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my masterpost | my studygram | ask me anything | how to stop procrastinating series

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[transcript under the cut]

Other advice posts that may be of interest:

All About Procrastination

How To Study When You Really Don’t Want To

Common Study Mistakes

7 Strategies to Improve Concentration

A year and a half ago, I was a mess. I didn't have any hobbies or anything I was passionate about, not even my degree excited me. I failed 6 courses out of 10.

This year, I managed to pass all of my courses, achive an A1 level in japanese, start reading, painting and writing, learn programming in LaTeX and Python, and do a research project in astrophysics. I am nowhere near being brilliant or smart, but this system has helped me a lot:

1. First of all, I write all of my life goals. Everything I'd like to achive or do, from writing a book to buying a house. I write every little thing, as unrealistic as they sound.

2. From those life goals, I make a list of yearly goals. Not all of your life goals might be realistic at the time (maybe you don't plan on buying a house until you finish your degree, for example), so just write the ones that are doable for your next year. This goals have to be a bit more especific and they have to take you closer to your life goals in the long term. For example, if you plan on publishing a book, your yearly goal might be to write your first draft, or take a writing course.

3. Then, having my goals for the year, I break them down into monthly goals. Some of them might be reserved for the summer, or for a specific month. I only plan in more detail the following month. From the book example, a monthly goal could be to write a certain number of pages or write the outline of the novel.

4. Now, I write my daily and weekly goals for that next month. These ones have to be VERY specific. I first make a weekly routine, where I put everything I need to get done each day: on mondays and wednesdays I workout for an hour, on tuesdays I practice piano for 20 minutes, everyday I read for half an hour, etc. I try to make each day of the week balanced and also write quantifiable goals.

changing my chrome cursor into something cute like a strawberry

changing my chrome theme to a wacky colour

adding stickers onto my laptop

listening to new music in a language I don’t know

or hyped video game music for energy

buying a fidget toy. like deadass I had my doubts but they’re so good

using the web paint extension while in meetings or lectures

changing the appearance of whatever note taking app you use

for epic gamers with light-up keyboards, changing the light’s colour settings

having a very hot or very cold drink 

putting said drink directly under my face when working and using a straw, so I don’t forget it’s there and don’t have to move my head much to sip

hav u eaten or drank anything today hey hello it’s already midday

sparkling water perchance?? it’s water but it’s fun and interesting

ambient fireplace 10 hours loop

alternatively, death metal hardcore bass boosted.mp3

putting on a ridiculous outfit and pretending you’re a wizard doing important work. I have given up on being “put together” at this stage

getting up and having scheduled dance breaks to move around

don’t like your chair? are u gay and can’t sit normal? try arranging pillows and boxes to make a diy cross-legged chair or sit on the floor

u kno when you get a million ideas during studying but u don’t want to break focus: hey siri okay google alexa remind me in a sec about this very specific thing that just couldn’t wait 10 more minutes to force itself into brain

giving up. lmao sometimes you genuinely need a break and nothing you do will make your brain focus so don’t feel guilty for needing rest! it’s technically more productive to spend the time resting and recharging than forcing yourself to half assedly focus and get nothing done

there are a lot of websites that say “what you need” for college and list out a huge list of stuff to pack. they are full of bullshit, and half the shit they say you need you don’t, especially if you’re on a budget. here’s the stuff that i personally needed in the dorm rooms and in my opinion are pretty useful in college: 

the beds in college are extra large twin sized, which means they’re longer than normal beds. make sure you have two sets of bedsheets and pillowcases, and that you wash them regularly. i know laundry sucks, but you don’t want to be sleeping in smelly sheets. 

if you’re willing to splurge on a mattress pad, get one, because you don’t know what happened on those mattresses before you were there and they also tend to be a bit uncomfortable. but they’re not necessary

get a fuzzy blanket. you can get them at walmart or target and they are cheap. you will need emotional support while you study and wrapping yourself in a blanket like a burrito or even taking it to class is one way of getting it

rugs, like those cheap floofy ones, are real nice when/if you plan to use your room for hanging out a lot. my best friend had one in her room and we loved sitting on it to watch youtube vids and such. you can also bring pillows if you want to sit around on the floor more often. imo this option is way better than a couch because couches are heavy and you might have to lug em upstairs. alternatively, those dorm chairs you always see in the ads at bed bath and beyond or target for cheap are good as well. they’re popular with college kids for a reason

slippers. the warm kind, that you can wear around the dorm in winter. my best friend had ones with dragons on them. alternatively, fuzzy socks 

