Studying With Julia

Julia/F/22/UK. Chemistry student, hoping to go on to do a PhD. Also, self-teaching French! This is to follow my journey!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 20

Jan. 19: Which App would you recommend to the studyblr community?

For breaks: AdVenture Capitalist. If you like achieving things and working towards goals and targets- this game is great. It’s free with in-app purchases- but I’ve completed it and haven’t spent a penny! With weekly events to complete too, and a leaderboard you have to climb for rewards- it’s super satisfying and addictive!

For studying, I don’t actually use my phone or any apps, because I’m super susceptible to distractions! But I do have a “Days Until” app, and my uni app, which is useful (when it works!)☺️☺️

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 19

Jan. 18: It´s time for opinions again: iOS or Android? Why?

iOS! I’ve had an iPhone for a loooong time and I don’t think I’ll ever change. I’m a creature of habit and I like the aesthetic of apple technology! Also, both me and my partner have iPhones- so we iMessage and stuff, and there’s no reason for us to change!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 18

Jan. 17: Another one: Show me a picture of your pens (like all of them). I wanna see Muji and stabilo mountains.

Oh I don’t have very many! How disappointing!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 17

Jan. 16: Textbooks. They´re heavy and often written in some kind of encrypted language we must figure out ourselves. They lay around and every year we get more of them. Show me a picture of how many textbooks you got! (I feel like I will see textbook towers as high as the Burj Khalifa)

I’m super lucky! I don’t have many textbooks because I only bought the core ones for my degree- and I have actually used them (at least once😅) Here’s my current main focus!

[studyingwithjulia]

Jan. 15: Show me how productive you were today! Everything goes, even if you did nothing and took a day off, tell me what you did! Or you did something for school? Show me your super nice notes or your flashcards or whatever!

Sorry it’s late again!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 15

Jan. 14: Uggggh. Monday again. So much to do and never enough time. Share your tips on time management!

“So much to do and never enough time.” Ain’t that the truth?😅😅

My time management is definitely not great, and it’s something I hope to work on this year! However I have picked up a handful of tips along the way:

• Don’t plan too much into one day/session. A list as long as your arm is just daunting, and if you don’t achieve everything, you may feel demotivated and lose productivity.

• Write a (reasonable/achievable) list. Sometimes seeing the things you want to do helps you to stay on task, and I find if they’re on paper, they’re not circling around in your head stressing you out.

•Break tasks down into small, manageable chunks. Again, this helps tasks to feel more reasonable, and you may find you achieve more in a shorter amount of time, as you have a clear plan and know what you’re doing.

Can’t wait to read more tips too!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 14

Jan. 13: For school: Laptop or iPad? What works better for you? What would you recommend?

Maybe this is just my experience, but I’ve always found MacBooks aren’t optimised for science! Lots of the programmes I wanted, like ChemDraw and MestreNova, just didn’t seem as available or easy to use on my MacBook- I can’t even imagine trying on a tablet! I used my MacBook (rather unsuccessfully) throughout my 3-year Bachelor degree, but treated myself to a cheap-ish HP laptop for my Master’s thesis- and I love it!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 13

(Sorry this is a day late- yesterday was totally crazy!)

Jan.12: Time for opinions: Typed out notes: Yay or nay? Do you like written notes more?

As a rule, I’m not a fan of typing my notes. I learn and remember things better after hand-writing them out.

However, I can totally appreciate the versatility of typed notes. The idea of taking them around everywhere without actually carrying mountains of paperwork is definitely appealing- especially for commutes!

Also, typing work is definitely growing on me whilst writing my masters thesis. I’m getting better at reading typed text on a screen, and my laptop weighs a lot less than all my research!

[oliviafitmomof3]

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 12

Jan. 11: Mental health is just as important as physical health. What do you do against your study stress?

Study stress, and stress generally is something I suffer with massively. I’m an over-thinker and chronic procrastinator - which work so well together.

Tips I use to combat:

• Something is better than nothing: an old favourite of my Grandma’s - it’s better to do something (read: anything) than to do nothing at all. Baby steps are still steps in the right direction!

