24/11/16 8:56 PM // tried to post this two days ago but it wouldnāt post fsr (??) well anyway hereās a look at this weekās bullet journal spread (ft bmth and awsten knight) along with my chemistry notes. in this semester, my chemistry scores are lower than my other classes, so i decided to start studying it earlier. iāve got school exams next week plus a music theory exam so these following two weeks are bound to be extremely busy. best of luck to those of you taking exams š
I just re-did my study area in my dorm room, I am not usually a colorful person but i like my study place to be inspiring and fun. And yes I have a coffee maker on my desk, when you are a much of a coffee addict as me you gotta have it close by if you need it.Ā
a guide to getting your life together after you thought you did but you actually didnāt
i hope iām not the only one x
hello lovelies!
so, ngl, the past few months have been pretty rough on me. i havenāt really been doing too well in school (not failing anything though) and my brain has been scattered and iāve just been completely stressed. i went from a super lax schedule last year to one where i literally spend 50+ hours at school because of extracurriculars and i end up cutting into sleeping time so i can finish ap homework.
now, since iām on thanksgiving break, iām going to actually plan out my life. i canāt deal with this stress forever so here are the steps iām going to take starting as soon as i finish typing this up :3 hopefully this helps <3
**friendly reminder that any of the guides i make are more for me than they are for you, honestly bc sometimes iām passive-aggressive towards myself and do so through tumblr posts and i also forget a lot**
001 :: clean your room
seriously. do it. if yours is as much of a mess as mine is, do a thorough cleaning of your room and open your window and change your bedsheets and also reorganize it if your current room system is not working for you.
a thorough cleaning.
seriously.
do it.
and then put a plant in because why not?
002 :: list out everything you need to do
i already do this but if you donāt i totally recommend it. also, i love making lists. to-do lists are my life and they will make sure you donāt forget things.
iād suggest not putting your planner in your backpack and instead holding it with you along with a pen as you go from class to class. this way, youāre more inclined to write down any assignments or tasks youāre given as homework immediately in it rather than write it somewhere random or thinking,Ā āiāll remember what it isā.
003 :: and then, block it
personally, the pomodoro technique only works sometimes for me. otherwise, i have a pretty good work ethic and can usually stick to it. but use an app like forest if it helps you.
my ap chem teacher gives us a long list of problems we have to do that are due the following week, and my ap euro teacher does the same thing except with cornell notes. for long term assignments like these in which you donāt need to finish them overnight, plan out your time before you get home on when youāre going to work on it. note theĀ ābefore you get homeā; if possible, do it and youāll have gained a few more minutes to work on stuff.
how to block your time? (yeah, the times are really late. i do not get enough sleep. i get home at around 5. the hours i cut off account for dinner and showering.)
there was this study that said you retain information better when you go over it between 4-6 a.m. so i like to indulge in an hour of that.
anyways, i can finish about 1/3 of chem homework in an hour and 1/2 of european history homework in two hours, and all of my work due the following day in two hours.
reminder that this is my personal system which definitely doesnāt work for everyone
004 :: neater notes
i take a ton of notes. not kidding. i bought a pack of 12 g2 gel pens (aaaaah theyāre the best) at the beginning of september and iāve already had to go get more.
the problem is, my notes arenāt really legible or neat. so iām making myself write more neatly, stick to a system of labelling and dating all of my note pages in the same place and getting more notebooks so i can separate my notes from assignments.Ā
thinking of starting the legal pad thing in which you take notes on legal pads and rewrite them nicely in notebooks/do assignments in notebooks.
005 :: study sheets + practice tests
so before every test, i get a piece of printer paper and make review sheets. thatās been working out pretty well for me so far. iāll post more in-depth about those if asked, i guess?
practice tests are a gift take them do them they will make your life so much better omg
006 :: water water water water
i actually donāt drink a ton of water, which isnāt good. especially since iām in the musical and choir whoops
anyways, thatās going to change i promise iām going to actually use my water bottle and drink a cold glass of water in the morning i donāt like tea so iām not gonna do that but i will also eat more fruits that pack a ton of water in them i promise
007 :: look at your friend group
i didnāt realize this until yesterday, but while i have amazing friends, they do not help me at all with staying focused and productive.
no, i am not going to cut them out of my life. but i wonāt let them distract me anymore from my academics and studying. if they want help for studying more effectively iām all in but if theyāre just distracting me from what i need to get done then i need to take the step of stepping away.
008 :: clean out your backpack once a week
same spiel as the clean-your-room thing.
