Studyblr

Hi peoples! Welcome to my corner of the internet, where I post about my experiences living in a new country (Netherlands) and studying Computer Science. I mostly reblog a buch of studyblr stuff though

[fuckyeahyoga]

[universtudy]

How to Never Fall Behind in Classes

Alternatively titled: How to Use Your Planner or How Organization and Discipline Will Get You Better Grades

This is my full guide on how to use your planner effectively and make sure that you are never missing deadlines or falling behind in classwork and homework. This is definitely more about the university level and works best with a dated planner, rather than a bullet journal. Let’s get started! 

Get all of your syllabi together and write down dates. Go through one class at a time and mark down all of your major tests and assignment due dates. I recommend putting these dates into the monthly and weekly views, and perhaps coming up with a symbol or other indicator that tells you they are of utmost importance. 

Make a weekly schedule of when to complete readings and do a weekly review of notes. Instead of trying to randomly decide when to do these things, assign a date for each task for each class. If you have a tutorial on Tuesday, do the assigned readings for it every Wednesday. I recommend scheduling one to two weekly tasks per day, and to leave a few days open, whether it be weekends or days when you have a lot of classes.

Make a master list of assignments. I find that sometimes, even having due dates in the calendar view isn’t enough, and they can still sneak up on you. The master list will be a good place to double check if you have any deadlines approaching easily. 

In the week or so before a due date, create a checklist of smaller tasks needed to complete the assignment. Set individual due dates for each smaller task by working backwards from the due date. Smaller tasks may include finding sources, making an outline, writing a rough draft, and editing and adding references to create a final copy. Write the smaller tasks into your daily to-do list. 

You can also do this with studying for tests, but the checklist would look slightly different. You could either sort by study method (first do flashcards, then do essay outlines, etc.) or sort by the topics you need to study. 

Stick to the schedule you have made. Obviously, if something comes up and you need to move your to-do list around, do so! But if you aren’t doing anything and you see readings on your list of daily tasks.. do them. Having the plan set out like this makes it easier for you to remain disciplined. 

Why use this method? 

By creating a schedule for repeated weekly tasks like completing readings, you make sure that you can’t repeatedly push off smaller tasks until you are weeks behind. I don’t think it is very reliable to just will yourself to do readings, or to keep up with them without tracking it. 

By writing down all of your due dates, you will never be shocked to find out something is due the night before. You will know and you will be prepared. 

By creating smaller checklists of tasks to complete before a major test or assignment, you will never find yourself in a situation where you have an essay due in a few days and haven’t even started. You will be following a timeline and making sure you don’t have to rush.

I know this system may seem rigorous, but planning is the only way you can keep on top of your workload in university! Falling behind is a lot harder if you are organized and disciplined, and being on top of your workload will help you a lot when it comes to exam times… no cramming and all-nighters if you have been consistent all semester! 

[jasperstudies]

listen, the studyblr community can be a wonderful place - but there’s this emphasis on absolute perfection that really doesn’t help a lot of students dealing with other issues on top of their studies. here are five unconventional study tips that might not fit the studyblr aesthetic but have helped me get straight as whilst learning to live with mental health and family problems too!

1. don’t study whilst commuting

i walk to school, so posts about studying on the bus just aren’t helpful - i don’t have the option to do that! even if i’m taking the train somewhere, the last thing on my mind is studying. i’m thinking about my bed and how early it is and whether or not my coffee is cool enough to drink without burning myself yet. not all of us can start working the second we’re awake, and that’s okay!

instead: record your lessons and listen to them as you travel!

even if you’re not paying attention, you’ll remember more than you think! this is especially useful for languages - i recorded myself reading a few essays and listened to them as i walked, which made noticing grammatical errors so much easier!

2. don’t rewrite all your notes

i love the studyblr aesthetic as much as anyone, but i honestly don’t have the time to write out pages and pages of notes in the hope of gaining a few followers. of course it’s nice to have pretty-looking notes, but when you have a huge list of tasks to do, it can become a way of procrastinating work that’s actually needed for a grade.

instead: organise your class notes!

check the material you’ll study before the lesson! if you’re into the brush lettering aesthetic, write out or print titles off ahead of class so you can stick them on your page without having to waste valuable lesson time drawing them. plus, knowing what you’re going to study before you actually come to it means you can prepare a list of questions to ask the teacher and improve your understanding of the subject! this way, you’ll have organised, clear notes from the beginning, so you won’t have to copy anything out at home.

