work hard, stay humble

Fitblr/Studyblr. Trail running. Yogi. Crossfit. Paleo. Coffee. Hiking. Reading. Science. Done with never being good enough.

[pastperfectcontinuous]

Jeanette Winterson

[pastperfectcontinuous]

from “Imagination and Reality”, Art Objects: Essays on Ecstacy and Effrontery

[okcupidescapades]

i feel like the most important piece of wisdom i can impart on teenagers is that no one–no one–knows what the fuck they’re doing

my brother is 26 years old, makes $200k a year, and just bought a house with his fiance. he’s the success story you hear about but never actually meet in person, but it all happened by accident. he wanted to go to college for clarinet performance, but he got rejected from all the top schools. so he decided to major in physics instead, and then went on to get a doctorate to put off being an adult for a few more years. but then he ended up dropping out halfway through the program and accepting a job with google as a software engineer. so to reiterate: my brother majored in something he was not interested in, and then he got a job that had nothing to do with his degree. 

he isn’t successful because he had some master plan he followed, he just stumbled around blindly until something worked out. and that’s what we’re all doing–i majored in political science and now i do customer service for a company that makes industrial-sized gas detection monitors. the marketing director at my company has a degree in biology, and my mom has an MBA and works at a middle school.  no one knows what they’re doing, we’re all just trying different things until something works out.

so if you don’t have a plan, that’s fine. most of us don’t. and even those of us who do, don’t usually end up doing the thing they thought they would. it’s okay to relax and let life carry you wherever it’s gonna carry you. because even though a lot of us don’t end up doing the thing we wanted, most of us end up happy anyway.

[okcupidescapades]

I’ve been thinking about this post since I made it a few hours ago, and I realized that I literally don’t know anyone who’s doing what they thought they’d be doing at this point in their life. I know a girl that has a degree in neuroscience and works in a restaurant (and makes quite a bit more money than I do, might I add), and a guy who wanted to be a parole officer but is now a security guard. I know people who wanted to be lawyers but ended up not having the grades for law school. I have a friend who’s 24 and just finished her bachelor’s, and two friends who decided to go to grad school because the idea of joining the adult world terrified them.

When I was seventeen, I was 100% sure that I was going to get a job as a bureaucrat and save the world. When I was a 21-year-old recent college grad, I found out that it’s impossible to get a government job unless you know someone. So I gave up and found something else. I know my teenage self would be disappointed if she could see where I’m at, but you know what? I don’t care. Because teenage me was an idiot. She didn’t know anything about the world or how it worked, and she couldn’t have possibly predicted the curveballs that life would throw at her. And because I don’t know a single person who’s doing the thing they wanted to do when they were teenagers.

I know a thousand people who aren’t where they thought they’d be, and zero people who are following the path they set out for themselves. All of us are confused and all of us are scared, and it’s okay if you are too.

[aphotov]

Honestly thank u, i needed to hear this again

[penetrieren]

im just out here trying to eat fruit and stay moisturized and drink water and recover from childhood trauma and protect my vibes, man

[lilmamabeyellin]

prioritize people how they prioritize you

[walden-west]

I want to live in the country outside of a city of about 10,000 people, about an hour away from a city that’s big enough to have a Cabela’s or a Bass Pro or a Scheels. I want a steady job that I work hard at, but everyone there knows that family matters more than the job. I want to come home from work to a home-cooked meal, and help my kids clear the dishes afterwards, and then read them If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I want to know my neighbors, even though the closest ones live a mile down the road. I want to have chickens in the backyard, and a fox that unfortunately has eaten some that I have to take out with my .22. I want acres of corn, beans, and hay, and a vegetable garden. I want a prairie in the front yard, a forest in the back, and a mile long driveway that you won’t make it up in the winter unless you have a 4x4 with good tires. But mostly, I want to be loved. I want someone to share life with, even if I don’t get any of those other things.

[wolfam0ngthesheep-deactivated20]

This.

