Stationery & Study @studyingkoala - Tumblr Blog

Hello! I'm a new follower! I just wanted to know how you're able to keep up with notetaking for subjects like Biology and Chemistry, and actually having time to study for them. Thank you so much! 💕

Hi there! Thank you so much for following me! I don’t actually study biology or chemistry, sorry! I studied those in high school, but all my notes were taken in class because we were forced to. Then before an exam, I would already have notes to review. I would just make summaries of things that I didn’t know. I did take on biology subject in my first year of university. But it was a lot of content, so I wasn’t actually able to keep up. But because I had taken biology in high school, I already knew a lot of the content. Sorry I’m not really qualified to give you advice specifically in those fields!

But I feel like with subjects that are as content-heavy as those, unless you’re studying only those, you would have to be smart and efficient in how you study or else you will overload yourself. “Study smarter, not harder” is what they say. Know what style of studying works well with you (eg. reading, visual, listening, etc.) and really study using that strength. For example, don’t waste time writing a lot of notes if that’s not what is most effective for you to learn. Maybe write a few key things that are either really important or you don’t know very well and listen to lectures/watch videos if listening is what really helps you to learn. If you’re a visual learner, diagrams are your friend. Flashcards are also really great for repetition.

As for having time to study for them, well that’s about time management. Firstly, understand your priorities. Know where your biology and chemistry stands in your list of priorities and then you will know how to better allocate your time for them. If you’re the type to be able to follow a schedule, then make a schedule for studying these subjects and what weeks/topics you aim to study in these periods. If you’re more of the flexible type, then set yourself a loose deadline for particular topics and then work through your list of priorities. You will get a feel of how long you will take to complete tasks and how much time you have to study for biology and chemistry. For example (as I am the type not to be able to stick to a schedule), in a day I might have a short to-do list of an online quiz due that day, buying a present for a friend’s party the next day, and study week 2 of biology. I give each task an approximate amount of time they will take to do. Then throughout the day, I just complete the tasks in order of importance whenever I work up the willpower to do it, while knowing approximately how much time each will take. I sometimes also do this on a weekly basis, instead of daily.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful! But if any of my followers who study bio or chem have any great tips, please let us know!

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Finished my final exam of my degree today.

Here are my final notes I wrote.

Hi! I seriously love your account! You seem to have it all under control and I just wanted to ask: How do you stay motivated to study? What do you normally do when you are preparing for an important exam? Hope to hear from you soon and have a wonderful day! 😊😊

Hi there! Thank you so much! Oh nooo I do not have it all under control, but I wish I did 😂I still ask that question myself: “how does one stay motivated to study?”

PSA: Studyblrs aren’t all organised people!

The one semester where I was on top of everything was because I was doing four difficult commerce subjects and it daunted me and I felt overwhelmed simply by the thought of it. It pretty much scared me into keeping up to date with my studies. Other than that, I’ve got the usual bad habits of a procrastinator, where “P’s get the degrees” and “If tomorrow isn’t the due date, today isn’t the do date” are my mantras (don’t be like that. seriously.) I suppose that in my case, hypothetically, the thing that would motivate me to study is if I were to think about the stress it would save me in the future. Buuut unfortunately, every time I leave something last minute and get super stressed and regret not starting earlier, I never seem to learn my lesson and do it all over again 😅

Another thing that helps to motivate me is this blog! The studyblr/gram community are all supportive and simply announcing to the world that you’re going to for example, post everyday, holds you accountable to actually studying.

As for preparation of an important exam, I’m the wrong person to ask too 😂But some quick tips are flash cards, summaries, and practice papers. Practice papers are especially good. You get a feel of what the exam is most likely going to be like and (at least in the case of my university) there’s a high chance that a similiar/same question will appear in the actual exam. If I find myself having done nothing the whole semester a few days before the exam, I do all the practice papers I can. I also memorise the super important terms and bits of information that I am sure will be useful in the exam. I’ve passed every exam with minimal effort this way. But if you’re a high achiever, I’m really sorry😅

With an important exam though, (it’s hypocritical of me to say this but) planning ahead would be really important. Make a study plan over a few weeks before the exam, so that you can really consolidate your knowledge and maximise your marks. It will also help alleviate the stress that comes with having to do such a heavily weighted exam.