3. don’t buy expensive stationery

i know everyone seems to have those tombow brush pens and leuchtturm journals. as someone who can’t afford them, trust me when i say i get how it feels. but spending money on expensive products (especially ones you don’t know how to use) is just counterproductive - your grades won’t magically go up if you start shopping at muji.

instead: try budget alternatives!

would you buy a £90 contour kit if you’d never used foundation before? the same goes for stationery! substitute for cheaper products from your local stationery stores whilst you get a feel for what’s helpful for you, not what anyone else has. for example, i tried so many types of pens before realising that my writing’s nicest with gel pens, so now i let myself get more expensive ones - but i didn’t waste more than £5 figuring this out because i’m #cheap. this list of popular studyblr dupes is constantly being added to if you really need to try something, but stressing about your stationery is not going to help you in the slightest.

4. don’t worry too much about being organised

look, we’d all like to be organised, but i’m an adult who’s lived with depression since i was thirteen, and i know it’s not always possible to have that pinterest-ready study den. sometimes your homework will be done on a bed that’s not been made in weeks of it’s going to be done at all, and that’s okay.

instead: do what you can.

had a bad day? stick on some guns n roses and do the work later. too exhausted to function? just finish that last maths problem and go to bed. it’s okay to not have a picture perfect lifestyle - most of the people who post those photos don’t have it either. just do what you have to do to get through the week.

5. don’t ignore your mental health

there’s such a weird culture of perfectionism here and it’s so damaging! of course no one has to post about their personal lives on their studyblrs - but please don’t let that lead you to believe it’s not important. this mentality of “everything is fine and i must be perfect” isn’t healthy.

instead: talk about how you feel!

it doesn’t have to be on your studyblr, but if you’re feeling suffocated by pressure to achieve, or you think you’re depressed, or you’re just going through a tough time and need to vent, talk to someone! bottling things up is not a healthy way to live life - believe me, i’ve tried it. it doesn’t work. there are so many impressionable young people here and we need to stop acting like our studies are all we can ever be.

i’m not trying to “call out” anyone who finds the minimalist note taking and study devotion helpful - everyone here is different, and i’m glad it works for you! but not all of us can do that, so this is for the people who can’t.

[grilledcheese-samwich-deactivat]

words of advice from a senior in college: - good grades are important, but so is experience. your 4.0 is exceptional, but your resume is an entire page and that incredible gpa takes up very little space. so take full advantage of internships, clubs, research opportunities, volunteer work, anything you can that pertains to your major. you’ll thank yourself when you start applying for jobs. - if you are passionate about a club or organization that has nothing to do with your future career path, that is perfectly okay! stick with it every year, hold leadership positions, do the best you can in it. the passion, leadership, and loyalty speaks volumes. - get to know the professors in your major classes and let them get to know you too. go talk to them, even if you don’t have any questions about the class. one day you’re going to need references and letters of recommendations and their words carry weight. - learn how to study. it’s different for everyone. if studying with other people is unproductive for you, then don’t feel bad about not going to the study group that your classmates organized. studying hard is good, but studying smart is better. - sometimes you have to stay in and study for your huge exam while your friends go out to dinner. but sometimes you just have to say screw it and go with them anyway. you’re in college to learn, but the spontaneous late night runs to taco bell is something you’ll cherish for a lifetime. - if your college has some sort of career center, take advantage of it. they can help you with your resume, your interview skills, your cover letter, everything. they can point you in the direction of internships and companies that are hiring. career centers are incredible resources that your tuition paid for, so you might as well use it. - always keep an umbrella, a water bottle, and some snacks in your backpack. you’ll thank yourself. - in every class, make at least one friend and get their number. it’s helpful to have someone in your classes that can send you notes if you overslept or can clarify assignments. these people are absolutely crucial – they will save your butt more times than once. - if you come really close to making that grade that you really needed on a certain exam, don’t give up on it. follow through. don’t email your professor – go talk to them about it. see where you went wrong, understand the mistakes that you made and explain to them why the question tricked you. tell them that the question you missed will keep you from making a certain grade in the class. don’t beg them for mercy, don’t ask them to boost your grade. groveling isn’t as appealing as a student who is genuinely interested to see where they went wrong. teachers appreciate students who care enough to follow up. and they just might end up changing your grade because of it. it’s happened to me before. and if they don’t end up changing it, then you did all that you could. the world will go on. i promise. - before an interview, go into a bathroom stall and assume a superhero pose. legs apart, hands on your hips, head held high. hold it for a couple minutes. this boosts your testosterone and lowers your cortisol, which increases your confidence and decreases anxiety. after the pose, do a little dance with your limbs out long. i don’t know if this does anything for you physiologically, but it helps with the jitters. take a few deep breaths and tell yourself you got this one in the bag. it may sound silly but it really works, i swear by it. - make the most of these 4 years. i know you’ve heard people say it goes by fast, but you don’t realize how fast it’s gone until you’re two months away from your graduation and your mind is completely blown. so milk it for all it’s worth and don’t waste any time – start the first day of your freshman year. put yourself out there, try something new, make mistakes, meet as many people as you can, go to the football games and the basketball games and the equestrian meets, stay up all night and climb the buildings on campus and watch the sunrise, go to the library during finals week even though it’s crowded - there’s this odd comfort and unity that comes from being among all the other stressed out students, study hard, play hard, don’t wish away your week and look forward to the weekend – use every single day as an opportunity to do something you’ll remember, something you’ll thank yourself for, something new. - the moral of the story is that you have four years to do everything you possibly can so that when graduation is right around the corner, you can look back and have zero regrets – or maybe a couple drunken ones, but no need to dwell on those. you did it and you did it well. that’s the feeling you want.