[estudying-blog]

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”          – Confucius 

[estudying-blog]

the curve of forgetting

the curve of forgetting describes how we retain or get of information we absorb.

day 1: you go into a lecture knowing 0% and come out knowing 100% of what you know (regardless of whether you know it extremely well or not)

day 2: you did not do any reviewing of your notes from day 1 therefore you have lost 50%-80%

and as the days progress we forget less and less

think about midterms! notice how around midterms when you’re trying to study for something (that you haven’t been reviewing for regularly) it feels like the material is VERY difficult and almost as if you’ve never learned it before

formula to reshape the curve

within 24 hours of your lecture spend 10 minutes reviewing the material

a week later: it will only take 5 minutes to REACTIVATE the same material

ultimately, you will reshape the curve  

day 30: by this day your brain will only need 2-4 minutes to recall

information on the curve of forgetting was taken from the university of waterloo (x)

my formula to reshape the curve using the information above

before class: spend 10 minutes PREVIEWING the material. 

after class: spend 10 minutes REVIEWING the material

do this regularly. this will be your preview/review system for each class.

a week later: try to review a week later. i know that school/life can get pretty hectic, but try to make sure you are reviewing regularly.

maybe record yourself saying some important details/concepts from your notes the night before and on your daily commute to school plug in those earphones and listen to it. i am an auditory learner and i find that listening to my notes before i go to bed and right when i wake up have truly helped me retain information. studies have shown that the best time to study is right before going to bed and right when you wake up.

a month later: after a month, review what you’ve learned so far in your class. trust me this will be a very very short review. everything will look very familiar to you and it won’t look as difficult as it used to.

basically your review schedule should be the following: 

1 hour before learning the material

1 hour after learning the material (or within 24 hours of learning it b/c i know we’re all very busy people)

1 day later

1 week later

1 month later

remember everyone learns, studies, and retains information differently!! my personal belief is that your technique is what matters most. it is not about your innate ability/talent. find a technique that works for you.

more suggestions:

active learning > passive learning

when taking notes use the Cornell method. it forces you to ask questions and summarize what you’ve learned.

set frequent, short, review sessions

test yourself constantly! there are so many resources online. 

people who are under stress have difficulty remembering things so CHILL OUT

don’t rush, take your time

repetition is key

practice MAKES PERFECT

group items together

fish, vitamin b12, and green tea can help w/ memory

don’t give up. like morrissey said “these things take time.”

[post--grad]

as requested!! a big list of ways to make the most of the summer months, with the disclaimer that summer is for unwinding and taking a lot of naps and going to the beach and finally taking a good, deep breath. sequel to my winter study vibes masterpost :) 

jams.

the most lush & summery album: glass animals’ how to be a human being

masterpost of study mixes

upbeat summer indie

my playlists (mix of 8tracks & spotify)

“eveningland” - indie & folk, good for quiet nights with open windows.

“a lovely light” - another good end-of-the-day mix

“ear to ear” - good MORNING! get out of bed!!

“hip-hop wake-up” - what it says on the tin

“covered in sun” - poppy summer mix i’m still adding to

ambiance.

it’s a great time to buy plants!! 

just don’t forget to water them. if you’re a chronic plant killer, set a recurring alarm on your phone for when you’re usually not busy.

my plant tag / low-maintenance plants: (one) (two)

summer candles! i like light, clean scents. 

cedar, pine, sage

lemongrass or lemon verbena 

cotton or fresh linen

ambient sound

soothing summer meadow

nighttime forest with crickets

garden with water fountains

rain on a tent roof

study snacks.

tis the season for picnic food. forget your oven exists and eat straight from the fridge.

fruit fruit fruit!! 

berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)

melons (cucumber, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon – hydrate while you eat!)

stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums)

real crunchy red grapes. you know the ones.

the world’s most devastating lemon bar recipe.

veggies

favorite salad: chop up some tomatillos & cucumbers. toss with lime juice, dill, & a pinch of salt

“sexy broccoli,” the only recipe that makes raw broccoli taste good. 

it’s a good time for sugar snap peas or edamame

drinks

cucumber spritzer

iced tea or coffee

infused water ideas

97 million smoothie recipes

+ my recipe for strawberry-banana frozen smoothie bags that are basically a perfect dupe for jamba juice’s strawberries wild

big tip: get a large pitcher or carafe to keep at your desk, so you don’t have to keep getting up for more h2o

study tips. 

heading to grad school in the fall?