• Self-bribery: this is the good old “if you do X amount of work, you can do Y” - this doesn’t tend to work, I seem to have no problem with letting myself down😂

• Talk to someone: tell someone (parent/partner/academic advisor/best friend/dog/etc.) that certain things are proving difficult, and perhaps their outlook will provide new insight.

• Think about final goals: we get so caught up in small stuff, we often forget why we started in the first place- I like to revisit my goals regularly because it helps them feel real!

• Useful procrastination: this isn’t a great tip, but it does work in real terms. If you can’t do a thing because it’s too stressful, try and do something else that’s different but still productive- like a different assignment or subject. You’ll get the happiness of productivity which might help you get motivated.

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 11

Jan. 10: Speaking about health, show me a pic of your ABSOLUTE FAVORITE STUDY POWERFRUIT

No real preference when it comes to fruit snacks (or any snacks for that matter!). This is just yesterday’s mid morning snack: apple, pineapple and grapes!☺️☺️

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 10

Jan. 9: Some of us hit the gym in the new year. But frankly, most stop after Jan. 1 right? No? Tell me about your workout routine and how you remain healthy!

😅

I don’t have a work out routine, and I certainly don’t exercise enough! However, I try and do little things that make me feel better in myself:

• Aim to sleep at least 6-7 hours every night- with my crazy long days, it doesn’t always happen, but I feel better when it does.

• Try and eat foods that are nourishing and tasty- I don’t diet, but I try and eat well, focusing on foods that are varied and tasty, as well as being healthy

• Take a packed lunch to uni and work- it saves me buying food, which inevitably is me making unhealthy and expensive choices!

• Occasionally I try and fit little 20 minute walks into my day- it gets me outside and I desperately need the vitamin D🙃

• Treat myself (as often as possible)- this usually involves having a scone with jam and cream for tea, a relaxing bath rather than a 7-minute shower or just spending a day in pjs with my boyfriend!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 9

Jan. 8: Talking about notes, write your blog´s name as a header like how you do it for your study notes and post it!

Again, my notes really aren’t that aesthetic :/ so instead I’ve just drawn and written my name, and enjoyed colouring it! It didn’t exactly turn out as I wanted, but I persevered with it anyway! Hope it passes!😅😅

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 8

Jan. 7: Ahhhh aesthetic notes. We all love them, don´t we? Show me a picture of what you think are your most aesthetic notes and tell us what you do to make them prettier.

Huge confession: Whilst I try to make my notes neat, they are not anywhere nearly as good as the standard “studyblr-aesthetic” and I don’t have the time or talent to make them.

However, I am still proud of my notes! I have two main types. Lecture notes and revision notes.

Lecture notes: Mainly black and white handwritten notes. Pages and pages of text as I cover all the material taught to me.

Revision notes: Much more colourful! Condensed notes with bright colours. Think posters, mind maps, etc!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 7

Jan. 6: Time to grab your books. Which book was your absolute favorite and would you ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO READ? (no pressure)

Oh I can’t even remember the last time I managed to read for pleasure :( but my favourite books that come to mind are:

- The Harry Potter Series (J. K. Rowling)

- The Perfect Chemistry Series (Simone Elkeles)

I don’t actually have any books I would recommend that people read. I think some classic literature books are important- but reading is so personal- it’s really difficult to say!

I’m currently about to start (i.e. will start this year😅) reading Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) so we’ll see how that goes!

[studyingwithjulia]

New Year Challenge Day 6

Jan. 5: Back to studying! Flashcards, our friend and savior. Show me a picture of yours and tell me for which subjects you use them.

This is an example of one set of cards I do. They’re mechanism cards, useful mostly in Organic Chemistry. They have space to draw the curly-arrow mechanism, write the reaction steps, write any catalysts and specific conditions.

I use flash cards for every class I take!

Organic Chemistry: mostly mechanism cards, with a few ordinary flash cards for any facts I need to know.

Biological Chemistry: this is the studied the same as Organic Chemistry!

Inorganic Chemistry: mostly ordinary flash cards as this module involves memorising a lot of facts! A few mechanism ones for catalytic cycles- but I use an A4 version for those because they have more information on!

Professional Skills: a few ordinary flash cards, but it’s a coursework module so no real need.

[studyingwithjulia]

Scones with jam and cream, and a cup of coffee! Little treat before a manic day - and no time to study :/