[shinelikethunder]

Userscripts: hey newbie coders, wanna feel like a goddamn wizard?

Following on the ten-line fix for Tumblr’s fuckery I threw together earlier tonight… for anyone who’s dipped their toes into programming but doesn’t know where to go next, writing Greasemonkey scripts is an excellent way to get hands-on coding experience.

It’s centered on small, concrete tasks with actual meaningful results on the websites you use day-to-day. No artificial coding exercises. Just go out and fix something that annoys you.

The resulting sense of power is… somewhat intoxicating. Also, your friends will think you’re a wizard. A wizard who goes around relieving the everyday frustrations of people stuck on a website that doesn’t meet its users’ needs.

You get to monkey around with the products of other people’s real-world web development. This will expose you to all kinds of widespread conventions and practices that you’ll never find in tutorials. It will also expose you to the messiness and occasional pants-on-head stupidity of other people’s code, an experience that’s equal parts aggravating and reassuring.

It’s low-overhead. No compilers or interpreters to install, no libraries to download, no web-framework boilerplate needed to get started, no convoluted build-and-deploy process to actually get the thing running. Literally all you need is a browser extension you might already have installed, and you can sit there with the “New script” editor open in one tab and the page you’re tinkering with open in another, making tiny changes and hitting “refresh” to see what comes up on the Javascript console if you try this.

So, newbie coders: go out and try something! Write a small cosmetic fix for something annoying on a site you visit regularly. Write your own blacklist script for a site that doesn’t have one. Write a dumbass word-replace script for pure entertainment. Break your Tumblr dash in new and entertaining ways. Ferret around in the page source and the site’s API documentation to see all the hidden metadata you could add to the UI. On Tumblr, check out the “data-json” HTML attribute that comes with every post on your dash, and fool around with it: hide non-original posts, hide everything but your own posts, display NSFW posts with a different background color.

You will have to learn some Javascript, which is a pain in the ass, but a vital skill in any kind of web development. Like English, it’s omnipresent, easy to pick up some basics and cobble them together into something atrocious that gets the job done, and fractally infuriating as you delve into advanced uses and getting the details right. Which is fine for our purposes, because dumb hacks are the bread and butter of Greasemonkey scripts. I’d also recommend looking at jQuery, because grabbing the elements you want to tinker with on a page that has eldritch horrors lurking in its page source is a nightmare in straight Javascript. jQuery has a bad rap in heavy-duty web development, but for DOM traversal and manipulation on random third-party websites, it’s a lifesaver.

(Caveat: dumb hacks are not heavy-duty web development, and when/if you decide to start leveling up, you will want to put in the fractally-infuriating effort of learning how to get the details right. Fucking around, breaking shit, and writing terrible hacky code on your own time is how you get good. But learning some best practices before you start contributing to larger projects is how you avoid being the one who unleashes the eldritch horrors that everyone else then has to deal with.)