make a study schedule, but just as importantly: set up study dates or accountability meetings! i get weekly lunches with two different friends, during which we mercilessly shame each other if we’ve slacked.

one pomodoro timer = 25 minutes to study with a facemask on, 5 minutes to poke experimentally at your flawless skin after.

don’t underestimate the power of a change of scene 

scope out some new work spots (gardens! parks! outdoor cafes!)

or, if you live near your campus, study there when it’s empty and calm.

don’t let work get in the way of exploration. you can drive to the coast and get some writing done, if you find a coffee shop near the beach.

if your focus is flagging in the afternoon heat, take a quick cold shower. 

misc.

use a moisturizer! with spf! every morning! this aveeno one treats me well.

i’m out here in the desert where it hits 100f by noon every day, so i always try to schedule my chore and errands for the early mornings or evenings. don’t try to fight the sun.

@liberalartssociety​‘s post on how to connect with nature 🌼

[shrinkingblonde]

The Full Potential Challenge

Ever wonder what your life would be like if you lived up to your full potential? Would your body be healthier? Your skin clearer? Bank account bigger? I think about these things all the time, and, judging my a previous post, you guys do to. Below is a chart designed to help all of us live up to our full potential. I’ve broken it down into time frames to help keep you from getting overwhelmed. Write the chart down and hang it someplace where you can see it all the time. I will be starting this challenge tomorrow, 9/8. I’ll check in with you guys every Sunday to track my progress. I have specific goals in mind for myself, and you guys should make some too! I really want to know how you guys are doing. Tag your progress posts with #sbfpc so I can track it and take a look. Let’s get to it!

EVERY MORNING

Stretch. First thing. Really give your body enough time to wake up. Touch your toes. Roll out your shoulders. Do not hit snooze!

Do your full skincare routine. I have mine detailed here, but do whatever works for you and your complexion. Be gentle and consistent. 

Brush your teeth and floss. I used to be a big floss-skipper too, but you’d be amazed at how dig of a difference it makes. Rinse with a whitening mouthwash. I use one by Crest, and I notice a major difference in my teeth’s overall whiteness in just a few days.

Give yourself enough time to get ready. Whether you’re a wash-and-go kind of girl, or someone who spends an hour doing a full contouring routine before class (and either one is fine!), make sure you aren’t rushing. If you need to wake up a few minutes earlier than normal, so be it. Rushing sets an awful, stressed-out tone for the rest of the day. Allow yourself to be relaxed before taking on the day.

Eat something. I’m not going to say eat a big breakfast, because some people (myself included) just can’t eat in the morning. But you should eat, or at least bring a little something with you to work or school. If you can’t eat a full breakfast, grab a fruit! You won’t be as hungry come lunch time, making you less likely to gorge yourself.

Shower. You can do this at night, in the morning, whatever. Again, this is something you should allow some time for. I don’t wash my hair every day, but I do condition it every day (from the ears down). Scrub yourself with a delicious-smelling body wash. If you shave, make yourself as smooth as a dolphin, dude. If you don’t, then don’t and don’t ever ever ever let anyone make you feel bad or weird about it. When you get out of the shower, wrap yourself in a fluffy towel and totally slather your sexy self with lotion. Top to bottom. Do it as soon as you can post-shower so it can really sink in. 

Put leave-in condition throughout your damp hair and comb it through.

Put on an outfit that makes you feel good! So important!

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Take a look at your daily to-do list. Knock out the most pressing stuff first. Take pride when you cross things off your list.

Make your bed! Oh my god, make your bed. Do it. Do it. Do it. 

EVERY AFTERNOON 

Follow the “touch it once” approach. This is a truly life-changing thing. When a task is in front of you, no matter how big or small, just do it right then and there. How many times have you gotten a work email or homework assignment and thought, “Eh, I’ll do it later”? And then later never comes? Once something pops up, do it once. Squash it and be done. Cross things off your list and feel like a badass.

Try to go for a walk at lunch. Even one little lap around the block or campus will reenergize you like nobody’s business. 

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Be present. This is so hard for me too, but you have to make a major effort to be present in whatever you’re doing. Be engaged and plugged-in and just exist in the moment. Give 100 percent.

Be friendly to friends and strangers. A smile goes a long way.

