Stressd&Studying...&Tea

A-Level student - Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, Biology and Psychology. A bit blind and very bendy. GBR Disability Gymnastics Team. Visually impaired, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome III and POTs plus a few others - basically wobbly. Guide dog owner. Piano player. Aspiring med student. Professional tea drinker. Also, I'm pretty short.

[spicydisability-deactivated2017]

Cool disabled kid wants to follow more disabled/chronically ill people

Please reblog if you are: - a disabled PoC - an LGBT disabled person - a neurodivergent disabled person - any combo of the above or just disabled! I wanna follow you!

[theblindbendy-studyblr]

AS and GCSE results this year: AS Chemistry: A☑️ [123/140] Maths (AS modules): A☑️ [269/300UMS] - core 1: 98/100UMS a - core 2: 97/100UMS a - mech 1: 74/100UMS b Core 3 (the A2 maths module I did early): 91/100 UMS a* Across the maths AS modules and core 3 averaging 90/100 UMS, so on track for an A* at the end of next year, with 2 modules to go! GCSE Psych Shortcourse (self-taught): B [59/80] - disappointed, awaiting remark.

[greenjudy]

on OCD

A few things. There’s a lot more to say but I will confine myself to this.

OCD gets worse when you believe its story. It will threaten you with death, it will make you feel like a terrible person if you don’t do what it tells you. But if you do what it tells you, OCD gets worse.

OCD gets worse when you’re tired, sick, or stressed out. You may have a good day or a good week or even a good month, and then hit a rough patch at work and suddenly you find, once again, god dammit, that you’re worried about Thing again. Tell yourself, “ah yes, OCD has no principles, it will try and get me when I’m feeling low, it fights dirty.” 

Tell yourself that: OCD fights dirty.

OCD lingers. I regard myself as 85 to 90% improved over my worst, most miserable state. But I still work with it often. For me, my best tool has been CBT and exposure therapy. By practicing exposure therapy and some basic meditation, I have been able to leave behind panic attacks and tachycardia pretty much entirely. I can sit on benches outside. I can use public restrooms. I can cook and eat food from a kitchen I share with 30 other people. Hell, I can run around in socks and step outside in those same damn socks and then wear those funky socks to bed. (You might be saying, “ew, greenjudy, don’t.” But don’t is not the point here. Neither is so what. The point is, I can do these things.)

The following is my personal experience. Since I don’t know what your circumstances are like, I can’t tell you for sure that this will work. It worked for me.

I have found that my OCD hates and fears exposure therapy. Yours might hate it too. It will try to tell you that this approach will kill you, not heal you. It might rope in many reasons and explanations why it’s a bad idea.

In my experience exposure therapy works because it is a kind of cognitive civil disobedience. It fights the narrative OCD imposes on my life. It doesn’t fight on OCD’s terms, because on those terms, OCD will always win. You’ll never be able to get around the possibility that the person you just passed on the street, the person who coughed as you walked past, has tuberculosis. If you listen to your OCD on this subject, you’ll never get away from that possibility. 

It will hold you hostage.

Exposure therapy says, “fuck you, you cannot hold me hostage.” 

Exposure therapy takes the possibility of harm and says “fucking bring it.”

Exposure therapy is Lieutenant Sulu in the captain’s chair. Sit in that chair and tell OCD, “If you test me, you will fail.”

During a given exposure I would experience anything from discomfort to severe anxiety. Then I would experience searing sadness and pain at being unable to save myself or others from what my OCD told me would happen. Then I was tired, so tired. 

Then I usually started feeling okay. 

This is not an instant fix. The process of feeling all this stuff took time. I spent days being sad about disobeying my OCD. I had a few bad days in there. But sometimes I did an exposure and had immediate relief. It varies. It will vary for you.

Exposure therapy, in my strong opinion, should be conducted with a trained, certified therapist whom you like. My therapist did everything I did. I had to touch something creepy? She touched it too. Then she sat with me through the aftermath. We ate macarons and told each other morbid jokes. 

