Mina's Studyblr

Mina, 25. Czech/German studying International Business & Management in Groningen, Netherlands. 🙇🏼📚

[readingtrotsky]

1. Drink water to keep skin clear and mind happy. 2. Surround yourself with positive people. 3. Dedicate thirty minutes a day to read a book of your choice just to unwind. 4. Go for walks whenever you can to get some fresh air. Nature is beautiful. 5. Keep your space clean so that your mind can be clear. 6. Listen to music when you feel unmotivated. 7. Remember to take care of your mental health before school work. 8. Invest in nice pajamas, lotions, bath bombs, etc. Spoil yourself! 9. Don’t procrastinate with homework, get it done right away so you can spend more time with things that make you happy. 10. Let yourself get enough sleep, put your phone down, put away your homework and shut off the lights. You need sleep to learn and be successful. 11. Wear clothes that make you feel happy and comfortable and confident! 12. Don’t care about what others think of you.  13. If something doesn’t make you happy, healthy, or benefit you in any way, don’t do it. 14. Remind yourself that you aren’t who you were a year ago, you’ve grown and mistakes are to learn from. 15. If you fail a test, see where you went wrong so you know how to improve. Failure is essential to growth. :) 16. Love your body. Take care of it. Keep it healthy, eat fruits and veggies and exercise when you can. 17. Drink tea or warm water with lemon when you’re feeling sad. 18. Be your own best friend. 19. Take naps when you need to! 20-30 minute naps are really good to refresh! 20. Get yourself flowers, you don’t need a boyfriend/girlfriend to feel special. Love yourself, you’re fucking amazing. 21. Understand that not everyone you meet in life is meant to stay. 22. Set goals for yourself and then go out and fucking do it. 23. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not worth the effort. 24. School is important but your well being takes precedence. Your health comes first. 25. Your teachers jobs are to help you learn. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or for further explanation. 26. Don’t compare yourself to others. They don’t live the same life as you. 27. Learn subjects, languages, or topics outside of school. There are so many resources and you’ll better yourself as a person. 28. Be compassionate. Everyone around you has their own struggles. 29. Don’t be afraid of joining a new club or taking up a new hobby! 30. Don’t let people intimidate you. 31. Crying doesn’t make you weak. You’re allowed to feel. Your emotions are valid. 32. Always have a pen with you, you never know when you’ll feel inspired with an idea. 33. Take lots of pictures and hang them up around your room. 34. Don’t let people walk all over you. Stand up for yourself babe. 35. Volunteer your time to people that need help. Your soul will feel good. 36. Try new methods of studying if one isn’t working! 37. If you’re fighting with someone, try looking from their point of view, it helps. 38. Test scores don’t define you. 39. You were smart before they told you. 40. Do it with passion or not at all.

 @studyingk ‘s self care for students, because you’re worth it.  (via studyingk)

[mflorghi]

23/100 days of productivity | Feb 21st, 2016

Studying again, getting ready for finals takes time! (Using Evernote to rewrite and organize my notes)

[rewritign-blog]

 Writing a commentary or essay on a text you’ve never read before in exam conditions can be daunting, but with the proper approach to it, you can ace your way through it with little to no stress!

Before the exam

Familiarise yourself with how we read and find meaning in any text.

What are the effects of different types of structure, narration, rhythm, action, diction, sound, setting, characterisation, figurative language, tone, atmosphere, imagery, subject, themes, ideas, etc.

Knowing the common devices authors use to create meaning allows you to identify them more easily in any given text.

Practice, practice, practice!

Find any past exam papers available, even if they are for a different type of certificate, and practice them under exam conditions.

Take excerpts out of a random book and practice, whether it be from a library, or your own personal collection.

The more you practice critically analysing a text, the easier it will become. If you don’t have the time to sit down and write out a complete essay, even planning how you would structure your essay and the ideas you would discuss is beneficial. This really cannot be over stressed, the more you write on unseen texts, the more comfortable you will be tackling another in a serious exam situation.

If the essay must be handwritten, this will also give you an opportunity to ensure your handwriting is legible and you are used to writing for prolonged periods of time.

Compare ideas in a group.

I always find working in groups for English to be highly effective. By discussing a text with a group of friends, someone will probably express an idea you had not considered before and you’ll be more open for alternate interpretations and more likely to recognise them in your own time

Critique your past essays.

Whether they were prepared or unprepared essays, identify areas where you need to work on to improve your essay writing.

Recognise your strengths as well and make an effort to try and include them in all your future essays!

During the exam

Read the text several times.

Before reading it, look for anything that immediately sticks out. For poetry, is there a distinctive shape? For prose, how is the text separated - one block of text, or several paragraphs?

Your first read should simply be for initial impressions. Is there anything that strikes you as important? What is the main idea of the text after only reading it once? What is its tone? 

The second reading should be for content. What ideas are at the forefront? What is the author trying to communicate? Underline and note aspects in the text about this. Colour-coding your annotations can be helpful here!