shower slippers. the plastic kind, that you can wear into the shower so you don’t get foot fungus (do NOT shower barefoot. i cannot stress this enough)

consider air freshener. cheap shit like febreeze or whatever, not for your own room, but for the communal bathroom. sometimes they smell realllllly bad (PRO GAMER TIP: if you find that there’s a communal bathroom farther away from your room but used less often, USE IT I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. communal bathrooms are GROSS and more traffic = grosser bathrooms) 

a cheap vacuum. one of those battery charged, compact ones. you will never know how much you will love having a vacuum until you don’t have one. some dorms keep vacuums on their floors, but they almost always smell bad. if your dorm doesn’t have carpet, congratulations! i wish i was you 

a tea kettle. if your dorm allows them, get one. you never know when you’ll want tea or instant ramen late at night

in some dorms they have open closets without doors. if you get one of those cheap shower rods, hooks, and a curtain, you can put a barrier on your closet, which is nice especially if you have people over and you don’t want them to look at your stuff

i think having just one set of utensils and a couple of mugs is enough in college since you eat a lot of cafeteria food anyway, but always remember to bring a sponge and dish soap so you can wash your dishes. they don’t have to be nice utensils just Utensils right

a good desk lamp so you don’t strain your eyes studying late at night

a monitor, keyboard, and mouse are great if you plan to spend a lot of time in your dorm room working on the computer. not necessary, but it’s nice to have if you work on a lot of research papers and you need a bunch of tabs/applications at one time. NOT necessary at all though 

i want to stress this: do NOT feel pressured to make your room “aesthetic” or “cute.” some people spend tons of money to make their dorm rooms look like a luxurious hotel room, and that’s fine- that’s their own money. i think in the end tho, you want your dorm room to feel like home and a place to rest at the end of the day when you’re really tired and stressed out. 

and my other pro gamer tip for you: keep your room CLEAN. if you have a roommate or share a suite with other people, it is even MORE imperative that you keep your room clean. i once went over to someone’s suite and their neighbors had rotting food on the ground and trash literally EVERYWHERE on their side of the shared study space. please don’t live like this! it is very stressful and causes anxiety! i know it’s difficult to tackle large messes, which is why it’s very important for everything to have its own place at the beginning and get into the routine of putting everything into its place after. some people are messier than others- totally understand that- but if you can’t see the floor in any part of your dorm that doesn’t have furniture, you need to clean. don’t let your dirty laundry build up either- do it consistently, every two weeks, so you have stuff to wear and your room doesn’t smell. 

“A lot of native speakers are happy that English has become the world’s global language. They feel they don’t have to spend time learning another language,” says Chong.

“But… often you have a boardroom full of people from different countries communicating in English and all understanding each other and then suddenly the American or Brit walks into the room and nobody can understand them.”

The non-native speakers, it turns out, speak more purposefully and carefully, typical of someone speaking a second or third language. Anglophones, on the other hand, often talk too fast for others to follow, and use jokes, slang and references specific to their own culture, says Chong. In emails, they use baffling abbreviations such as ‘OOO’, instead of simply saying that they will be out of the office.

English corporate speak is it’s own fucked up dialect. 

It’s so incomprehensible and exclusionary that even a native English speaker with a master’s degree in English will have difficulty parsing it. Trust me when I say that nobody who isn’t a business major knows what the fuck “synergy” means.

And the jargon’s just half the problem. The other half is the gross overuse of hobby-specific expressions and analogies.

Go to most corporate offices and you’ll be bombarded with sports analogies that only make sense to someone who spends all their free time watching ESPN.

I tracked down this quote I read in a tumblr post years ago:

“I remember working with a law school in which white men heavily dominated the faculty. They used lots of sports metaphors (doing an end run, Monday morning quarterbacking, and so on), with legal jargon thrown in for good measure. I suggested that this was not a particularly welcoming trait in their school, that in fact it was sexist, but they paid little attention. I made my point by speaking for about five minutes in dressmaking terms: putting a dart in here, a gusset there, cutting the budget on the bias so it would be more flexible, using a peplum to hide a course that might be controversial. The women in the room laughed; the men did not find it humorous….Language is power, make no mistake about it. It is used to include and exclude and to keep people and systems in their places.”

- Frances E. Kendall, Understanding White Privilege

My point is,

This kind of poor communication probably shouldn’t be blamed on monolingualism alone. It’s most certainly made worse by an exclusionary and elitist work culture.

1) Get thee to wikipedia.