Exposure therapy is hard fucking work. But I would rather go outside and lick the street than go back to the life I lived before. 

I can answer all kinds of questions about OCD and this process if you wanna. Just drop me a line. (To the person who wrote me, I’ll get back to you soon, I promise.)

[howtomusicmajor]

7 Study Moods

So you wanna study, but somehow the mood just isn’t right. Maybe try these? Pick your favorite, or do one each day of the week!

The Classy: Green tea, classical string quartets, reading articles in a park.

Great for when you need to read 120 pages of something. It’s way nicer to read when you’re in a nice place!

The Hipster: Coffee, jazz, writing summaries of the material in a coffee shop.

You’ll look very cosmopolitan, with all your notes in front of you. Make sure your summaries are coherent though, and you’re not too busy looking great to study well.

The Grad Student: Wine/sparkling cider, Adele, writing papers, curled up in blankets in bed.

Papers are easiest for me to write when I’m comfortable. If I feel a little fancy at the same time, so much the better.

The Focuser: Cold water, nature sounds, taking practice tests in a sunlight place.

The best way to study for a test is to take a test. The best way to kill test-anxiety is to take a practice test and feel calm while you do it. This is a great way to feel calm and prepared when you do a practice test, and that leads to a better actual test.

The Party-er: Energy drink, dubstep, drilling flashcards on the floor.

Flashcards for me are a speed thing. If I’m drilling them, my goal is to know those definitions as fast as possible. Caffeine and fast music raise my heart rate, and sitting on the floor gives me room to spread out the cards however I need to.

The Morning Person: Orange juice, early American hymns, transcribing notes at your desk.

Not necessarily done during the morning! Orange juice helps keep you alert without making you open to distraction, and old American hymns just make me feel happy, so putting them together helps make transcribing a better time.

The Finals Prepper: Black tea, folk music, interleaving any/all of the above, at the library.

This can be done whenever, and is especially useful for just keeping yourself up to speed.

Don’t worry about doing any of these exactly, these are just moods! Mix and match parts of them, make your own, whatever. I’d recommend choosing one or two moods that work really well for you and then doing them consistently, just to really get in the habit.

Good luck!

Seven more study moods

(s)EVEN MORE STUDY MOODS

[thaniastudies]

Foolproof Guide to School Success!

Hi! I just finished my first year of college and I definitely have to credit the studyblr community for all the useful information and tips! I currently closed the year with a 4.0 and don’t plan on stopping!

 In high school I was an ok student but I decided to change all that when I started college. So, whether you’re in high school or college, it’s never late to change and attain academic excellence! So here are my tips! 

Try to get an early start on your day and sit closest to the front as possible. Studies show that sitting in the front of class will improve your grades and knowledge! 

A study showed that those who sat in the front achieved an average of 80% while those in the middle achieved an average of 71.6% on their exams. And guess who did even worse.. unfortunately those in the back scored an average of 68.1%

Distractions are decreased because there’s no one sitting in front of you, just the lecture which basically forces you to pay attention.

This increases the likelihood of your professor getting to know you. Why is that important? Well, in an accounting course I once took, I sat in the front, attended extra tutoring sessions hosted by that instructor, and generally put in extra effort in the class. By the end of the semester everyone was really struggling, over 20 students flunked out, and even my tips weren’t getting me to that A I wanted. Well, because I had established who I was and that I was serious about the class, my instructor bumped my final course grade from an 88% to 93%! She said she noticed the effort I put in so she gave me the grade she thought I deserved

Seriously, sit in the front!! 

Ok, now that you have a good spot in the class, make sure you take great notes! The Cornell notes system is great but do whatever works best for you. 

Abbreviate often

Date your notes at the top so you can order them chronologically. This will make studying a breeze later on. 

Find a color coding system that works for you. Highlight main ideas and vocab. 