In your third reading, you should start noting the style. What stylistic features are prominent? There will likely be a lot on imagery, syntax, diction, structure, etc. Focus on the most important ones and their impact. Is there more to it than meets the eye?

Deconstructs the question if you are given one so you fully understand what it is asking you to do.

Probably stating the obvious, but it is so important to understand what the question is asking you to write about. Understanding the question can mean the difference between a standard essay and an amazing one. 

Don’t just identify a familiar word in the question and use it to write about whatever you want. Make sure what you’re going to write about addresses all parts to the question. If you’re asked to write about how and to what effect something has had an impact on the reader, don’t just write about how; you must write about to what effect as well! I usually underline the most important parts of the question so I don’t forget to write about them. 

Define relevant key terms that are important to the question. How is a character made interesting? What is meant by unreliable? Try to subtly integrate these into your introduction.

Plan your essay.

An examiner will usually be able to tell the difference between a planned and unplanned essay. Planning gives your essay structure, coherence, and makes it easy to follow. 

You can take a linear structure, addressing aspects of the text line by line. Alternatively, you can take a conceptual approach - discussing narration in one paragraph, imagery in another, etc. In my experience, the conceptual approach usually scores higher, however it is really up to the text you are analysing and what you are comfortable writing with!

If you aren’t given any prompts or a guiding question, make sure your argument is really clearly outlined in your introduction, or else you’ll leave the examiner guessing as to what you’re writing about.

Make sure to include important quotes and examples in your plan so you don’t leave them out when you write it.

If you are stuck as to what your line of argument should be, I usually like to address how various techniques are used effectively to communicate the theme. It’s a general and open ended question that will fit any kind of text, so long as you identify the techniques and devices!

Essay must-haves:

Include a macro sentence as the first sentence of your introduction. Draw the reader in with a statement that broadly covers the ideas you are going to cover. 

Every paragraph must start with a topic sentence and end with a concluding sentence that links it back to the aim of your essay. This also ensures that you actually address what you set out to talk about.

Integrate quotes and examples smoothly into your arguments. Small phrases and individual words especially give your arguments concrete evidence, and allow you to work the detail of the text.

Proof-read your completed essay.

There is nothing worse than to come across a simple grammatical mistake that was overlooked in a really well organised and argued essay. Try to read your essay through twice before handing it up to try and identify these stupid mistakes we all make under pressure. 

Sorry for such a long post! This turned out a lot longer and more in-depth than I thought it would be, but hopefully it will be helpful to those of you who have any unprepared texts to tackle. Let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any questions here :) xx

[cutestudystuff]

The 2–Minute Rule

This rule help you overcome procrastination and laziness by making it so easy to start taking action that you can’t say no.

Most of the tasks that you procrastinate on aren’t actually difficult to do. People tend to avoid starting them for one reason or another.

There are two parts to the 2–Minute Rule

Part 1 — If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.

Many things we put off are things that we could get done in two minutes or less. Just get it done!!

Part 2 — When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.

Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not. But, every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less. And that’s the purpose behind this rule.

Additional Tips 

1. Stop thinking. Start doing.

“To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.” Eva Young

2. Don’t blow a task out of proportion.

”Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible.” George Claude Lorimer

3. Just take the first step.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

4. Start with the hardest task of your day.

“Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” Dale Carnegie

So stop procrastinating and start your work now!!

YOU CAN DO THIS.

JUST DO IT☺

[studyundertwinklelights]

October 24th 2015: My set up for the next two hell weeks, starting with a five-page Cultural Anthropology paper!😭

[elkstudies]

iHey! Recently I’ve been getting a few asks about healthy snacks while studying, so I thought I’d make a post about healthy eating while studying. I hope this helps!

Eating Healthy

10 Foods to Boost Your Brainpower

Eating Healthy During Exams

Eating Well During Exam Time

Late Night Studying/Eating

What to Eat When Revising

What foods to Eat When Studying

Snacks

3 Indredient Homemade Snacks

8 Must Eat Fruits

Easy Study Snacks

Healthy Snacks when Studying

Healthy Affordable Snacks

Healthy Snack Recipes

Healthy Snacks instead of…

Power Snacks for Studying

Vegan Snack Ideas

Well-Being

Apps for the Sick Student

Cheap and Easy Self Care Ideas

Dealing With Stress

Feel Better Masterpost

Managing Stress

Productive and Relaxing Afterschool Routine

Stress Reliefs

What to Do on a Bad Day

Other Posts

Note Taking Masterpost

Organisation Masterpost

Study Tips

Anti-Procrastination Masterpost

Motivation Masterpost

[intellectys]

So you have the basics: a table and a chair, but how to make it a study space? Seeing as I use my family’s dining room table for a lot of my studying, I know that there’s plenty of ways to make a bland table great for studying. I’ve bolded the important bits in case you don’t want to read everything I have to say (no worries, I won’t be too offended).

Make sure it’s well lit! You’ll be able to study best in a space which won’t tire your eyes. Try using some desk lamps like this or this one to light your workspace. Bright light can also help to keep you awake while you work!

