#studycation motivation

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2020 will be my year because i will make it my year

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psa to studyblrs & all academics: your mental health matters. your health matters. you matter. it’s a common misconception that you can’t have great mental health and good grades or that you must sacrifice one for the other. that’s not true. yes, push yourself and try your best - but never to the point that you’re mentally breaking down. take a break, take care of yourself for a bit, and then return when you’re ready. you’ll find that you’re a lot more capable of doing well when you have the mental space for it. good mental health and achieving your goals go hand in hand. please don’t forget that. take care of yourself. i believe in you! and you’ve got the whole community here to support you <3

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what i’ve learned thus far about life and school — from a current high school senior 

there’s a huGE difference between “recognizing” and “understanding” study material

color coding notes: yes

don’t study in bed (i fall asleep every single time) & don’t study in a consistent spot. change it up every once in a while. i sat at the kitchen table instead of my desk for the first time in a year and i was so much more productive and focused.

reading the text again isn’t enough to study. writing out a few review notes makes all the difference, even if it’s just a few key words or a mind map.

sitting in the front/second row: life changing. it makes a huge difference because you’re forced to pay attention, remain engaged, and you’re less likely to get distracted.

also! try to pay attention in class! i know it can be hard sometimes, but there will be times where your teachers will recite information that will be on your test that isn’t on their slides, outlines, or handouts.

get a planner or some app to write things down. i used to be like ‘oh. i’ll remember this.’ new flash: never remembered. having a planner and being able to check off the tasks you completed is kinda fulfilling–not gonna lie. also writing on your hand is fine too! but anyway, moral of the story: write. it. down.

getting stuff done early feels SO good. as a procrastinator, this felt hard to believe. however, finishing early and studying ahead of time pays off—not just academically but mentally. when i finish early, my future self thanks my past self.

don’t make looking at social media before bed a habit. it’s not something worth staying up late doing, and you’ll regret it later. what ever you’re looking at, you can look at it tomorrow before school, during break, or after school—don’t lose sleep over something that you can do later and that isn’t necessary.

be realistic with yourself when you’re setting goals. when making your to-do lists, it shouldn’t be a laundry list. if you know you have a hard time getting up in the morning but you plan on waking up early to do work, plan for the time you’re going to lose to hitting the snooze button two times.

ways to save time in the morning: plan your outfit the night before or while you’re in the shower. brush your teeth while showering. pack your bag the night before.

having an ‘i get to’ rather than an ‘i have to’ mindset makes you so much more excited for and appreciative of life.

surround yourself with diverse perspectives. learn to empathize with people that do not look like you or think like you. let people challenge you! but also listen to what these people have to say…like r e a l l y listen. watch this video (it’s a little long (15min) but it’s definitely a w o w video)

you don’t always have to be right! i used to hate when people poked holes in my logic or proved me wrong, but now i openly welcome it. i took a step back and was like ‘i disklike coceited people’ and i’m acting totally conceited so this needs to change. embrace mistakes because they help you learn.

the way you perceive people to be is, more often than not, not the way they actually are. learn to drop first impressions and to upgrade your opinions as new information comes in.

once you accept your flaws and quirks, no one can use them against you.

on the other hand, if you have flaws that aren’t good for others or yourself that are fixable, you know they’re fixable, but you openly choose not to do anything about them—change that. be better than ignorant. you really owe it to yourself to be the best version that you can be.

bE KIND. see my post on ways you can do this! we need more kind people in this world. be one of them.

never feel guilty for doing the right thing.

i used to beat myself up over answering something incorrectly in class. my heart used to race when my teacher did roll call and i had to say ‘here.’ when we read aloud in class, i used to count the seats ahead of me so i could prepare for what i was going to read. USED TO. i’ve learned that the majority of people don’t notice the trivial things i do. i don’t even remember when other kids answer questions incorrectly so why would they remember when i did? being able to put myself in the shoes of how others think, has made me less afraid to live life and has allowed me to definitely participate more.

you don’t have to be who people expect you to be. you don’t have to follow stereotypes. be as authentically you as possible because you’re not living your life for others, you’re living life for you.

i cannot stress this enough: live in the moment. don’t wish your life away hoping for something better; life is too short for that. don’t treat this as a transitional phase. spend time with your friends and family. learn for the sake of learning. if you were to die today, could you say you’d die happy? volunteer more. sing in the shower as loud as you can. dance like nobody’s watching. do more of what makes you happy even if it might sometimes feel like a waste of time.

you aren’t necessarily accountable for your emotions, but you are accountable for your actions. you have the right to feel upset, but there’s no reason to take it out on others who want to help or had no part in making you upset.

creating a dream aesthetic/life board helps me stay motivated. i have a private pinterest board with sub-boards of doctors, motivational and inspirational quotes that keep me going, my dream room, etc. whenever i get distracted, i look at this board, and i am reminded that in order to achieve my goals i have to stay focused right now. i said before to live in the moment, and i’ve found that it’s not that hard to balance motivation for goals and living in the moment–it takes a little time but once you get the hang of it, life will be better.

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today, do what’s best for you. do what you need to do because that is self-love, my friend.

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what do you study for?