Words in my Seoul

nadja | she/her | neurodivergent (adhd) | studying asian languages and culture as well as english

[evil-weevil-man]

Bro is so traumatised.

[birdbrainstudies]

reintroductions!

hi everyone! it's been a couple of years since i've been active in the studyblr community (like. i was a first year in undergrad) and i wanted to rejoin the community!

about me: my name is shef (she/her), i am a second-year phd student in engineering

academic interests: my research area is broadly applied probability, more specifically stochastic processes and queueing theory

nonacademic interests: a lot of stuff! i like birding, embroidery, shakespeare, improv, tabletop roleplaying games, and tactics/deckbuilding videogames. media wise i have been having a teeny little percy jackson renaissance b/c of the release of the tv show ^^

what you can expect: will post some original ~aesthetic~ study/journaling content, reblog lots of research-oriented tips/masterposts

looking for: if you are a phd student studyblr or honestly just an active studyblr please let me know! i am looking to follow a ton more people now that I'm back. would be forever indebted to you if you would reblog this

[adv3nturelust]

This is it: this is your sign. You’re brand new, refreshed, empowered to change. Your calmer, softer times are coming. Your confidence, your happiness, your bliss, is arriving. Self acceptance is easier, and taking care of yourself is no longer a chore, but something you look forward to. You start to feel replenished - you’re *you* again - and the next chapter of your happier life begins now.

[wordsinmyseoul]

idk if I've ever said this but my photos tend to be kind of messy, bear with me, haha.

Thing is... I'm not interested in showing this "perfect" picture of what it's like to study at uni, I prefer showing what's real. And what's real for me is:

messy desks

clutter

random things laying around

did I mention the clutter yet

And that's okay!!! I feel like a lot of people tend to think they can't join the studyblr community because they're not aesthetic enough, and while a lot of people here have SUPER pretty workspaces, for many other people reality is very different.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is this:

Your notes do not have to be beautiful. Your desk does not have to be organized to the t. You don't have to fit a certain aesthetic to come here. The community is about sharing your experiences and inspiring others - and what's more inspiring than showing other people that you're just like them, and you're making it work?

[wordsinmyseoul]

I don't know how to do pretty set-ups but this works for me! My exams are coming up so I'm studying a lot rn

[wordsinmyseoul]

Hello, It's been a while!

And by a while, I mean like... almost 2 whole years since I was actually active on here. I want to change that again, because being here really helped me, productivity-wise, so guess who's back? That's right, me!

[noodledesk]

“The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.”

— Neil Gaiman, 8 rules for writing

[undasrego]

How to remain productive with online classes:

A few tips from a broke neuro-divergent academic

Try and wake up early, and go to bed early too. I’m not saying get up at 5 (unless that’s you’re thing) but sleeping into noon is a productivity blackhole. I go for 8 or 8:30, generally, but that’s just what works for me.

Get dressed for the day. I’m not talking like, jeans and a business casual outfit, but a clean pair of sweatpants, fresh underwear, and a new shirt can really put you in the mood for a new morning.

Have a workspace. Whether it be the kitchen table, a desk, a spot on the floor with a lap desk, have a place that’s dedicated to your work. Have items that signify that workspace too, like your book, planner, laptop, lamp, whatever. It can help you get into the zone, being in that space.

Have a morning drink. I choose earl grey tea with honey and cream, but black coffee, herbal tea, lemon water, whatever works for you is awesome, as long as itll wake you up and start your day.

To do lists. To do lists and to do lists and more to do lists. I have three. One is a post it weekly planner deal (3.99 at a local grocery store). it’s a weekly spread already set up, and if you’re anything like me, its really hard to set up a weekly spread. Then I have an app called Ike. I have a daily to do list I write on that app, and then I have four more to-do lists of what I have to for each specific class.

Spread out your assignments. Don’t overwhelm yourself. If you’re professors are like mine, and have the due date for each module as Sunday at midnight. What I do is spread out all my assignments from Monday to Saturday, and I leave Sunday blank, so anything I didn’t do that week, I finish on Sunday. It works for me, it might work for you.

