very recently started using this method but it is a real game-changer. Whatever you plan on doing, put it into our agenda with a designated time frame. For example, I planned on learning Python this summer. Now instead of just winging it, I always put it into my Google calendar.
Have a central to-do list. This is such a good tip when you feel overwhelmed, too. Just take an empty sheet of paper and write out EVERYTHING you need to do. Once you have done this you can sort according to urgency and start making a schedule. The crucial point is to not use your brain as a to-do list, but an external system that you can rely on.
Prepare. This ties into some of the previous points. I use the summer holidays to prepare for the next year. I write out requirements for each class, read through the syllabus, and check out if there is some required reading so I can get a head start on. It can make the first few weeks a lot less stressful.
Learn about learning
I'm big on self-help and I watch a ton of studytubers and follow studyblrs and studygrams. Of course, it is entertaining, but it has also inspired me in so many different ways and quite literally changed my life.
In this post, I tried to put together a comprehensive guide with what has worked for me. However, everyone is different and chances are not everything that works for me will work for you. This is why it's so important to gather inspiration from different sources. When you encounter a study tip: Try it out, see if it works for you. If it does, great. You just found yourself a new strategy. If not, just let it go. At least now you know what doesn't work and you have gained some experience.
If you're looking for a place to start, I absolutely adore Ruby Granger and I've learned a lot from Ali Abdaal. I can also recommend @lovelybluepanda, who is one of the main reasons I got into languages.
Thank you for reading through this long post & happy studying!
This one’s been a while in the making and went through a few revisions, but here it is finally! I took a different approach to this post in both design and writing. Hope it will be helpful for you all! :)
All text and graphics are created by me, Sal @blueplaidstudies.