For people who are not coders, but are theme developers or good with HTML/CSS… coding at the Greasemonkey-script level isn’t actually that far removed from what you’re already doing. If HTML is nouns and CSS is adjectives, Javascript is verbs. The learning curve is a bit steeper than getting into HTML/CSS, and the universe of advanced uses that aren’t relevant to your interests is wider and more intimidating, but I promise the basics are not sorcery. Fire up a W3C Javascript tutorial and the jQuery documentation, take a look at existing userscripts, change them just to see what happens. Then take a deep breath, click the ‘new userscript’ button, and try to tweak something on your Tumblr dash. It will do nothing and/or barf an unholy mess onto your browser console the first 15 tries, which is a totally normal part of programming at all levels of experience. And then the tweak that finally Does The Thing will be magical.

[night-studying]

Morning Habits Worth Starting (Especially for College)

Give yourself enough time to get ready before you have to leave in the morning. For me this means setting my alarm about an hour before the time that I have to get my foot out the door. Eat a proper breakfast, do a little stretching, figure out your plan for the day. Having a slower paced morning is a lot more relaxing, and you can get your day started correctly.

Drink water first thing. I used to be a pretty heavy coffee drinker in the mornings in high school, but I realized that I could get away with a lot less caffeine if I started my morning off with a nice glass of cold water. You’re probably dehydrated after sleeping and water helps wake you up. 

Make your bed. Making your bed is a visual reminder that sleeping time is over and that it’s time to get up! If I have a messy bed, I want to climb in and snuggle back into my blankets. This is especially true in the winters when it’s cold and dark. The movement also helps you wake up, which brings me to my next point:

Move! Your! Body! You don’t necessarily have to run through an entire yoga routine or go for a run (but hey, props to you if you do), but getting some movement in your mornings will help you wake up. I like to stretch a little bit, warm up my joints, maybe loosen up my limbs. It helps to get your blood flowing. 

Open your curtains. In the winter it might be kind of dark and depressing where you live, so this isn’t always something recommended. I like to open my curtains when it’s sunny out so I can get some natural light, which helps your circadian rhythm so you wake up better - and fall asleep at night better. 

Do something productive before your class begins. If your first class is super early, this might not apply. But I find it tremendously helpful to get something done, whether it be a flash card set, a work out, or a load of laundry, before my first class. It’ll get you into a productive mood for the rest of the day, and even if you aren’t productive for whatever reason, you can go to sleep knowing that at least you got something done that day!

[mushstudies]

Productive Things That Aren’t Studying

washing the dishes

making your bed

tidying your book/dvd shelf/shelves

cleaning the cupboard/wardrobe

reading

sleeping

writing a blog

planning your month/week/day

replying to messages or asks

responding to emails

sorting through letters/mail

clearing your email inbox

organising stationery

clean your sinks

clean your toilets

pet your pet

sort through old clothes

give to charity

go on a walk

go on a run

clean down any surfaces

work out

meal prep

get rid of empty shampoo bottles from the shower

clean out old food from the cupboard/fridge

empty out your school bag

call your parent

unfriend/unfollow people you no longer interact with

watch a TEDTalk

empty the bins/trash

clean the mirrors in your house

hug your pet

wash some clothes

buy any birthday cards/presents that you need to

reply to any old texts

make a tumblr post on productive things that aren’t studying

[programminghumor]

The state of development 2017

[studyingoose]

once again, it’s me. i know i’ve been really problematic and on & off lately but i’m not 100% happy with this blog so i’ve deleted a ton of posts (all except some asks and original content and i think i want to change my tag system) but this is just a tiny (which will end up being very un-tiny) list of things i’m still learning.