Eat something. Eat what you packed for lunch (see below) and take a break from working while you do it. You need “you time”!

EVERY EVENING

Take your makeup off as soon as you’re in for the night. Wash your face with your full routine and let your skin have a break. 

Workout. You can also do this in the morning. Whatever works for you. Make a great playlist and go hard af. Get your cardio in. Get your strength training in. Earn every freaking sweat bead forming on your forehead. Earn your shower!

Knock out your homework. Life is infinitely better you don’t have anything hanging over your head. Half the time, the energy and emotion you spent dreading/putting off your work is ten times worse than the work itself.

Make a list of what needs to be done tomorrow. It’ll set you up for success the next day, and you won’t forget anything!

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Lay out your clothes for tomorrow. This will save you SO MUCH TIME in the morning omg I can’t even tell you how important this is.

Eat something great. And once you’ve decided to be done eating for the night, be done. Brush your teeth so you can’t eat again.

After brushing, do a whitening treatment. Whether it’s classic baking soda, a Crest white strip, or a laser. Do something. And floss! Retainers in too, ladies 0:)

Relax! Take a few hours to do what YOU want to do. Scroll through Tumblr, binge on some Netflix, FaceTime gossip with your friends, anything. Do whatever makes you happiest. 

Shut the electronics off an hour before you want to go to bed. Put your phone on sleep mode. If you stare at the screen, it will keep you awake and alert and you won’t be able to fall asleep. A good night’s sleep is crucial for weightless and general happiness lol

Do a quick sweep of your room and see if there’s anything you can put away real quick. A clean space is a happy space.

Crawl into your bed (aren’t you happy you took the time to make it?!) and read a book by lamplight for a while. When you start to feel sleepy, go to sleep. Don’t push it. You kicked ass today and you deserve rest. 

EVERY WEEKEND

Do something with your friends. It just has to be one thing. Even if you’re just hanging out at the coffee shop, spending time with your squad will make you a better, happier person.

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Do something just for you. Set your laptop up in the bathroom and watch a Netflix marathon while you take a bubble bath. Buy an old school bottle of Mr. Bubbles ($3 at Target!) and really just soak. Relax. Light a candle.

Do something creative. You can read a book, write, blog, draw, code, anything. It just has to be something that speaks to your passion.

Track your progress. Just do this once a week so it doesn’t become all-consuming. And remember that non-scale victories are just as important as shedding pounds.

Take the time to be grateful. Tell your friend how much you admire her taste in music. Mention to your mom how much you love her cooking and how happy you are that she takes care of you. Thank your teaching after an especially interesting lecture. When you do something awesome, take a moment to admire yourself. Be grateful for even the little things.

Anything I missed? Reblog + add yours! Don’t forget to tag your progress!

[mermaidstripperhoe]

starting this Monday!

[sugarluxuriabr-blog]

I’ll just reblog and fav cause I need to read this in the morning!

[sparklyproductivity]

I’m gonna give it a try this Monday 😍

[preeoz]

So your SCHOOL LOANS are in DEFAULT and you are too scared to do anything about it

ON GOVERNMENT LOANS: 

Things have changed.

When you call your loan servicer, they  won’t treat you like shit anymore. They won’t threaten you or harass you or insist you pay half your paycheck to get out of default. Here is what I’ve experienced while dealing with defaulted government loans. 

1.  Find out who owns all your debts right now. It may be early enough that your most recent loan servicer could still be the owner. If it’s been over a few months, or years, it will be a collections agency or several agencies. Check your snail mail. Their policies usually dictate that they send paper mail. Once you find the collections agency, ask for “proof of debt.” By law, they must provide you proof that they own your debts so they can’t scam you.

2. Once you establish that this agency owns your debt, tell them that you can’t afford much but would like to “rehabilitate your loans.” This means you will make a payment for 9 consecutive months. The agency, by law, must use a government formula to figure out how much you pay each month. If you make around 40K, you will be asked to pay somewhere around $100-150/month. If you are unemployed, you can rehab for as little as $5 a month. Ask them to autodebit so you don’t accidentally miss a payment. If you miss one, your 9 months starts over. 