Find a notebook that works for you. I was lucky enough to score 20 moleskines at my local thrift store at 1 dollar a piece so I’ve been using those. 

If you prefer loose leaf paper, buy a bunch and stick it into a flexible binder so you can organize and reorganize your paper. 

Use post-its and sticky tabs to add extra info that you might have left out during class. Use sticky tabs to find certain notes faster. 

These are some of my favorite note taking supplies:

These Pilot G-Tec pens are some of my favorite pens ever! They are super smooth and the lines are really fine. This 5 pack costs around $11 which is pretty affordable!

Mead notebooks are a classic staple. Seriously these are super durable!

These sticky post-it tab hybrids work really well for marking a page and highlighting important info. 

Mildliners are really nice and the colors are not to bright. A pack runs around $7 and a 3 pack is $15 on Amazon. 

If you want to go the extra mile, retyping up your notes is a great idea. That way your in class notes can be messy and it won’t matter since you’re going to type them up anyway. One Note is awesome for notes. 

I developed my own system for deciding on how I will study and how often I will study. It goes something like this:

Rank your classes in order of difficulty into three sections:

Easy, medium, and hard….

Easy classes get one point

Medium classes get two points

Hard classes get three points 

Is the class math related? ….. add 2 points

Is it science related? …… add 2 points

Is the class a subject that you struggle with? ….. add 3 points

is the class AP? ……… 3 points 

Add up the points for each class. 

Classes with 1-3 points: 

these classes are generally easy and have an easy instructor, contain info you already know, etc. 

These classes get 45 minutes a day in your schedule and minimal studying on weekends. 

Classes with 4-8 points:

These classes might need some more effort so try to…

Set aside an hour a day and 30 minutes on weekends. 

Classes with 9 points and up:

These classes are usually more intense, have daily assignments, have a strict instructor, etc. 

Set 2 hours a day and an hour or more on weekends. Consider going to free tutoring provided by your school, join a study group, or go to your instructor’s office hours. 

Plan your months, weeks, and days in advance! Keep a planner, calendar, or bullet journal. I personally use a bullet journal and keep a calendar printable in each binder I have for my classes. 

Include due dates, exam dates, when your rentals are due, etc. 

Look at it everyday!!! That way you won’t forget important events. 

If you want to, make it pretty! Decorate it with stickers, pictures, polaroids, etc. to make it more personal.

If you prefer minimalism, keep a simple planner or bullet journal system.

If an electronic system works better for you, go for it! But I’ve noticed that writing it on paper works best! 

Here are some great planners or journals to use:

Moleskines are always a great choice! 

This hardcover Yoobi journal is comparable to the Moleskine and comes in pretty colors! The price is awesome, each one runs at $6! 

Bando makes super pretty and trendy planners. They run from $20 and can get pricey though. It’s definitely worth it though!

This Sugar Paper gold polka dot planner is really cute and super affordable!

The AT-A-GLANCE planner has a monthly view and daily sections with plenty of room for writing in important dates and decorating with cute stuff! 

Kikki K has amazing planners. If you want to splurge consider their stuff. I’ve always wanted one but it’s around the price of a textbook :( 

While Studyblr has so many resources and tips, in case you haven’t noticed, a lot of the pretty pictures use muji pens, staedtler fineliners, and those cute lil’ backpacks. Remember that you have to use supplies that work with you. Here are the essentials to carry with you:

Notebooks and binders

A sturdy and comfy backpack. I use the Borealis backpack by The North Face on discount. Make sure it has comfortable straps, back support, enough room for all your stuff, and compartments for your food and water bottle. 

A phone charger. Keep it in your backpack. My phone has died on me so many times and it sucks, especially if you have to take the bus. Invest in a portable charger.

Earbuds are a must, especially if you take public transportation. Also great for when you’re at the library, gym, etc.

As previously mentioned, a water bottle and FOOD! Pack a lunch but also have backup snacks like granola bars or nuts. You need food and water for energy.  