Again, I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful! I’m not the best person to ask about motivation and good study habits because I’m literally in the same unproductive boat as a lot of us.

For those of you who are the rare but incredible breed of being organised with studying, feel free to comment your advice!

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Is charlie your cat?? If yes, i would like to see him/her.

Hi there! Yes, Charlie is my cat! I adopted him recently and I love him to bits!

Feel free to check out his instagram account, which I started because I needed an outlet to spam photos of him so I don't annoy everyone around me 😂

Charlie's Instagram

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i really hope no one asked this, but if they have i'm so sorry, i'm new here! but where do you get your supplies from?

Hi there, welcome to the community! I got most of my stationery from places like Sekaido, Cainz Home, Muji, and Loft (Japan.) In Australia, I rarely buy stationery but usually get it online from ebay, Rakuten, or Docodemo. I also buy tapes and crafty things from Kmart. I answered in detail about where to get stationery as an Aussie here if you're also a fellow Aussie :) https://studyingkoala.tumblr.com/post/173210787371/hey-i-was-just-wondering-as-a-fellow-aussie-how

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I've had a need for a physical organiser recently, so I'm back to bullet journaling. But this spiral binding is the bane of my existence.

I don't know of anyone has asked you this before but want notebooks do you use for your note. I want some recommendations for when I have to by them for next year.

This semester I’m just using leftover Morning Glory pastel notebooks that I bought years ago. There’s nothing really special about them. In the past, I have used: notetaking printables by emmastudies, Maruman loose leaf, and Kokuyo. I held my loose leaf papers with a binder. Kokuyo is a good and popular brand (any Japanese brand, really.) Whitelines is also popular, but personally, I’m not one to invest very much into notebooks. I just like to grab what’s easily available and does what I need. Anyway, these brands may not be readily available to you and “staple” brands differ in every country, so here are some tips that I recommend that you keep in mind when getting notebooks:

TYPE OF NOTEBOOK

- Spiral notebooks. Pros: you can easily open the book flat or fold it around itself, so no page creasing. Cons: the spiral can get in the way of comfortable writing towards the edge of the page. Having smaller spirals does help, but personally, it still annoys me.

- Stitched binding notebooks. Pros: they are generally good quality and you can open the book flat, and write across the entirety of the page comfortably. Cons: usually pricey. eg. Moleskin, Leuchtturm.

- Staple binding notebooks. Pros: usually cheap, thin/slim, so they’re lightweight and don’t take up much space. Cons: they don’t open flat, so you’re either going to have to deal with the book trying to close on you while you’re writing, or squish the pages down and crease the book.

- Binders. Some people prefer to use loose leaf papers and store them in a binder. This is because you can conveniently remove and add pages. Also, you have a lot more flexibility to customise your notes. Cons are that binders are usually kind of bulky and take up more space than notebooks. Also, if you want to go with a binder, I highly recommend getting one with at least 3 rings. The more rings, the more reinforcement you have for keeping your pages intact because the pages weigh down on the rings and may tear (unless you have also reinforced around the holes on the pages.) Check out my FAQ here for what binders I have used.

OTHER SPECS

- Paper. Don’t get paper that’s too thin and will have your ink leak through. Also, don’t use paper that’s glossy because they’re prone to smudging. Most notebooks aren’t like that anyway because they’re designed for notetaking.

- Number of pages. If you have an idea of the workload and amount of content you’ll be doing, then you can have an idea about how many pages you will need. For example, my French speaking subject doesn’t require much notes because its focused on communication and I only write about 1-2 pages per week, so the notebook for that is 50> pages. On the other hand, biology had a lot of content with 100+ slides plus diagrams to summarise, so I could’ve easily filled a 90 page notebook.

- Lines. If your handwriting is big, then lines that aren’t too close together is better for you and vice versa.