3. Once you finish your 9 months, call the collections agency to make sure they won’t autodebit anymore. They will hand your debt back over to the loan servicer you worked with before they got the loan. Most likely, you have Great Lakes, Nelnet, Navient (formerly known as Sallie Mae), or one of these loan servicers. Then go to this studentloans.gov website and make an FSA ID and PW. 

4. Begin a consolidation through the student loans website. The consolidation form will ask you to write in every loan. It might be on the website already, but check this NSLDS.gov site to be sure. This website has an up-to-date account of all your outstanding loans. Consolidating is a tedious and boring process. Make sure you have a few hours free to do this. 

5. When you consolidate, the form requires you to fill out a payment plan. You want an IBR plan, or Income Based Repayment Plan. This plan will allow you to make minimal payments according to your income for 20-25 years. Then, the government will forgive your loan. Consider it 25-year mortgage for your college education. Also, the IBR will re-evaluate your income every year in order to adjust the monthly payment. If you lose your job, your monthly payment will reduce dramatically, and if you find a better paying job, you may have to pay a bit more. 

6. Also while consolidating, you must choose which loan servicers you’d like to work with. I work with Nelnet. Nelnet was difficult to work with for years, like not allowing you to email in documents–only mail or fax. You can email scanned documents to them now. Remember, you can download free scanning apps to use with your smartphone camera. Remember to keep a log of every time you call, whom you talked to, and what you talked about. This is an important lesson I learned while calling companies for my immigrant parents. Anyway, because of government regulation, they are actually nice to you and available 24/7.They can’t pull their bullshit anymore because they use government calculations. I’m sure it’s the same with all the other loan servicers. As I said before, I work with Nelnet, but it really doesn’t matter which one you choose. 

7. When you finish with consolidation, wait a few days and call your loan servicer. Ask them if they’ve received the request for consolidation. Then, check in with them every week for the next six weeks to hear the status of the consolidation. They are not good about emailing you updates, i.e. never. I did my consolidation wrong the first time, and they just rejected it and never notified me. I found out when I made my weekly Monday night call. Had to fill out the damn form all over again. It’s finally been accepted. 

8. They will then set up you up with an IBR plan. Your payments will most likely be the same as what you payed the collection agency because they’re using the same government calculator. Autodebit those payments. 

This is all I know so far. This is far better than defaulting and having the government garnish your wages. And once you begin the IBR plan, there is an end in sight!

—

ON PRIVATE LOANS: 

I don’t know much about these, but I know private is much harder to deal with. 

1. It’s not great to default with these loans either. Defaulting and declaring bankruptcy does NOT absolve you from the loan. Your wages can still be garnished if the collections agency sues you and wins. 

2. If you make regular payments, the loan servicer will not settle your debt with you. Because they’d rather have your interest payments. If you default in order to settle with the collections agency who buys your debt, you’d better have enough cash to pay them off in one lump sum. They will bargain with you to get you to pay between 50-60% of your loan. If you own 100K, do you have 60K in disposable income? If so, you shouldn’t ruin your credit!  

3. You can now refinance your loans! Due to new legislation (I think it’s Elizabeth Warren’s doing), you are allowed to consolidate all your private loans under one bank and get a lower, fixed interest rate. I’m willing to bet your interest rates are at 8% or higher. You can consolidate all these to under 5%, or even as low as 2%–the better your credit, the better your rate. I would consider perhaps working with the credit unions instead of a bank.

—

I hope this helps you. If you have any questions, please send me a message and I’ll do my best to help you figure it out.

[dagwolf]

thanks, Praise. 

We’re most of us working people with little to no extra income. Purposefully defaulting on your loans only works if you can settle. Don’t listen to bourgeois debtors praising purposeful default as some sort of useful and progressive direct action. You will end up with garnished wages. The stories Praise and I hear are always the same. 

It doesn’t make you less radical or something to fill out this shit paperwork and receive a long term IBR plan. The payments for us are low. We’ll never pay off the majority of our loans before they’re forgiven. I don’t do it because of some ridiculous principle. I do it because it’s better than having my wages garnished.

If you need further help, I know Praise will answer your asks. She’s kind of become an expert on this process. Send her a message. She’s super cool.