Keep extra change. You never know when you need it!! 

Your planner. 

Pens, pencils, etc. Especially a stapler if you have homework that you regularly turn in!! Its really awk when someone doesn’t have a stapler and everyone in the class doesn’t either..

A laptop, seriously a must! Chromebooks are affordable! 

Hope that’s helpful! Looking forward to another year in college and staying in the Studyblr community,

Thania

[oakh4rt]

[theblindbendy-studyblr]

New Challenge🇨🇳 你好

My challenge for last year, whilst starting my A-Levels, was to teach myself GCSE psychology- done! Waiting for results in the summer ✔️ New challenge - learning Chinese! Quite a big one, I’m not naturally a languages person, and as a visually impaired person the script will be a little tricky but here goes! If anyone could point me in the direction of some Mandarin Chinese studyblrs that’d be fab 👌🏻

[theblindbendy-studyblr]

Bit of advice for my spoonie friends (especially those with hand strength issues) who are into beauty&nails: THIS STUFF IS INCREDIBLE! ‘Pretty Quik Instant Nail Polish Remover’ - I’ve always struggled doing nails due to my disabilities, my visual impairments means that I make a lot of mistakes and often have to wipe bits off with nail polish remover, but this is often very painful on my hands due to my Ehlers-Danlos, Arthritis, Raynauds and POTs, and zaps my hand energy for writing/typing - not good for a student! But this stuff is incredible - it’s basically a sponge soaked in a type of nail polish remover with a hole in the middle, and you twist your finger in it to remove the nail polish without using much hand strength! It’s definitely available in UK Boots, and is about £2.50. {Pic description - small blue and pink bottle of nail polish remover}

[elkstudies]

Bullet Journals are a diy planning system which can be a to-do list, sketchbook, notebook, and diary. They are exteremely versatile and customisable! There’s so much examples online I’ve condensed some helpful resources into one masterpost!

Stationery

*These are only recommendations, you don’t need any of these for a bullet journal but they’re just an example of some of the stuff I use in mine!*

Notebooks

Moleskine

Leuchtturm 1917

Muji

There are many other brands but these are the most popular in the studyblr community! Also they offer dot grid, lined and square grid paper. 

Pens

Uni Pin Pen Set

Staedtler Triplus Fineliner

Muji Gel Ink Pens

Zebra Brush Pen

Makers/Highlighters

Zebra Mildliners

Staedtler Triplus Colours

Miscellaneous

a ruler

glue

washi tape

colourful card

sticky notes

Page Ideas

word of the year/month

year at a glance

tv shows/movies/animes to watch

books to read

reading log

tv show season tracker

college applications

packing list

blog post ideas/youtube ideas

doodles page

pen test page

bucket list

handwriting practice

quotes of the day/month

pictures from the week/month

favourite memories log

gratitude log

grade tracker

music playlist ideas

a favourites page

food log

monthly tracker

yearly/monthly/weekly goals

things to do when you’re happy/sad

recipes

birthdays

favourite words in other languages

study/school timetable

outfits of the day

dream journal

washi/sticker swatch

online order tracker

budget/savings page

importand email addresses/phone numbers

passwords  page

Fonts

Fake Cursive

Title Ideas

Easy Fonts

Whimsical Font

Hand Lettering Introduction

Fake Calligraphy

Doodle Ideas

therevisionguide

doodle ideas

border ideas

cute doodles

oodles of doodles

Inspiration

my bullet journal

Boho Berry

Tiny Ray of Sunshine

Bujo Battles by @studyign

Bullet Journal Show and Tell

The Art of Simple

Bullet Journal Flipthrough 

Bullet Journal Set Up

Bullet Journal Evolution

Bullet Journal 101

Bullet Journal Hacks

I hope this was useful! If you’d like to see any other specific materposts, feel free to message me!

Check out my other posts here!

Make sure to follow my instagram: elkstudies and snapchat: elkstudies! 