009 :: yup, your binder and notebook folders too
see 08 and 01
010 :: get motivated!
one major problem iāve had is that doing my homework isnāt fun or something i feel driven to do. last year i turned it into a game, and i need to go back to that system.
colors! colors are just so nice and pretty to look at and f u n like yes please
different mediums! colored pencils? yup. highlighters? yup. gel pens? yup.
different tip sizes! 0.38, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0 yes please
different handwriting styles! cursive is so fun once you get used to it and end up doing it because writing in print makes your hand cramp sooner than if youāre writing in cursive and block letters are cute writing titles in highlighter sure pupcat handwriting coolio
draw! banners banners banners are so simple once you learn how to do them borders are nice too cute lines yeah
illustrations also help you better remember info
hopefully this helps you! might make a part two bc who knows where iāll end up.
Weekend update: breakfast in my favourite part of central London with my boyfriend because I needed to pick something up. And my weekly summary / daily to do list which has miraculously all be finished now šš»
hello!! im someone who uses my phone and computer a lot and so after going through every app masterpost to exist i have put together my own app masterpost! :ā) i do hope this app masterpost helps you and i apologise for the length ;A; i added a read now bc i ramble omg im so sorry
we all must admit how hard it is to just sit down and do your work sometimes. the following are a few random tips that i used to study better (iāll probably be making another more specific study tip post but this is just a general set of things i do that really help me out).
set a routine
if you continue to do something, eventually it turns into a habit. try to study at a certain time every day. itāll turn into a habit and eventually become an instinct to get your books out and sit down at that certain time of day.
this will keep you from procrastinating by giving you a little jolt of guilt and also keep you sane. i personally wrote down my goals on a post-it and stuck it on the wall. later on, whenever i felt like throwing my textbook out the window (rip louis pasteur and his scientific contributions to biology) i would look up and see the note which would promptly calm me down so i could take a five minute break and get back to work.
give yourself time beforehand
if you give yourself a little bit of time before you start studying, you will feel more refreshed and ready to study. when i come home from school i give myself Ā a half hour to change, have some fruit, and start getting my materials out. that way i donāt feel rushed from just finishing school to immediately starting all my work. i also stay off of tumblr and the internet during this time because if i got on i would probably spend my half hour there and not have any time to actually relax and unwind a little bit. also if you need more time, take more time, but donāt stretch it out to two hours or something overboard like that, especially if you come home later.
for when you really want to fling your work into a tornado and go on tumblr
nope. sorry. not going to work. i mean, you could probably get on tumblr but youāll regret it come tomorrow when your teacher asks for your homework or hand out that test and you look at it and realize you donāt know the material.Ā try working in pomodoro time chunks so that you donāt overwork yourself and also get rewarding little breaks in between. sometimes when iām really unmotivated, i turn the pomodoro method into a little game andĀ try working for just a little bit more and challenge myself to see how many more minutes i can study for. if i end up achieving 25 minutes, i take the 5 minute break.Ā
actually physically on a piece of real paper write out what you need to do and when
personally my memory is pretty good so once iāve finished all my classes, i clear my desk, pull out my bullet journal and write out what i need to do (but if that doesnāt work for you write assignments down during the class blah blah) and thenĀ move it to my online planner just so i have a copy in case i lose the physical one. youāre way more likely to remember things you actually write down, which is why this helps. itās also nice to be able to cross things off my list so brownie points for that satisfaction factor x)
try to make sure your study space has a good chair
story time so last year i did all my homework while lying on my stomach on my bed because the chair i had for my desk was really bad in supporting my back. itās better to reserve your bed for sleeping and your desk for working, so donāt do what i did
write down what works for you
yo so iām a HUGE fan of lists; i make lists out of literally everything not even kidding i love love love love lists but if you donāt thatās cool. i keep a physical and virtual list of studying strategies that work for me (e.g. lists, gel/felt pens, colourful banners, etc.) and strategies that donāt (e.g. music with lyrics, multitasking while working, having my phone nearby). when you know what works and doesnāt work for you, studying and working becomes a whole lot easier =)
Iām currently reading Harry Potter in Italian, and itās really expanding my Italian vocabulary. Iām hoping to do a few more of these, including one on words specifically related to the HP universe, but for now, here is a list of verbs describing how to say things, all of which can be found in the first chapter of La Pietra Filosofale.
[2/100 days of productivity]
16th october 2016 / finished off some homework for german and wrote a second review sheet for my electric charge exam next week. i also started a new t-shirt embroidery for my friendās birthday ! ft. my fave pens and highlighter ā uni pin fineliner 0.5mm, muji gel ink pen 0.5mm and pilot frixion light highlighter in soft green Źā¢į“„ā¢Ź x