[leuc-anthemum]

Timely

[pharmstudies]

Bullet journal for June 19 - 25. Worked for 8 hours everyday and I can’t wait to go on vacation this Wednesday. I also finished 2 out of 3 of my summer reading books this week! And I made movie and book lists for this year too, although I don’t think I’ll actually be able to finish them all. I have a party to go to in like 2 hours and I probably should start getting ready soon.

[nyctophiliaccarly-deactivated20]

What to do when you don't know what to do

·       Get out of bed. Do that now.

·       Go into the bathroom and remove all of your clothing. I have fat that gathers into massive love handles, stretch marks on every bit of skin that isn’t flat. But when my clothes are all off, with no fabric to bother me, no illusion of what my body looks like and all I can see is myself, I feel better. I feel more wholesome. Maybe you will, too.

·       Run your hands over it, turn around. Have no illusion of what your body looks like. It’s not as bad as you think. Get a good picture in your mind of anything you want to attend to. Make a list if you need to, only about your body.

·       Brush your hair through, if you have it.

·       Put your hair up and out of the way, if it’s long.

·       Floss and brush your teeth very well. Take your time on this. Do it twice if you need to. Your breath won’t feel as thick, you won’t feel as heavy.

·       Put on lots of chapstick or balm right afterwards

·       Wash any parts of your body that you need to.

·       Blow your nose until there’s nothing left, get it all out. You’re probably clogged up.

·       Clip your nails, take off any old polish. Push your cuticles back.

·       Wash your hair, if you want to.

·       If you (like to)shave, shave everything. You’ll feel weightless. Only fill up the bath a little bit and do it over the edge. You’ll just feel dirty if you sit in hair.

·       Drink a full glass of water. Don’t sip, don’t chug. Just don’t set it down until it’s gone.

·       Dress yourself in whatever way you feel ready for the day. Yoga pants, sweatpants, t-shirts, dresses, shorts. Whatever way that makes things easier.

·       Eat. Eat something. Don’t pull random bits of food from random boxes. Prepare it at once and sit down. Take this time to rest.

·       Get a drink of your choice, as long as it isn’t alcohol. As a matter of fact, if there’s alcohol on the counter, put it away. Don’t look at it. It will only give you a headache. Make yourself chocolate milk, water, a smoothie, a soda, whatever sounds nice.

·       Sit on the floor and forget about everything you need to think about. Set a timer for exactly one minute. Close your eyes, and during that one minute, pay attention to how your body feels. Ask yourself these questions. Am I sore anywhere? Stretch this bit out, put more pressure on it. Focus on your muscles. Keep your back completely straight. Did I eat enough? Think about your stomach. Focus on your breathing. Listen to the air. Can you hear the sound of your lights? A ceiling fan? Your joints? Don’t open your eyes until the time is up. This minute will pass very quickly.

·       Get a good old fashioned piece of notebook paper and a pencil. If you don’t have that use your phone or computer. Make a list of every little thing you need to do. Everything matters. Every errand, homework assignment, thing that needs cleaned, health issue… all of it.

·       Do it now. Check things off as you go. As you see things disappear, your head will be more clear.

·       Don’t forget to take your pills.

·       If you’ve been putting off your homework, fix yourself a snack and a tall drink of something warm. Get all of the supplies you need. Sit down and plow through it. If you need help with homework, message a friend, a family member, even message me. I’ll try and help you. It won’t take as long as you think, your mind is just cluttered. Repeat to yourself “this is what I am working on now. This is what is important now. I will feel lighter when I am finished.” Even if the assignment is due in a few weeks, more than likely it is too much to do in one night. Split it up into quarters. Work for one hour, and if you’re close, finish it off. Give yourself this one hour.

·       You don’t have to make your bed, but take off the blankets and shake them out. If there’s crumbs on the mattress, vacuum, or wipe them off. If you have dirty clothes, put them in the hamper.

·       Now that your day is free, deal with your social problems. Is there someone you’ve been meaning to apologize to? Something you’ve upset? Something you’re unsure of? You have all of the rest of the day to deal with it. Take your time.

·       Before bed, pay special attention to your face. Wash it, clean your ears, put on acne medicine, moisturize it. Anything on your face that needs to be attended to. See how beautiful you are? Your skin will drink it up, it will look better tomorrow. Do this constantly.