[areistotle]

yooo it’s me again with part two of my reference masterpost, now focusing on life in general a little bit more (see part one for more school-based things)! enjoy ✨

health + food

food masterpost

stress relief

self-care tag

infused waters

staying healthy in college

some exercise for weight loss

cheap food to make

bad days

feel better

got sick?

studying with a cold

studying sick

periods

study munchies

managing stress during finals

getting up early

self-care reminders

overcoming burnout

getting better rest

getting enough sleep

wake up early

reduce exam stress

avoiding burnout

manage and reduce stress

getting a good night’s sleep

food

study breaks (1)

study breaks (2)

make the most of your day

time to sleep

it’s coffee o’clock

it’s time for tea

how to have a good morning

staying awake w/o caffeine

what to eat while studying

waking up early and refreshed

presentations

ace the individual oral presentation

make a great powerpoint

class presentations + public speaking

public speaking tips

how to rock public speaking

how to do presentations when you suck at them

how to: public speaking

debate tips

music

my 8tracks

my spotify

melodic studying

ambient noise

music according to your mood

filling silence

study sounds (1)

study sounds (2)

harry potter study music

study music

summers + holidays

how to stay productive during holidays

summer productivity (1)

summer productivity (2)

keep your brain working on holidays

make the most of christmas holidays

planning for breaks/holidays

stay productive during winter break

journals + notebooks

travel journals

bullet journals (1)

bullet journals (2)

bullet journals (3)

bullet journaling (1)

bullet journaling (2)

bullet journal tips

bullet journals vs. planners

bullet journals vs. diary planners

bullet journal page/list ideas

what to do w/ notebooks (1)

what to do w/ notebooks (2)

why it’s good to keep a journal

the everything book

diy notebooks

websites + apps

really great apps

best iphone apps

useful school websites

subjects + problems website

learn things for free

15 websites that will make you smarter

a website that grades your essays

wallpaper

wallpaper masterpost

educational youtube channels

online courses + a guide

succeeding in online classes

apps everyone should have

printables tag

printables mp

useful websites to help you study

planning + to-do apps

study apps

apps for studying

study apps + extensions

30 websites to kill boredom

life in general

what do i do with my life?

jobs tag

get your life back on track

things no one tells you about getting an apartment

organisation

get organised

money

jobs + careers

things i wish i knew before i started ‘adulting’

save money on food in college

diy!

discounts for your student id

how to take studyblr photos

how to choose a career

making masterposts

college students

muslim studyblr masterpost

hope you liked both of the masterposts! please check out my study instagram and part one of this masterpost, ily all!!

ps here is a list of all my masterposts just in case 🐝

- helena xx

[mindelevator]

HOW TO STUDY A WEEK BEFORE AN EXAM

Day 7

List out all your topics, and highlight those you are least familiar with. I also love listing out the resources/materials I have to study. 

You should start reading and annotating the materials you are unfamiliar with.

Day 6

If you have not started making notes at all, it wouldn’t be wise to start making notes now. 

Instead, try to annotate things, write down explanations next to the things that you don’t understand, or definitions that you think can be elaborated.

Remember to be exam-oriented. Don’t spend time on things that are very trivial, or things that won’t be covered in the exam anyways.

At this stage, you should be focusing on annotating and enhancing your understanding of the materials.

Day 5

You should make sure you have most of your notes ready and that you have digested everything.

If you haven’t done a summary card, you should probably do it at this stage. This is a great way to consolidate your information.

Get a bunch of index cards. Write out the title of each chapter on each card.

Write the outline of the chapter. Alternatively, you can make a question attack plan for each chapter.

Turn over and write down some key terms that you don’t know. Or, you can write down some common mistakes, formulas etc, depending on your subject.

Day 4

With 4 days left, you should start memorizing things now. Focus on spellings and key terms. 

By memorizing, you can do the following:

Read the notes out loud, and repeat them by not looking at the paper (this is the way I personally use!)