Have a folder for each class, and a notebook for each class. I hate spending money, I’m broke as hell, sono al verde as the Italians say, but a 0.99 cent folder and a 0.25 cent notebook can do wonders for motivating one to fill them up.

Study with a drink. Tea, water, coffee, whatever, but my go to is generally a warm drink. I cannot study if I’m cold, I get tired and groggy, so warm socks, a robe, and a hot drink really keep me going.

Take breaks. Make time for your hobbies, for something fun. Working without stopping absolutely destroys my motivation, and let me tell you, when I feel like that, an episode of Avatar and a snack gets me right back on the wagon.

Do self check ins. Does your back hurt? Are you sad? Stressed? Do you have to pee? Are you hungry? Never put your homework over your health. You won’t be able to get anything done well anyway if you’ve got those blocks.

Most importantly, get enough sleep. I beg of you. Sleep is so important, and it’s the game changer, at least to me. We as students have such an amazing opportunity to get more sleep than we ever have before during the year. Take advantage of that.

[odysseyinink]

h o w t o s u r v i v e c o l l e g e

Sleep

Okay listen - I know what you’re thinking. College students don’t sleep, though! And guess what? That’s absolutely true. I’ve had two cups of coffee today already and it’s only noon, but you need to learn how to sleep enough. Your body has limits and you need to learn what those are. I have had multiple friends who have fainted from not sleeping enough and guess what? They don’t perform better on tests that way. Figure out how many hours of sleep you need to get to function well. For me it’s about 5-7 hours per night during the week and about 7-8 hours per night on weekends (and I don’t have Friday class so Thursday nights count as weekends for me). This is probably the limit for keeping yourself healthy enough to function and I subsist off of coffee. If you don’t sleep you are going to get sick and your papers are going to be incoherent and you are going to gain weight from over eating. So just put down that paper, get your 6 hours and start up again in the morning. For majors that are reading based (i.e. English, History, Philosophy, Classics, etc) it is so important to get enough sleep so that you can actually comprehend your readings!

Plan

Your planner does not have to be beautiful, covered with script handwriting and cute small artist stickers to be worth putting time into (more power to you if yours is though — that’s a whole mood). I used Hobinichi Cousin planner to plan my day—chores, homework, and meals—but I also use iCal and an app called Things. My freshman year I thought that just having a paper planner would be fine but it did NOT work out for me. I was always late/forgetting meetings and running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Once I downloaded Things (for my assignments) and inputted work, social events, and when I’m really busy sleep/meals into iCal, I started getting better grades. Take 2 hours to plan. Seriously even if you have 372 things to get done by tomorrow, if you plan and make a linear list of the things you need to get done they will get done better and faster.

Things is a paid app. $10 for phone, $50 for Mac. It’s a bit of an investment for both but I have used it every single day for the past 2 years.

Socialize

Just me here with your local reminder that socialize does not mean you have to party. Let me tell you something, I haven’t gone to a party this entire year (it’s second semester) and I feel completely content about it. I am not saying that going to parties is bad. A lot of people have a ton of fun doing that, but let me tell you something—your social life cannot subsist off of parties alone. Invite people to brunch, make friends with the people in your classes by literally just talking to them (!!!), go on coffee dates with your friends as much as you can, take midnight ice cream runs, 1 am fried chicken runs, 9 pm boba study breaks, invite people over to make cookies, go to the cinema. Deep conversations and long talks will sometimes distract you from your work and guess what? That’s okay. That’s an important part of college too. Don’t shut yourself up in your room all day studying every day of the week. You are going to burn out. You need your friends and they need you!