·       Listen to songs you haven’t in a while. You forgot that one verse, the reason why you kept it.

·       Make a list of questions. How does a remote work? Why do we have toenails? What is this word? Look them up. They’re right there to know.

·       Ask for help

·       It’s fine to cry. I feel warm in the face afterwards. I feel smaller afterwards, less huge. Less of a problem. You need to understand that we want to matter, but when we mess up we don’t want it to matter. It goes both ways. You are the most important person. Your mistakes only have weight to you. Nobody minds as much as you think they do.

·       Do these things. Do them now.

[allwriteokay]

`

[run-eat-study-sleep]

seasonal depression is fucking real.

[einstetic]

Realistic Study Moods

the “i accomplished something” mood: you decided to be productive that day but at night you realise you haven’t accomplished a single thing from your to-do-list. stressed you get yourself a cup off coffee and sit next to your desk really unmotivated and exhausted. half an hour later you’ve solved one math problem. you smile, you have done something.

the “i’m so fucking motivated” mood: early morning. you get out of bed right after the alarm goes off. well-rested you brew yourself a cup of tea.you write your to-do-list. after that you take a seat in your bed and start reading trough the textbook of your fave subject. “i’ll succeed today” you think and take a sip of your tea.

the “oh i’m so gonna prove you wrong” mood: “you can’t do it”, they say. determined you start working early. you read, you write notes, you revise, you discuss, you watch videos. on the test day you walk in with confident, take your test & fully ace it. proudly you turn your back to those bastards.

the “why do i not understand this” mood: papers scattered everywhere, several coffee mugs on your desk. you’ve been doing that same problem the whole day and still can’t solve it. you’ve looked trough the theory, asked your friends & even your teacher. frustrated you pick up your phone and hope someone else has asked the same question on google.

the “omg i get it” mood: you’ve been reading the same theory over and over again, you’ve watched several videos on the topic and googled everything about it. still, you can’t get the hang of it. frustrated you put your book down. later that day you pick up it again and start reading it. slowly but surely you realise that “hey i understand this! it isn’t that hard after all”. excited you read through rest of the theory.

[constellationstudy]

My day yesterday. Loving these Frixion Color markers.

[niqabisinparis]

Motivation is overrated. No amount of motivation would’ve gotten me through hours of my accounting textbook. No “vision” is enough to keep me awake til the crack of dawn on an essay that I don’t even know if the professor will check. Discipline is what determines how far you go. On those days when your cute little list of #goals and vision of yourself 5 years from now aren’t enough, discipline will pull you out of bed and get you to work. I wish I knew this in high school because I thought I couldn’t work without motivation. I wasted so much time trying to find purpose before I realized that working now, albeit blindly, will ensure that I could chase any purpose I discover in the future. Sure, motivation is crucial, but it’s not consistent. It’s not reliable. You can only rely on yourself and your grit. 

[busymarina]

THIS THIS THIS THIS

[plananotherday]

[mexicanmedstudent-life-blog]

10 Rules of Good and Bad Studying

10 Rules of Good Studying

Use recall. After you read a page, look away and recall the main ideas. Highlight very little, and never highlight anything you haven’t put in your mind first by recalling. Try recalling main ideas when you are walking to class or in a different room from where you originally learned it. An ability to recall—to generate the ideas from inside yourself—is one of the key indicators of good learning.

Test yourself. On everything. All the time. Flash cards are your friend.

Chunk your problems. Chunking is understanding and practicing with a problem solution so that it can all come to mind in a flash. After you solve a problem, rehearse it. Make sure you can solve it cold—every step. Pretend it’s a song and learn to play it over and over again in your mind, so the information combines into one smooth chunk you can pull up whenever you want.

Space your repetition. Spread out your learning in any subject a little every day, just like an athlete. Your brain is like a muscle—it can handle only a limited amount of exercise on one subject at a time.