Try to memorize, and cover the sheet and rewrite everything

Teach yourself, or to an audio recorder, or to a friend

Draw a mindmap without looking at your notes.

Day 3

You should go for some practice questions by chapter. 

You may also try to complete the exercises at the back of the chapter in your textbook. 

Don’t just do the practice question and throw them away. Make full use of it:

Check the answer. Find out what you failed to get right and failed to write down on the answer paper.

Understand your mistake. Understand why you make the mistake, and how you can avoid it.

Take notes of your misunderstanding and mistakes (as well as the correct answers). This will help you to avoid making the same ones.

Day 2

Repeat what you have done on day 3. 

Some teachers may also offer some mock papers or practice papers, or you may also try to complete past papers here. 

Day 1

You should do your very last review here. You should make sure you read through the following this day:

Your summary cards

Your notes

The notes you have made while doing the practice questions and papers

If your exam involves some formulas or difficult keywords or definitions, you may need to memorize them again this day.

Day 0

Now that’s everything. With all the preparation above, you should be very confident since you have got everything covered! All you have to do is to take a good breakfast and focus during the exam! Good luck!

For more details, check out the article on Students Toolbox!

For more updates of Students Toolbox and Strive-for-da-best, make sure to follow my Facebook- Instagram -Twitter -Pinterest- Bloglovin!

[studyandlush]

Yes good advice

[lagomorphism]

things people didn’t tell me about having ocd:

-it’s not always repetitive behaviors

-it’s not always about being cleanly

-other mental illnesses can merge with ocd

-you will shut down or throw a tantrum if things don’t feel/go right

-you will get irrationally angry at strangers or loved ones

-you will become obsessed with your interests to an embarrassing degree

-your illness is treated as a joke both in media and by family and friends

-repetitive thoughts - sometimes just a word

-guilt-driven ocd thoughts

-it will literally take over your life and how you maneuver daily activities

-it might make you worse at doing certain tasks

[patchworkstudies]

study moods

inspired by this post

because sometimes the idea of studying is too daunting to face, and mixing up your environment to make it more fun can make all the difference

too punk to quit: shorts and a band t-shirt, homework spread out over the floor, a can of soda or a shitty energy drink, and a playlist of your favorite throwback songs on full volume

sleepover: a nest of blankets and pillows, your comfiest pajamas, popcorn  and gummy worms, everything you need within arms reach, not leaving this spot for hours (or days) until you’re done with all of your work

no distractions: sitting at a desk with nothing but a glass of water and a computer, hair pulled back, typing up notes from the school day

my life is a mess: hot tea, a comfy sweater, all of your papers sprawled out on the floor around you, finally going through and throwing out all of the stuff you don’t need anymore and hoping that you’ll be a bit less overwhelmed once you’re done (spoiler alert: you’re gonna feel so much better)

rise and shine: early morning, at a table or in the kitchen, drinking orange juice and getting a head start on some assignments

am i a scholar yet: at your favorite library, revising or taking notes on readings, classical music playing with headphones on and a bag of almonds to snack on

growing up is overrated: doing homework at a friend’s house, cartoons on the tv or your favorite playlist on shuffle, sharing gossip and solutions to math problems

[georgiestudies-blog]

MY LIFE IS A MESS 1000%!!

[studydiaryofamedstudent]

Exam coming up tomorrow 🙈 working on those last details now 📚 * remember the discount on personal-planner.com ✌🏻️

[littlestudysession]

Notes taking tips really helpful !!!!:)

[motivation-station-blog1]

Studyblr Challenge // 9 of 30

A photo of your desk in use. 

Making some calculus notes on the factor theorem and remainder theorem!

[exiety-deactivated20160612]

{ 10.03.15 } » wow, it’s been a while since I’ve uploaded something — my class has just started our last AS org chem module and it’s really beginning to feel like this year is drawing to a close. I’m scared, if I’m being honest.