listen, the studyblr community can be a wonderful place - but thereâs this emphasis on absolute perfection that really doesnât 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. donât study whilst commuting
i walk to school, so posts about studying on the bus just arenât helpful - i donât have the option to do that! even if iâm taking the train somewhere, the last thing on my mind is studying. iâm 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 weâre awake, and thatâs okay!
instead: record your lessons and listen to them as you travel!
even if youâre not paying attention, youâll 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. donât rewrite all your notes
i love the studyblr aesthetic as much as anyone, but i honestly donât have the time to write out pages and pages of notes in the hope of gaining a few followers. of course itâs 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 thatâs actually needed for a grade.
instead: organise your class notes!
check the material youâll study before the lesson! if youâre 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 youâre 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, youâll have organised, clear notes from the beginning, so you wonât have to copy anything out at home.
3. donât buy expensive stationery
i know everyone seems to have those tombow brush pens and leuchtturm journals. as someone who canât afford them, trust me when i say i get how it feels. but spending money on expensive products (especially ones you donât know how to use) is just counterproductive - your grades wonât magically go up if you start shopping at muji.
instead: try budget alternatives!
would you buy a ÂŁ90 contour kit if youâd never used foundation before? the same goes for stationery! substitute for cheaper products from your local stationery stores whilst you get a feel for whatâs helpful for you, not what anyone else has. for example, i tried so many types of pens before realising that my writingâs nicest with gel pens, so now i let myself get more expensive ones - but i didnât waste more than ÂŁ5 figuring this out because iâm #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. donât worry too much about being organised
look, weâd all like to be organised, but iâm an adult whoâs lived with depression since i was thirteen, and i know itâs not always possible to have that pinterest-ready study den. sometimes your homework will be done on a bed thatâs not been made in weeks of itâs going to be done at all, and thatâs 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. itâs okay to not have a picture perfect lifestyle - most of the people who post those photos donât have it either. just do what you have to do to get through the week.
5. donât ignore your mental health
thereâs such a weird culture of perfectionism here and itâs so damaging! of course no one has to post about their personal lives on their studyblrs - but please donât let that lead you to believe itâs not important. this mentality of âeverything is fine and i must be perfectâ isnât healthy.
instead: talk about how you feel!
it doesnât have to be on your studyblr, but if youâre feeling suffocated by pressure to achieve, or you think youâre depressed, or youâre 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, iâve tried it. it doesnât work. there are so many impressionable young people here and we need to stop acting like our studies are all we can ever be.
iâm not trying to âcall outâ anyone who finds the minimalist note taking and study devotion helpful - everyone here is different, and iâm glad it works for you! but not all of us can do that, so this is for the people who canât.
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