#fancyfloyd

[fancyfloyd]

SUNDAY. Today consists of reading reviews and primary literature on my research project while I enjoy some black tea. Oh happy day, indeed!

[fancyfloyd]

“You can’t buy happiness... but you can buy tea, and that’s kind of the same thing.” 

Monday night study session, complete with tea and Physics!  Lab has gotten a little hectic (I’m a post-baccalaureate researcher currently), so getting some good quality study time hasn’t been a priority lately. I’m working on fixing that.     

Stay classy, people!

Fiat Lux

FLOYD

[fancyfloyd]

Curing the study session blues!  

As an aspiring MD/PhD, I must first conquer one thing: the MCAT exam.  Studying for the MCAT however, can get a little hard sometimes. Thus I thought I would write a quick post about the two things I believe every successful study session needs! 

1. Good study music.  Currently listening to Beck’s “Morning Phase” album. (I highly recommend it, by the way).  

Of course, not everyone can study while listening to music.  I am lucky in that no matter what I study, I NEED music playing in the background.  It not only keeps me focused, but it lets me “drown” any noise that may be coming from my surroundings.  

A short article from USA Today notes that “carefully tailoring the music you listen to while studying, based on the subject matter and your mood, can help keep you focused — so long as you stay away from lyrics while doing language-based work.”

In other words, if you are studying things that don’t require you to read or write critically, such as math, physics, or chemistry, then put your headphones on and make a playlist on Spotify to accompany your studying! My personal favorite is studying to Spotify’s “50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music”.  The playlist is absolutely phenomenal--there are little to no lyrics, includes compositions by historically amazing composers, and will seriously make your studying much more enjoyable.  

2. Black Tea. I’m drinking a nice, relaxing vanilla chai tea. (Redundancy at its finest, might I add, given that “chai” literally means “tea”. Therefore I’m drinking vanilla tea tea. Weird, right?).  

Black tea is an excellent coffee substitute in my opinion, as it typically contains half the caffeine a regular cup of joe does, and still aids in keeping you energized, alert, and most importantly, RELAXED!  WebMD outlines some great health benefits associated with drinking black tea.