- Size. If you’re gonna be taking a lot of short, one word dot-point notes, then maybe an A4 sized notebook wouldn’t be an efficient use of space. But if you’re going to be writing long essays or use many diagrams, then maybe an A4 size would be good. Think about your note-taking style, as well as the nature of your subjects, and choose a size that works for you.

- Price. Some people choose really nice notebooks, but then don’t feel comfortable using it because it’s too nice. They try to get their notes perfect, as opposed to effective learning, which is the most important thing. So you might like to just get a good, cheap, basic notebook that will fulfil your studying needs. There’s nothing wrong with getting nice notebooks and making nice notes either. Some people may have a separate cheap notebook for quick messy notes or to jot down things, then rewrite it into their “nice” notebook. But the most important thing is to make sure that you don’t compromise your effective and efficient learning for nice stationery.

As for me...

My personal preferences are notebooks that are around B5 in size and not spiral binding. I have small writing and I don’t like to carry much. I also want a smooth writing experience, so don’t like having a spiral in the way. Even with subjects with a lot of content, I’m happy to just start a new notebook when I’m done with one. Either that or I use loose leaf paper with a binder.

Hope that helped a bit :)

Good luck!

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Don't you just love when your cat creases your notes by sleeping on them?

You have beautiful handwriting!

Thank you so much!!

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Hello! I’m pretty new to the studyblr community so excuse me if I sound dumb for asking this, but could you tell me how you manage to highlight your words without the ink getting smudged? And if it’s not too much of a bother could you also give me some good recommendations for stationary? Thanks

Hi there! Welcome to the community! No, it's not dumb at all! There's many ways to avoid smudging:

1) Highlight first, then write over the top. This method is one that you can do without spending money or changing any utensils. But the downside to it is that you would have to know approximately how much and how long you will write. Also, it's not advice that you can apply to notes you've already written now, can it?

2) Wait for the ink to settle, then highlight. The first advice can be a bit annoying sometimes, so often I wait a day before highlighting my notes. Sometimes waiting for the ink to settle helps minimise smudging.

3) Combination of paper/highlighter/pen. Finding a good combination of these three elements stops smudging. I find that paper that has less of a glossy finish are better with absorption. As for pens x highlighters combinations, I recommend not to use very liquidy type inks. For example, gel pens with stabilo highlighters would be more prone to smudging because they're very liquidy. Whereas, a ball point pen and mildliner highlighter would be less prone because they're "drier" type inks. But, if you're like me and love the look that liquidy inks give, then I would use the first two tips or use a drier-type ink with a liquidy-type ink.

That brings me to your second question: stationary.

Currently, I'm using muji 0.38 gel pens, Sarasa 0.5 pens, Zebra mildliners, Uni Propus highlighters and Stabilo highlighters. But I always recommend German or Japanese brands. Here are some of my personal favs:

- Zebra (makers of Sarasa, mildiners)

- Stabilo

- Mitsubishi Pencil Uniball (makers of Jetstream, Propus Window highlighters)

- Muji

- Pilot (makers of Frixion)

Hope you find all this useful!

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Your writing is so pretty!! Can I ask how you developed your script to be the way it is currently?

Hi there! Thank you so much! I guess it's been years of simply writing. I never really made any extra effort to get it the way it is. But I do remember in elementary school seeing some handwriting styles that I liked and being inspired to have handwriting like that. Then from there, I just started trying to write like my inspiration and developed my own style over the years.

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Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been dealing with some things and troubling events. When life hits you hard, your studies can seem so insignificant in comparison, which makes it difficult to do. But it's okay to take time to let yourself process and cope with things. I was fortunate enough to be on mid-semester break when things hit the fan, so my studies weren't really compromised. But I know my university has services and ways to help students cope with studies and difficult circumstances too. Hopefully, you guys also have something like that or other coping methods and support networks around you. Stay kind to yourselves (and others!)

Will update soon 🐨

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Hi Hannah! My name is Febe and I am a high school junior... I love your username... it's so cuteeeeee... your blog inspires me to study... nice to meet you :)

Hi Febe! Thank you so much! So nice to meet you too :)

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