Alternate different problem-solving techniques during your practice. Never practice too long at any one session using only one problem-solving technique—after a while, you are just mimicking what you did on the previous problem. Mix it up and work on different types of problems. This teaches you both how and when to use a technique. (Books generally are not set up this way, so you’ll need to do this on your own.) After every assignment and test, go over your errors, make sure you understand why you made them, and then rework your solutions. To study most effectively, handwrite (don’t type) a problem on one side of a flash card and the solution on the other. (Handwriting builds stronger neural structures in memory than typing.) You might also photograph the card if you want to load it into a study app on your smartphone. Quiz yourself randomly on different types of problems. Another way to do this is to randomly flip through your book, pick out a problem, and see whether you can solve it cold.

Take breaks. It is common to be unable to solve problems or figure out concepts in math or science the first time you encounter them. This is why a little study every day is much better than a lot of studying all at once. When you get frustrated with a math or science problem, take a break so that another part of your mind can take over and work in the background.

Use explanatory questioning and simple analogies. Whenever you are struggling with a concept, think to yourself, How can I explain this so that a ten-year-old could understand it? Using an analogy really helps, like saying that the flow of electricity is like the flow of water. Don’t just think your explanation—say it out loud or put it in writing. The additional effort of speaking and writing allows you to more deeply encode (that is, convert into neural memory structures) what you are learning.

Focus. Turn off all interrupting beeps and alarms on your phone and computer, and then turn on a timer for twenty-five minutes. Focus intently for those twenty-five minutes and try to work as diligently as you can. After the timer goes off, give yourself a small, fun reward. A few of these sessions in a day can really move your studies forward. Try to set up times and places where studying—not glancing at your computer or phone—is just something you naturally do.

Eat your frogs first. Do the hardest thing earliest in the day, when you are fresh.

Make a mental contrast. Imagine where you’ve come from and contrast that with the dream of where your studies will take you. Post a picture or words in your workspace to remind you of your dream. Look at that when you find your motivation lagging. This work will pay off both for you and those you love!

10 Rules of Bad Studying

Avoid these techniques—they can waste your time even while they fool you into thinking you’re learning!

Passive rereading—sitting passively and running your eyes back over a page. Unless you can prove that the material is moving into your brain by recalling the main ideas without looking at the page, rereading is a waste of time.

Letting highlights overwhelm you. Highlighting your text can fool your mind into thinking you are putting something in your brain, when all you’re really doing is moving your hand. A little highlighting here and there is okay—sometimes it can be helpful in flagging important points. But if you are using highlighting as a memory tool, make sure that what you mark is also going into your brain.

Merely glancing at a problem’s solution and thinking you know how to do it. This is one of the worst errors students make while studying. You need to be able to solve a problem step-by-step, without looking at the solution.

Waiting until the last minute to study. Would you cram at the last minute if you were practicing for a track meet? Your brain is like a muscle—it can handle only a limited amount of exercise on one subject at a time.

Repeatedly solving problems of the same type that you already know how to solve. If you just sit around solving similar problems during your practice, you’re not actually preparing for a test—it’s like preparing for a big basketball game by just practicing your dribbling.

Letting study sessions with friends turn into chat sessions. Checking your problem solving with friends, and quizzing one another on what you know, can make learning more enjoyable, expose flaws in your thinking, and deepen your learning. But if your joint study sessions turn to fun before the work is done, you’re wasting your time and should find another study group.

Neglecting to read the textbook before you start working problems. Would you dive into a pool before you knew how to swim? The textbook is your swimming instructor—it guides you toward the answers. You will flounder and waste your time if you don’t bother to read it. Before you begin to read, however, take a quick glance over the chapter or section to get a sense of what it’s about.

Not checking with your instructors or classmates to clear up points of confusion. Professors are used to lost students coming in for guidance—it’s our job to help you. The students we worry about are the ones who don’t come in. Don’t be one of those students.

Thinking you can learn deeply when you are being constantly distracted. Every tiny pull toward an instant message or conversation means you have less brain power to devote to learning. Every tug of interrupted attention pulls out tiny neural roots before they can grow.

Not getting enough sleep. Your brain pieces together problem-solving techniques when you sleep, and it also practices and repeats whatever you put in mind before you go to sleep. Prolonged fatigue allows toxins to build up in the brain that disrupt the neural connections you need to think quickly and well. If you don’t get a good sleep before a test, NOTHING ELSE YOU HAVE DONE WILL MATTER.

Source: https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/welcome