by a horrible procrastinator
keep things realistic. you may think you can read 200 pages of jane eyre in one night, and honestly, you could…but you won’t unless that essay that’s 30% of your grade is due, you know, tomorrow.
you know your habits better than anyone. try to work around what you know you’re going to do. can you read about 25 pages without getting totally bored/sidetracked? well, make yourself do that. it’s only 25 pages, right?
try to accomplish one thing every day. don’t ever let your day slip away from you without doing anything. even if that “one accomplishment” is making a stupid text post on tumblr or revising your notes or washing your sheets…just be productive!
this is especially important for those of you with mental illness! having a “zero day” can really plummet your mood or set you in an unproductive rut.
if you really feel like you need a day to just chill out, napping can count as your accomplishment
don’t push studying off! you’ve probably heard this one a million times, but seriously. don’t. you’re not going to retain 10 weeks worth of information with one study session…okay, maybe you can, but do you really want to?
the best, low-effort way of remembering information is to, at first, review it often. right after you learn the material, review it a couple times during the week. maybe re-write your notes that weekend. then, the next week, visit one or two times, just glazing over parts you don’t really remember well. then, maybe once every two weeks, etc…by the time you get to finals, you’ll be familiar with all the information! trust me, it works.
organize your to-do’s. personally, i make a huge to-do list for the entire week. then, i delegate different ‘levels’ of urgency to it (see below.) you can do this however you want, but i do it this way to help me visualize how lazy i can be and not pay for it…
i tend to organize it by these ‘categories’ / ‘urgent levels’
is there a quiz on the material due soon
how likely is there to be a pop quiz
what’s my grade in the class like / how badly do i need that ‘a’
does the homework/assignment need to be turned in
studyspo helps. okay, i know this is kind of obvious considering i’m a studyblr, but… you see that notebook you just bought? isn’t it fucking adorable? don’t you want to make some sweet, sweet note-love to it? you know you do.
don’t spend too much time setting up your work space or browsing tumblr. seriously. you know when you’re overstepping.
have some nice playlists. preferably with music you already know! if you don’t know the song already, chances are it’s just going to become a distraction.
8tracks is a great site for this! you can make your own mixes or take a listen to one of the many, many study / chill playlists available. again, take a listen to the track on your way to class or whatever before actually trying to study with it on.
instrumentals + classical + video game music are the standard
get organized. messy = stressy. seriously. organize your desk, organize your notes. even if it’s not really your style, at least try to keep things ‘in your personal order.’ try to pretend you have your shit together. you will be so much more productive & confident if you feel in control of your situation.
if you’re a perfectionist, you may want to disregard this. really. you don’t want to put ‘tidiness’ above productivity.
taking pictures of your awesome, super-nice work space is awesome motivation. give that illusion of productivity. become tumblr famous.
if you can afford it, matching stationary and cute shit like that is super awesome feeling. it makes studying aesthetically satisfying.
take care of yourself. brush your teeth, put on that nice-smelling lotion, drink water. eating healthy foods, getting some exercise, all that good shit people tell you to do…it really is important. it’s kind of hard to focus or remain motivated if you’re miserably bloated & haven’t showered in 3 days.
especially for my neurod or mentally ill followers!
repeat after me: IT’S OKAY. IT’S OKAY. we all fuck up. you’re allowed to fuck up. sometimes assignments don’t get done, sometimes we don’t do as well on tests as we’d like. it’s okay. you’re okay.
recovery. alright, so, now that we’ve accepted that we’re human beans who sometimes grow upside-down…
cuddle in a blanket, and write down what you think you did wrong. did you not study enough? do you need to go to your professors office hours? write down your ideas.
let your failure motivate you! you hit your lowest point, alright? now you can focus on doing better, even if it’s just a few points difference.
you can do some things wrong. you don’t need to get an A every single time. did you understand 50% of the material? well, that’s halfway there!
you’re not going to be perfect at everything. we all have growing pains.
well, that’s all i have to say. keep growing towards the sun, kids.