Claim your space. Make sure everyone knows it’s your spot to study, so it doesn’t get used by anyone else. 

Stock up on supplies. If you need an extra pen, you won’t to get up and lose your focus, so make sure you have plenty of pens, paper, index cards, post-its, and whatever else you might need for studying.

Get some reference books. To make sure you don’t get distracted when you’re looking up info on the computer, grab a dictionary and thesaurus for reference (if you take a language, make sure you have one for that, as well).

Organize your work! Keep binders, notebooks, or folders, and give each subject its allocated workspace (colour coded if you like) to make sure your work stays organizes and you can easily reference it.

Make sure you can see reminders. Use a corkboard or whiteboard if it works for you, or even a page of your journal for sticky notes! Just have an easy way for you to keep on top of your to do lists and all those important pieces of paper flying around.

Get a clock or timer. These will help keep you to a schedule so you can get more work done, and remember to schedule in breaks. 

Finally, use your space only for studying! Don’t use your bed- you sleep there, so you’ll want to nod off while studying. Maybe that empty table in the basement, or a desk in your room would be a better idea.

Good luck studying! If you want to see more of my posts, here’s a link to the rest of my Study Series!

[joolshallie]

Failure is success if we learn from it.

Malcolm Forbes (via joolshallie)

[kieraplease]

As soon as you think “maybe I can get up early and just finish it tomorrow” you’ve already lost

[thegroningenstudent]

me: gets a studyblr to get motivated

me: procrastinates by looking at other people's notes/study spaces etc.

[thegroningenstudent]

[12.11.2015 / 03:23] It’s so late at night and my sleeping rhythm is messed up because it’s exam week(s), but I thought I’d share something personal concerning bullet journaling. 📒 
I came across the bullet journal concept in June and immediately liked it. I’ve always been a list-person. But it’s not about that entirely. I have been struggling with depression for almost a year back then and was going to therapy.
A couple of weeks into my bullet journal though, I actually started feeling okay again. I created the track-table above (in the beginning there were way fewer points) to remind myself to take care of myself. And that’s the great concept here that helped me because people struggling with depression forget to take care of themselves and feel overwhelmed with the simplest day-to-day tasks. Even if it’s just getting out of bed, brushing your teeth or taking a shower. This track-table has helped me to accomplish things normal people do every day after being stuck in a devil’s circle for quite some time. Checking off a simple thing like “showered today” made me feel good. You trick your mind into thinking you accomplished something, even if it’s oh so little or for some people insignificant. That’s what can get you out of a negative spiral. It made me feel like I’m not a complete hopeless case. For anyone battling depression, I recommend you to start something like this. Start with a few little things and then expand your list if you want to over time. As you can see above, I don’t get everything done of course. But it’s a tracker and not a to-do list. It’s okay if I don’t do everything, my goal is to just do something.
Today I actually feel okay, can go to school again and achieve good grades. All of this was impossible to think of only half a year ago for me. And my bullet journal was a huge part of my recovery. 😊

[studydiaryofamedstudent]

My goal list is a combination of this weeks goals, reminders and actual tasks I need to finish in regards to school 😊 This weekend my friends from home are coming over, so most of my list has to do with planning an awesome weekend 😎 Now I just have to finish all my school work so that I can “take a break” with a good conscience 😇📖

[staypozitive]

Don’t let small minds convince you that your dreams are too big.

(via staypozitive)

[thegroningenstudent]

[3.11.2015 / 14:28] Just got around to making the November spread for my bullet journal. My month is still so empty, I like it. 🙃 Now back to studying for my economics exam on Friday. 🙇🏼📚

[zenpencils]

SHONDA RHIMES ‘A screenwriter’s advice’

[itsonlyyforever]

this is very important.

Do.

[beautifullearning]

What to do the night before an exam

Eat a meal with slow release carbohydrates and vegetables. Make sure you drink water to keep your brain hydrated.

Look through your notes, but don’t try to cram because you will likely forget it. If you have time you could do a practice essay/paper.

Pack your bag, notes and anything else you need for the exam so it is ready in the morning when you need it. If you need to plan an outfit get that ready as well so you don’t waste time in the morning thinking about what you should wear!

Have a bath, read a book and relax. Try not to think about the exam - I know it’s hard. Try not to use any technology an hour before you go to bed because it awakens your brain and makes it harder to go to sleep.

Go to bed early, aim for 8 hours sleep but no more than ten hours. If you are well rested and alert you will do better in the exam.

Good luck!

[the-regular-student]

The best studying advice I have ever received

If you can’t find the motivation to get to work on something, force yourself to pick it up for just two minutes. The key word is force; procrastination is tempting, but keep in mind that there is nothing physically stopping you from doing what you have to do.

After those two minutes, if you still do not want to keep going, put it away and go do something else. Even if you stop after two minutes, you will have two minutes worth of knowledge that you did not have before.

More likely than not, though, those two minutes will make it easy to just keep going. Often times, the hardest part is getting started.