Seriously. You can’t site it because it has the academic credibility of some random graffitti, and you can’t quote it because the exact writing and content changes every time it gets edited, BUT:

It will almost certainly be more accurate than printed encyclopedias, which are updated every ten years or so, and only require a few eyes compared to wikipedia, where any trolling will probably get you banned or suspended in hours. Not to mention it’s getting a LOT more peer reviews. So you can’t quote it, but it’s probably fairly accurate.

And the best part? After just about every tidbit of information, there’s going to be a little citation number. If you click it, it’ll take you down to the references section (and even highlight the relevant one). You can then go to the original source - which will be much more credible. What’s more is you’ll have specific page numbers (if it’s a book), and you’ll know exactly what kind of information you’re looking for.

2) If it’s a book, Internet Archive is your best friend

The search function isn’t great if you’re looking up questions like you would into your google (or ecosia - if you want to do a good thing for the earth) search bar, but if you know the author and year the book was published, it’s great. You’ll have this information already on hand from step one, if that’s how you found the book in the first place.

There are about 30 million books on Internet Archive and counting, so there’s a good chance they’re going to have what you’re looking for. However, about half of them are check-out only. Checking out is actually easy. You need to set up a free account, and make sure to give them a valid email address because they will send you a verification email. After that, you can check out any book you want for an hour. (excelent for focus!)

If you are only looking at specific pages, you should be fine, but there’s also other longer options for checking stuff out for some books. (I think?)

Also, in many books, you can search for specific keywords within the book, and there’s a little slider at the bottom to find pages.

3) watch Overly Sarcastic Production’s “How to do research”

Seriously. It’s amazing. My first point is confirmed in the video which is just more proof that I’m right /hj

+++++++

taglist: @candlemouse @bookdragonfanish @book-limerence

If you’re looking for something new to learn or if you’re just bored during this lockdown, here is a full list of Coursera courses im currently enrolled in ( I plan to finish all of these by the end of this year). You can take all of these courses for free by auditing them, or you can apply for financial aid if you want the certificates too.

Creative Writing

The Craft Of Plot

The Craft Of Character

The Craft of Setting and Description

The Craft of Style

Creative Writing: Capstone Project (accessible only after you have completed the above 4 courses) 

Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop

Script Writing: Write a Pilot Episode for a TV or Web Series( Project-based Course)

Write Your First Novel

Transmedia Writing

Writing And Editing: Word Choice And Order (this one’s for any type of writing, not just creative writing)

English Composition I (this one is more focused on academic writing)

Music

Songwriting: Writing The Lyrics

Guitar For Beginners

Singing Popular Music

How Music Can Change Your Life

Fascinating Topics

Introduction to Philosophy

Plagues, Witches, and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction

Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction To Linguistics

Modern And Contemporary American Poetry(”ModPo”)

Learning How To Learn

Personal Development (+ career idk)

Introduction to Public Speaking

Speaking To Persuade: Motivating Audiences With Solid Arguments And Moving Language

Becoming A Changemaker: Social Innovations

Healing With The Arts

Converting Challenges Into Opportunities

Creative Thinking: Techniques And Tools For Success

Be Your Best Creative Self

Career Decisions: From Insight to Impact

The Science Of Success: What Researchers Want You To Know

MY STUDY TIPS FOR ONLINE CLASSES 

my masterpost | my studygram | ask me anything

[click images for high quality]

[transcript under the cut]

Other advice posts that may be of interest:

How To Study When You Really Don’t Want To

How To Do Uni Readings

Active Revision Tips

perfect resume for someone with no experience

A+ advice on writing cv’s

a guide to writing your resume

how to get a job fast as hell

resume writing tips

jobs and careers masterpost

how to answer interview questions

career and employment masterpost

strong words to use on a resume

34 crucial tips for your next job interview 

how to write a cv

resume cheat sheet

how to write a cover letter

job hunting resources

Find a job in your field

7 questions you should ask at the end of every interview

how to get a job before you graduate

how to be good at interviews

if you realize you’ve been studying for hours: grab a snack to refuel your body and watch a sitcom to refuel your brain. then back to the books.

if you’re feeling stressed out: take some deep breaths, text your friends, maybe stare at a wall for a few minutes. gather yourself.

if you can’t seem to focus: get moving and get outside. take out the garbage, check your mail box, maybe walk your dog. just get moving and get fresh air. it’ll help bring you back.

if there’s something else going on in your life and you can’t get it off your mind: write down what’s going through your head, sort of like a diary entry. it’ll help you work things out.