Wear the best shoes you can, because those shoes will take you to great places. (via shizuka todo from hana yori dango)

you are owed nothing for your friendship

memories are only as important as you make them

the biggest decisions are often made at the worst times

buy waterproof mascara because when your eyes glisten with tears, there is always one person who thinks your eyelashes have seen the universe

medicine is something to never be ashamed of

when it is dark and the whole world is silent, you are a god and unstoppable for the blood pounding in your veins is the loudest thing you can hear

find someone you love who you think about at 2pm crossing a busy road, not a 2am when you’re all alone.

sometimes people use you. it’s their loss.

destroying is not bad. for destroying is simply a form of creating. it is the raw, unadulterated, powerful form of your thoughts.

those empty notebooks you have can contain anything as long as you open them up.

it is alright to cry everyday

just like it is alright to not cry for months

listen to the world and to silence for it is a tremendous feat to turn nothing into music. listen to the noises of the cosmos as we keep spinning and spinning and know it is the same sounds that the gods heard.

you will probably never do work when you are meant to - but you should

yes they could be the greatest thing that can ever happen to you. yes they can fill your sky with stars. yes they can capture all the world’s butterflies just to put in your stomach but it doesn’t mean they should. find someone who isn’t only there when it is dark.

know when fruits and vegetables are in season

the greatest feeling is closing 10+ tabs that you had for a project or ticking 10+ things off a list but never compromise on something you only half completed.

it is better to walk with an empty bag knowing you have done work than to walk with a heavy bag and worries of all the work you have to do.

there is never enough time

you make mistakes and that’s alright

stick to your morals because they will be the only thing that is always there. they are the discomfort when you are pressured into something else and they are the pride when you stand up for what you believe in.

it is not cool to lie to yourself

sometimes investments don’t work out. whether it’s money, time or love. 

never measure the strength of a friendship by how long you’ve known each other.

it is never not your choice.

when the fingertips of dawn touch your bedroom window and mist covers everything like a blanket, the silence before the sun rises is when you hear the cries and songs of angels and all things thought to be legends.

you are worth it. and most importantly

you can do it.

[khowledge]

A level note-taking in the 21st century: a compromise

In these modern/tech-y times, most schools are using online platforms to share resources with students. And especially in the sixth form (grade 11 & 12) at least in my school, students are expected to use laptops in class to make notes — barely anyone takes notes by hand in my classes. But, as Straight-Outta-GCSE students (who are mostly used to making physical, hand-written notes in class, then editing and copying them out into revision notes later), this sudden change in learning style can be distressing. Especially on top of the fast-paced + lots-of-content style of the A level courses. You can find yourself in a position of doubting whether what you’re doing to record notes in class is efficient at all.

So what we need is a note-taking system that is fast to write, all in one place and physically tangible so that you can easily flip through during your 2 years.

This is the way that works best for me:

1)    Take basic notes on laptop in class (OneNote/Evernote/etc.)

2)    Colour code/consolidate/add textbook info during free periods/after school (this is also a good way of reviewing your notes to make sure you understand them)

3)    Print them out regularly (I do mine on a weekly basis) either at home or using the school printers and stick them in order in a folder.

This not only keeps the notes legible (no offense to your handwriting), but also lets you use them as revision notes because they are already edited. So you won’t need to spend those two weeks before an exam re-writing notes, when you’re having The Fear — instead you can use that time to do practice questions because that’s really what allows you to master a subject.

[macrolit]

Giveaway Contest: We’re giving away fifteen vintage paperback classics by George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Kate Chopin, and others! Won’t this collection look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these classics, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will choose a random winner on October 7, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, we’ll ship to any country. Easy, right? Good luck!

[eearth-deactivated20180601]

Not everything works out the first time. That’s okay. Growth means attempting new challenges, many of which we will fall short of. We can see it as failing, or we can see it as practice. We can retreat into ourselves, or we can take what we’ve learned and move forward. Failure or practice. It all comes down to how you look at things. Your mindset is your destiny. It’s all up to you.

[marias-studyblr]

Important TED talks

Summer is time to relax but we should take the time to think. Here are my favorites ted talk videos that I think everyone should watch:

The virginity fraud - Nina Dølvik Brochmann and Ellen Støkken Dahl

This is what it’s like to go undercover in North Korea - Suki Kim

My escape from North Korea -  Hyeonseo Lee

The Muslim on the airplane - Amal Kassir

The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong - Amy Morin

The skill of self confidence - Dr. Ivan Joseph

How to stop screwing yourself over - Mel Robbins

The Magic of Not Giving a F*** - Sarah Knight

Why the universe seems so strange - Richard Dawkins

The pattern behind self-deception - Michael Shermer

Militant atheism - Richard Dawkins

Why domestic violence victims don’t leave - Leslie Morgan Steiner

Lessons from death row inmates - David R. Dow

Lessons from the Mental Hospital - Glennon Doyle Melton

Why we choose suicide - Mark Henick

What’s Wrong with Dying? - Lesley Hazleton

I’m Taking My Body Back - Rupi Kaur

My philosophy for a happy life - Sam Berns

The surprising habits of original thinkers - Adam Grant

The surprising secret to speaking with confidence - Caroline Goyder

Want to sound like a leader? Start by saying your name right - Laura Sicola

Programming your mind for success - Carrie Green

All it takes is 10 mindful minutes - Andy Puddicombe

[exmellivorinae]

OH MY GOD whyyyy did no one tell me you’re supposed to send thank-yous after interviews?? Why would I do that???

