12.05.2019 // I’ve been crazy busy with work and uni but I'm almost doneeeeee, can't wait to finish the couple projects I have left and start my holidays. Hope everyone is having a nice end of the semester too! 🌟🌟
If you’re a member of the studyblr community, you’ll know that challenges are incredibly popular here. But lots of us embark on productivity challenges, only to give up after a few days. So when I managed to complete @studyblr 30 days of learning challenge in July, I was so proud of myself that I decided to make a post about to talk about how I managed to do it!
There’s a more detailed explanation here, but essentially, the 30 days of learning challenge is exactly what it sounds like – you pick a skill, an activity, anything, and take 30 days to practice it!
Like I said, I’ve never managed to complete a study challenge because I struggled with motivation, especially with challenges that span over a few months. I’m going into my final year of university this September, and I’ve got a lot on my plate: I’ll be looking after some first year students and I’m also the representative for all the students in my department. So I wanted to get a head start on my third year with this challenge! I chose to complete my readings for my autumn semester modules. It was a huge challenge, but I knew it would help me in the long run.
On to the nitty gritty. It had been a while since I’d done something productive, so it was pretty obvious that I’d give up if I worked myself hard every single day for thirty days – especially if I also had to post about it.
Taking each day as it comes
So instead, I took each day as it came. Some days I was able to work for a solid few hours and get lots done, and others I wasn’t in the right headspace to do that, and only managed to do something small. And I took weekends off for myself, leaving my blog running on a queue.
“But that means you didn’t learn for thirty days!”, I hear you cry. And you’re right! I didn’t specifically focus on my subject of learning for every day of this challenge. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t learn. It taught me a lot about respecting my own boundaries, taking time to myself, and not working myself until I had nothing left to give. And despite taking some days off, I got all of my readings done with some time to spare!
Actually doing the work
It’s not easy by any means, but it is possible. It starts with knowing where and when you work best – here’s a good masterpost about that. I already knew that I work best in the morning, anywhere comfortable and quiet, so I took advantage of that. It might be a bit harder if you’re not able to create the perfect environment but getting as close as possible will definitely help.
From there, I tried to set goals as realistically as possible. Would I be able to read a 20-page paper and take good, helpful notes about it in half an hour? Hell no. I guesstimated how long each reading would take, giving myself anywhere from an hour to up to four hours in some cases, and drew up a loose plan in my head for how long each week’s readings would take.
The most important thing, I found, was flexibility. Theoretically, I would be able to get through two weeks’ worth of reading each day, with an hour for lunch, if I worked from 9am-5pm. But that didn’t happen every day. Some days, I got through two weeks; some days I got through three or even four weeks; some days, I got through one week, if I did any work at all.
On top of that, my university’s resource lists are sometimes incomplete or require a trip to the library: for my investigative journalism module, only about half of the required readings were available online. Instead of getting annoyed and giving up on it, I had to force myself to plough through – not an easy feat by any means, but now it’s over I know it was worth it.
Flexibility in what I focused on and how is absolutely essential to getting any work done in the circumstances we’re faced with. It all makes doing anything considerably more taxing on your energy and wellbeing. Some days I couldn’t do much other than be anxious and sit on my phone or play Animal Crossing all day. But as soon as I took the pressure off myself, and actively told myself I didn’t need to do something every day, it made productivity easier, and more enjoyable.
I also made sure to give myself the right amount of downtime. Not enough and I’d burn out, but too much and I’d get lazy and not bother to keep going. This will differ for everyone, but finding your balance is incredibly important – not only for challenges like this, but for your wider life as a student and as a person.
For me, the right balance was finishing at around 4-5pm every day to make dinner and have downtime with my family, and forcing myself to take time away from it all at the weekends. Like I mentioned, I put my blog on a queue every weekend, but I also didn’t let myself check my emails or do any reading when I was taking my breaks.
I found it challenging to force myself into taking breaks when I felt like I could continue, but from past experience I knew that I would end up burning myself out. Enforcing boundaries between your academic and personal life is essential.
It’s very important to note that mental health should be your priority regardless, but especially when completing any studyblr challenge. It’s hard enough coping with mental health problems as a student, but it’s even harder during a pandemic when you’re told by your teachers you need to keep being productive. For that reason, it’s even more important to put boundaries in place and stick to them. Remember: if you can’t do something one day, that’s okay! You have other days to look forward to where doing what you need might be more possible. I have a whole masterpost about looking after your mental health as a student, which you can check out here.
Wrapup
I really hope this post was helpful! I’m more than happy to answer any other questions here, and I’ll also include some other links below to help.
If you completed the 30 days of learning challenge or any other studyblr challenge recently: well done! They’re not easy and accomplishing that much is something you should be really proud of yourself for. Stay safe and look after yourselves!
Useful masterposts
Challenges
30 days of learning challenge, by @studyblr
100 days of productivity, a run-down by @emmastudies
Summer studying challenge, by @myhoneststudyblr
Loads more in my tag here
Helpful masterposts
Why you shouldn’t rely on learning styles, by @eintsein
Tumblr resources to get you through the school year, by @ginsengstudy
A masterpost of masterposts, by @studynapz
Self-care masterpost, by @adalinestudiess
How to concentrate, by @armcnia
Attention management, by @eintsein
Study routine for ultimate productivity, by @lifewithlala
More productivity masterposts
Dear former “gifted” students, by @daisystudies
Time management hacks, by @geekvitamin (reposted from Business Insider)
Working from home (graphic), by @littlestudiousflower
Being a student with a mental illness, by me
Helping your mentally ill friends through exam periods, by me
Wishing I could take more aesthetic study pics but I've got nothing to study!
I read Brave New World and I have to say, it's quite... interesting?? I totally didn't expect the ending to be that lmao. But it was really well written and I hope to read similar novels in the future!
I had my second day of C. elegans bootcamp today where we learn how to work with the worms. It was fun but mentally exhausting since you have to follow the worms through a microscope and they’re suprisingly fast.
The notes are from past semester from the Downstream process lectures, which were part of my Biotechnology major. Now I’m doing my minor, which is Biomedical research.
First set of notes from my second semester! This semester I’ve started my intro to psychopathology module and I’d kind of forgotten how much I do enjoy psychopathology!
