academics - learns how to study better, retain information better and be organised about my study schedule, motivation to study
hobbies - pick up on a series of hobbies i have always wanted to try: crocheting, digital art to draw doodles and ocs, editing videos, stitching, making my own clothes, improve dancing (learn dabke)
personal - improve my self care, develop routines, learn how to do make up and dress better
health - take regular walks, drink my health improvements, work out via homework outs and pilates, drink enough water
spiritual - learn more about my religion, learn about my rights, memorise a surah a month and it's context at least, read daily, change my daily scheduling, change my mindset, evening and morning dhikr becoming regular
1. don’t load your hardest classes in one semester. find out which classes within your major are rumored to be tough and divide them out throughout your time in college.
2. don’t show up to class earlier than 10 mins early. the class before yours will likely still be in there finishing up, and you’ll either walk in in the middle of a lecture or have to stand outside for a long time. just get there 5-10 mins early and you’ll be fine!
3. create a group chat for all of your classes. find a few friends from class and make a group chat! this can be either on imessage, groupme, or whatever is most popular to use at your school. this can be your go-to place to ask questions about assignments, due dates, etc. before asking the professor!
4. as for class participation, quality>quantity. in most college classes (with the exception of huge lectures) participation accounts for a chunk of your grade, and some professors take that grade very seriously. however, this doesn’t mean you should raise your hand and talk whenever you find the opportunity- your professor (and your classmates, for that matter) will appreciate you much more if your comments and questions are less frequent and have more to add to the class.
5. the readings listed under a date in a class are due for that class, they are not homework for the next class. this is one of the biggest issues college freshman have at the beginning of their first semester. unless the professor specifically says otherwise, if the syllabus is set up to list each class individually with the readings underneath/beside the class, they are due for that class, not the next one.
6. make yourself known to your professor! this is especially important for a large lecture, where they won’t get to know you otherwise. stop by their office hours or go up to them after class and introduce yourself- making a connection with your professor can open more doors than you may know!
7. rate my professor is not always accurate. professors can get better or worse, and different people have different experiences. though it’s a great tool and you can still use it to see what people think, if you’re stuck with a professor that is ranked low, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a bad time in that class.
8. sometimes it’s okay to just skim your readings. you’ll find out soon enough if your professor basically goes over exactly what the reading says every class. if so, you only need to skim it over and take light notes. don’t spend hours closely reading a textbook that your professor is just going to go over word for word the next day (unless it helps you- if so, do it!)
9. the guy in class that answers every question isn’t smarter than you. that’s it.
10. if you come from a lower income area or a worse school district than your peers, you may be playing the “catch up game” for a while. it’s okay! i personally go to a college where most students here come from wealthy families across the world and were sent to the best high schools possible. if you, like me, come from a mediocre public school, you may feel like you’re a beat behind your peers when it comes to background knowledge. don’t give up. work hard, you’ll catch up with them soon. (also- they aren’t smarter than you just because they had better opportunities than you did growing up. at the end of the day, you ended up at the same college)
new: i made a FREE TEMPLATE if you're interested in this habit tracker notion setup🌱💗💞
i've received a few questions about how i track habits, which honestly changes often, but i thought i'd share how i do it right now.
other posts that may interest you: making a dashboard in notion (with template) | my notion tag
this is a pretty low-maintenance and simple way of tracking habits, while still using the wonderful database feature. i hope it helps you ✨😋
post text in alt text and also under the cut:
title: how i track my habits on notion (an illustrated guide + free template)
habit breakdown: every year i take some time to define exactly what my habits are first (i like to use icons for simplicity). this way, i know what i have to do to check off a habit on a day
how i use it: every day, my dashboard has a habits section that updates daily. when i practice the habit, i just check it off. this refreshes automatically so it’s convenient.
how i use it: at the end of each month, i can see how consistent i was with specific habits. i do this by looking at my monthly percentages and looking for patterns: did i burn out on a particular habit? why? and i think about how i should adjust these to my current reality every month, because life happens!
how i use it: then i jot down these numbers so i have a general idea of whether or not i’m being consistent with the intentions i set at the beginning of the month. i ask myself, why or why not? and then i make adjustments to my new interests and priorities.
benefits
benefits — an easy habit tracker helps you see what you’re doing each day so you have an idea of what you want to practice more, practice less, and gives you a better idea of how your habits are affecting your wellbeing, instead of just relying on vibes, which can make you hard on yourself.
encouragement — checking it off gives me a sense of accomplishment. i had a tendency of thinking i wasn’t ‘doing enough’ each month, but when i write things down, i have concrete proof that i did things that were important to me. you also get to look back on your month and be like, look at all these things i did for myself! and have a little celebration :)
how it works: calendar view: of course i’ve created a template for you to use (yay!), but it’s worth learning how i set up the template so you can adjust it to your needs. basically, each habit is a property, and each page corresponds to a day, which has all the habits on it like a checklist. every month i duplicate the page each day for a month (it sounds cumbersome, but actually only takes about a minute total). this allows me to review every month if i want to keep my habits the same, set habit intentions each month so i can reflect and consider, what habits should i continue? what should i stop? it keeps it flexible. also, if you’re going on vacation, need a break, or anything comes up, you can take days off and that way your statistics won’t be skewed by stretches of time where you aren’t planning to practice your habits.
tip: hold alt + drag your mouse to duplicate pages super quickly for this step
how it works: count page: all you have to do here is filter the date to the interval you’d like to see your habits summarized in. i keep mine as calculated per month, but you can set your interval for a week or year or something more specific.
how it works: daily view: i create a linked database and set the view to gallery, filter to “Today” and make sure that all the properties for habits are enabled so they appear in a little task list. then i just check them off each day. it updates automatically.
closing: and that’s it! for me, simple is best. i change how i track stuff all the time, but for now, this works just fine. i hope it can help you too.
I started learning French 4 months ago and due to covid it’s become really difficult to practice my speaking skills. So i’m looking for a language partner who is willing to zoom or Facetime once a week. It would include just chatting in french and getting to know each other. I am fluent in German and English, so I could return the favor if you like. I would prefer someone over 20, that’s my only criteria. Please send me a message if you are interested.
2087
origamiaround
titsay
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
turnnoffyourmind
andulkaphoto