“Thank you for this incredibly stressful 30 minutes that I have had to re-structure my entire day around and which will give me anxiety poos for the next 24 hours.”

I HATE ETIQUETTE IT’S THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE THING FOR ME TO LEARN WITHOUT SOMEONE DIRECTLY TELLING ME THIS SHIT

[a-windsor]

NO ONE TOLD YOU???? WTF! I HAVE FAILED YOU. Also: Dear ______: Thank you so much for the opportunity to sit down with you (&________) to discuss the [insert job position]. I am grateful to be considered for the position. I think I will be a great fit at [company name], especially given my experience in __________. [insert possible reference to something you talked about, something that excited you.] I look forward to hearing from you [and if you are feeling super confident: and working together in the future]. Sincerely, @mellivorinae

[exmellivorinae]

THIS IS A LIFESAVING TEMPLATE

[a-windsor]

YOU ARE WELCOME

[emeraldboreas-deactivated201809]

My brother got a really great paid internship one summer. The guy who hired him said the deciding factor was the professional thank you letter my brother sent after the interview.

[suaimhneas-peace-deactivated202]

should it be an email? or like a physical letter?

[daminwayne]

email, you want to send it within a few hours at max after the interview if you can so it’s fresh in their mind who you are. 

[khirsahle]

Confirmed! I interviewed for a job right after arriving in NY. The interview went incredibly well, and I went home and immediately wrote a thank you letter and put it in the mail. I had a super good feeling about this interview.

I didn’t get the job.

However, a few weeks later, I was called in to interview with another editor in the same company, and I did get that job. I found out later from the initial editor (the one who didn’t hire me) that he had planned to offer me the job, but since I didn’t follow up with a thank you letter, he assumed I didn’t really want it. He offered the job to another contender–but when he got my letter in the mail shortly after the offer had already been made, he went to HR and gave me a glowing recommendation. It was based on that recommendation that I got called in for the second interview.

So: send an email thank you immediately (same day!) after the interview. If you’re feeling extra, go ahead and send a written one too. OR go immediately to a coffee shop, write the letter, and return to the office and give it to the secretary.

Either way, those letters are important.

[neurofancier-deactivated]

Pro tip: If you really want HR to develop a personal interest in your application, publicly thank them on linkedin. Just make a short post telling your network about how X recruiter really went above and beyond to make you feel welcome, or about how be accommodating and professional they were, or whatever. Make sure to use the mention feature so they’ll get a notification and see it. 

Flattery will get you everywhere… and public flattery that might make its way back to their manager, doubly so.

[oaky-dokey]

Obligatory plug for one of FreePrintable.net’s sites: ThankYouLetter.ws. They have a whole section with interview thank you letter templates, and a page with specific tips for interview thank you letters. (There are also tons of other letter templates if you browse around a bit.)

[einstetic]

How NOT to study

“I’m going to start studying right after I’ve ______”…you won’t. “Oooh, I’m going to highlight my notes with 49930 different colours to help me retain information” Highlight key words!! “Every one else has these amazing, expensive notebooks, pens and Macbooks. Maybe I need them too to be a good student.” Hint: You don’t “There more I manage to cover during this hour, the more I’ll learn” Remember: Quality NOT quantity “Revision is so unnecessary. I have a good memory and I know I’m going to remember this on the test I have in 2 months”… sorry to break this to you but you probably won’t remember a lot. Go through everything you’ve covered during the last week on the weekend. “Oh boy, I’m so tired. I think I’ll just read this chapter in bed.” Hint: You’ll fall asleep “Okay so I need to study this and this much to get a better grade than _____“ wth nonono. Study for yourself?? “Omg, I didn’t study today. I’m such a failure” You don’t have to study every day. You shouldn’t study every day!! Have at least one day a week when you do nothing school related, your brain needs the rest!   “I didn’t get a ____ in the test. I must be dumb idiot and a complete failure who won’t accomplish anything in life” One grade doesn’t affect your life one bit. "I must study law, medicine or any other STEM subject to be considered a real hardworking student” Hint: Humanities and other subjects are just as hard, okay? “My teacher is bad and that’s why I won’t ever learn this” Take your computer, open google, google the stuff you don’t get. Was it so hard? Don’t blame your teacher for not understanding something. They’re humans and not perfect. Be ambitious and try to teach yourself with the help of your friends, the internet, youtube, library books etc.