Work smarter and harder

I cannot say this enough—utilize your resources! Go to office hours. It will literally save you to have a relationship with your professor. Not only are you going to get letters of recommendation, extensions when you really need them, and helpful tips—you can have amazing conversation and insight about grad school, research, and jobs. Go to the library. Not only are there a million books for your research project all grouped in the same section, but there are librarians who can help you find more resources with less effort. Use your databases, but also your own school’s archives. There is a reason we save so many books and newspapers. Also libraries are the absolute best place to study. This year I have tended to go to the most social floor because it keeps me awake and it reminds me that I have other people around me working late as well. Use apps. I’m saying this right now—DOWNLOAD ZOTERO. It will save you. It is an app and a google chrome extension which saves your sources in a database and then generates perfect citations/footnotes for your papers. It is the best thing of my life. Use google drive and keep your documents in organized folders. Organized virtual work is AS important as physical work. Also put some time into your LinkedIn ASAP—the sooner you do it, the easier it will be to keep it up to date.

Take care of yourself

Just be smart about your time and your mental health. Both of those I struggle with every day, but take solace in the fact that other people are going through it too. College is an amazing opportunity and even when it feels completely overwhelming it is still an extremely privileged position to be in. Do why you can to make yourself better, be there for the people who need you, grind on your papers and projects and research. At the end of the day your projects/papers are only going to be as good as your individual capacity allows them to be. Sometimes sleeping an extra hour is as beneficial as an extra hour of studying. Figure out what you need by making mistakes and forgive yourself! We are all just trying to make our way though.

[odysseyinink]

Reposting for the new semester! You have all got this! Mssg me if you have any questions or need support❤️

[babywheat-deactivated20210117]

How to motivate yourself to study

We all have those days where you really don’t feel like studying and I really can relate to this as I am procastinating with writing this post, so here are some tips:

Tidy up, when you tidy up your work space, you already have done something productive so you it’s easier to continue now that you are in the “work flow”. Now that everything is tidy, you can start fresh and it’s easier to focus.

Get cozy, studying doesn’t has to be something unpleasent, by making some small changes in your suroundings you can make studying a little bit more fun. For example: my friend told me that she has “study sweaters”, she has bought these very comfy sweaters that she only was allowed to wear when she would study. She told me that when she was at uni she couldn’t wait to get home to put on her comfy study sweater, to make a warm cup of tea and to start studying. You also can listen to some music, burn a candle while you study or whatever makes you feel cozy when you have to study.

Plan, write down all the things you need to do/study and then plan when you are going to study what. Afterwards your mind feels less cluttered and you feel less  overwhelmed by all the things you need to get done. After you have planned everything, you will have a clear view of the things you have to get done and know you can get started with a fresh mind.

Only 15 minutes, tell yourself you are going to study only for 15 minutes. Like this you get into the work flow and you probably end up studying longer than those 15 minutes. If after those 15 minutes you really cannot set your mind to it, don’t worry, get some rest and try again later. It’s important that you take care of yourself. Most likely when you try again later you feel much better and you are able to get some work done. 

Why, ask yourself why you are studying? Because you want that dream job in the future? You want to get succesful? You want to give the best life to your children? Or mabye you want to help others with your future job. Whatever the reason may be, make sure to get clear on your goals and work towards them. It may be hard now, but in the end it will have been worth it.

Go to the library, the chances are bigger that you can get somework done when you go to the library. You are less likely to get distracted and you can see other people studying around you which can be a good motivation. Make sure to bring everything that you want to study, your chagers, a (healthy) snack and some water. 

Find inspiration, you can find loads of inspiration to start studying on tumblr, pinterest and youtube. You can follow studyblrs, watch study with me video’s etc. For some people this may be a good option to get motivated, but if you are anything like me, I wouldn’t suggest it, before I know I’m watching two hours of youtube videos and find myself scrolling randomly on tumblr. But who knows for some people this can be great to get started!

Be grateful, remember that not everyone has a chance to go to school and not everyone has the same opportunities that you had in your life. There are so many people who wish they had your life. Do not take it for granted. 

Also, make sure you are hydrated and have eaten something before you start studying! 

Goodluck everyone! I hope you have a productive day!

[wordsinmyseoul]

Reblogging because this is super helpful!

[fuck-usag]

I wrote over 2600 words on my thesis today. No i am not joking or kidding. No I am not on any drugs or even caffeine. I just sat down and wrote. This is hands down the most productive day of my life. We will never see it’s like again.