[to-work-or-not-to-work]

“Productivity is about making smart choices (continuously) with your energy, focus and time in order to maximise your potential and achieve beneficial results.” – Mohammed Faris

1. Find your energy hours.

Everyone has a specific time in the day where their energy levels are much higher than usual. Use that time to your advantage. Take that energy and get the majority of your work done and out of the way.

For me, the mornings are usually when I feel the most energised, so I get to work straight away. To find your energy hours, try working at different times during the day. See which time of the day allows you to work at your very best.

2. Establish routines.

Once you have found your energy hours, base your day around this. Create a routine for each day of the week.

When do you study? When do you go to school? Do you relax for an hour after coming back from school? Do you tidy your room on Sunday?

Establish a schedule and you’re less likely to get side-tracked and much more likely to maximise your productivity.

3. Ditch the to-do lists.

Yes, it’s good to write lists of things you need to do, but you’re never going to get around to doing them if you don’t plan time for it. So instead of relying on a to-do list, add the task to your routine. Will you be able to work on this task on a Saturday afternoon? Great! Put it into your schedule. This will ensure the task is completed.

4. Don’t multi-task.

You can’t do multiple things at once. It seems like you’re able to, but what you’re really doing is constantly switching your attention from one task to another. Don’t do that. Focus on one thing at a time. That way, you’re putting all of your attention on a task and are likely to get it completed faster and at a higher standard.

5. Complete similar tasks together.

If you’re studying, instead of switching from subject to subject throughout the day, try to stick to one subject. On Monday, create flashcards for a Biology topic, then revise the topic and then do a Biology past paper. This will ensure your mind is concentrated on one thing at a time and not constantly switching gears.

So get your chores done together. Study one subject at a time. Send your e-mails and messages at one time. Dedicate today to your English essay. Don’t interrupt tasks with an unrelated task.

6. Finish quick and easy tasks first.

If you need to make a dentist appointment, do it. Do you need to write a quick e-mail to your teacher? Get it out of the way.

Finishing the quick and easy tasks right away will leave you with ample time to tackle the more challenging ones you’ve got up ahead. It will also give you peace of mind that you’ve gotten something done today.

7. Take breaks.

You’re not a machine. Productivity is not working 24/7.

“Being productive is about knowing when to have fun and when to work hard; when to relax and when to be serious. It’s about making smart choices.”

Allow your mind and body to take a break every now and then and relax. Scheduling these breaks can be beneficial so that you’re not constantly taking a break when you don’t need to.

8. Prioritise.

Yes, that idea you had on the train was appealing, but is it really that beneficial? Is it important enough for you to spend your valuable time and energy on it? Will it get you where you want to go? Probably not.

So prioritise projects and tasks. Ensure important tasks are completed first and well before any upcoming deadlines. Make sure that your time is better spent doing things that will actually benefit you and bring you closer to your goals.

9. Become accountable to someone.

It’s super easy to make promises to yourself, saying that you will do this and do that. Likewise, it’s also extremely easy to break those promises.

However, this is different when you have someone you are accountable to. Perhaps, at the end of every week, you can report to a parent or a trusted friend on your progress so far. It’s extremely difficult to tell someone that you haven’t accomplished your goals for the week. This will make it far more likely for you to get your work done.

10. Review your progress.

At the end of each day, you should evaluate your progress. What did you accomplish today? What did you do well? What did you not complete today? Why? How could you improve? When will you complete it?

Asking yourself these questions and being honest will help you see where you’re going right and where you’re not doing so well.

I hope this is useful to some of you and that you put your time and energy into good use. 😊

[mrssharpsplace]

I needed this.

[designyoself]

Me too.