Reblog to give urself the power of productive days. Ignore to still get the power of productive days because you have seen this post it will bless you and your mind anyway. But just know ur a lil shit for not sharing the power of productive days with your pals.

[wordsinmyseoul]

Reblogging because it's important and I want this.

[parkerspicedlatte]

If you see this on your DASHBOARD please re-blog so that the previous blog knows they haven't been muted!!!

[dragonfruitdays]

some study tips from my psychology teacher 📖

STOP Cramming

cramming is good for the short term, such as just before a test (i’m talking like an hour before), but shouldn’t be used as an effective study method. you only learn the information in the exact way you read it, so any practical application on your test won’t be easy to answer. you also will struggle with answering the same questions you studied for, but asked differently.

Spacing Effect

the spacing effect is essentially the opposite of cramming. instead of doing a 4 hour study session, break it up into groups of 30 minutes. do 30 minutes, take a nice long break, go back for 30, and repeat. that break in between gives your brain time to encode and store the information. this can be done in either one day, or over the course of a few days before the test.

Mnemonic devices are your best friend when dealing with lists of information

any sort of rhyming scheme, letter association, acronyms, etc. is proven to help you. any american can say ROY G. BIV and know exactly what they’re talking about, another example is HOMES for the great lakes. another major example is “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally”/PEMDAS for the order of operations. this helps with lists, i use it all the time in biology for stuff like the Levels of Classification or Characteristics of Living things. for AP Euro i remember “Descartes with a D” because he “Doubts and wrote Discorse on Method”.

Hierarchy Organizing for Midterms and Finals

by breaking information down into a hierarchy, you can figure out how to study all your chapters at once. these are often called “graphic organizers” and it takes the whole topic, then breaks it into subsections, then subsections of those subsections. here’s an example i found for my Memory unit

the whole unit is memory, the subtopics are sensory memory, short term, then long term. then comes the subdivisions of long term memory and so on. this is wonderful for study planning in regards to large information tests.

these are just some of the tips we talked about, and obviously they won’t work for everybody, but it’s really helped my studying process because it’s literally how the brain processes information best for long term storage and retrieval.

[wordsinmyseoul]

Seems pretty helpful so I'm reposting

[kyrxaaa-deactivated20191124]

studyblrs...it’s time to change

❌no you dont need mildliners

❌no you dont need muji pens

❌no you dont need perfect handwriting

❌no you dont need a kanken

❌no you dont need a cool youtube study channel

❌no you dont need expensive stationery/notebooks/whatever

❌no you dont need to be smart 

 ✔✔✔you have free will to choose whatever you want to post on your studyblr

THAT’S ALL

reblog if you agree

xx Kyra

*ps. i dont even have mildliners/kanken!

[wordsinmyseoul]

5/100 Days of productivity

I was tired all day of (technically seen) yesterday, but since I haven't gone to bed yet I'm just going to count this as my post for the 24th of August.

To get back to the point: I was really tired all day of today, and I even made myself some coffee this morning, even though, usually, I'm more of a tea person than I am a coffee person. But coffee was quicker.

We received our school books today, meaning two things:

1. I now have the ability to go and check for the things I might have missed in class and

2. The times of carrying around a backpack full of books are coming back, and I can't really say I've missed them.

I made the right decision, though, in deciding to stay up late to complete all of the assignments that were due, because I felt a lot less stressed than I would have felt if I hadn't done that.

[wordsinmyseoul]

4/100 Days of productivity

I just got home from work and I'm finally done with my homework. It's after 24°° amd I'm just tired at this point, but I can't risk not having the assignments tomorrow. If I hadn't only just received them today I would have completed them way in advance, but I couldn't. Right now I'm doing my best to make myself believe that it's worth it.

I didn't want to post before I got everything done. Technically seen its already Friday, but... Please just consider this Thursday's post.

[wordsinmyseoul]

3/100 Days of productivity

Today I decided to clean up my desk space to help me focus. It took me a while, but now all of my supplies are where they are supposed to be.

I would have put the plants somewhere else to make it a completely freed up space, but I like the calm atmosphere they create, it's easier to concentrate with them there. I still have a lot to do, though...