if you’re just mentally and physically exhausted: set a timer for 25-30 minutes and take a nap. any longer and you’ll hit REM and you’ll wake up feeling just as tired. once you wake up, get some caffeine in you.

if the material is boring as hell: find another way to study. see if there’s a crash course video online about it or draw out what you’re trying to learn in diagrams and pictures to make it fun.

if people around you won’t shut up: listen to some music. soundtrack and classical music is always good because they won’t absorb you as much as music with lyrics. white noise (like ocean waves, rain sounds, etc.) also works.

articles/essays

the real tragedy of beth march (i recommend this on every chance i get. it's why i find beth to be the most fascinating character in little women)

remote control (read this because of sufjan stevens. a very good account of the tonya harding scandal)

my grandma the poisoner (the horror i experienced the first time i read this is unparalleled. completely, utterly disturbing)

the empathy exams (you've probably heard of this and, yes, it deserves the hype)

exploring q slur (sigh) desire in hbo's succession (on the homoerotic undertones in succession's both seasons. need i say more?)

celebrity culture is burning (this is from march 2020, after gal gadot posted that atrocious imagine cover)

the age of instagram face (spot-on criticism of instagram beauty culture, fantastic read )

the lawless energy of teen-age girls (this is a new yorker piece on an excellent photography collection depicting teenage girlhood)

youtube channels/videos

liziqi (her videos will undoubtedly make you feel better on an off-day, especially on the cold winter days to come!)

goodnight moon (you will not believe the effort put into these themed asmr videos. check out her babblebrook series for cozy fantasy vibes)

asmr in movies & tv (ignoring the one of harry potter, this playlist offers quite a satisfying experience)

barbie movie clips (you did not know you needed this. it's a playlist of scenes from old barbie movies in extremely high definition)

reading my old diary like it's a work of classic literature (such a fun, light-hearted concept! watch this if you feel heavy and need a lil' something to cheer you up)

the immersive realism of studio ghibli and why miyazaki's films sound pretty (watching video essays on studio ghibli films is the highest form of self-care)

that time disney remade beauty and the beast and why the music in the live-action disney remakes is worse than you thought (disney-bashing is another great form of self-care)

how coraline borrows from ancient forms of storytelling (more specifically, it's a video essay on how coraline utilizes classic horror/ghost story tropes. very fascinating)

is titanic good, actually? (a lengthy video essay on the sweeping, epic tragedy that is titanic. enjoy)

parasite - the power of symbols and parasite's perfect montage (on the magnificent brilliance of bong joon ho's parasite)

misc.

the mytholadies podcast (very easy listening experience and fascinating explorations of your favorite ladies from mythology. they also do themed episodes every month!)

all three hadestown albums on spotify: concept album, original cast recording (live), original broadway cast recording (if the myth of orpheus and eurydice lives on your mind rent free, you need to listen to these. my personal favorite is the original cast recording, but all are fantastic)

the husband stitch (the chilling short story by carmen maria machado from the collection 'her body and other parties'. this is a favorite of mine)

the lottery (on the off-chance you haven't read this unsettling masterpiece, do it now)

artist searches childhood bully on facebook, doesn't expect to find this (this comic changed my perspective on everything)

subscribe (another comic i keep thinking about, this one's a critique of youtuber self-care culture)

it’s been 4 years since I started uni in fall ‘15. it took me a while to get there, but I handed in my bachelor thesis and now I’m starting my master of education program. so I thought I’d share some things that I learned through the years and things I should write on my wall so I don’t forget my own advice.

some of these are things I had to learn more than once, some I learned from mistakes and some were said to me as advice. they are in no particular order and you’re very welcome to add your own!

it’s okay to need help. you don’t have to deal with everything on your own.

ask for help before it’s too late. if you don’t get a topic ask a classmate to explain it or ask your teacher for more eyplanatory material that same lesson. if you’re running late on your term paper bc of personal or topic related issues talk to your teacher.

if there are tutorials for your class take advantage of the extra lesson. tutors often explain in a more down-to-earth style, this will make it easier for you. plus, they often provide practice material for your exam or even old exam questions. they work closely with the teachers, so they might hint at exam questions.

go to class every damn time. unless you’re ill (mental illness counts too!!) or some personal catastrophe happens, go to class. there’s umbrellas and rain jackets, snow boots and winter coats. if it’s safe to leave the house weather is not an excuse not matter how comfy your bed is.

make a friend in every class. you don’t have to become best friends and you probably won’t stay friends after the term, but if you’re ill they can catch you up or provide materials (not all classes have arrived in the digital age, sadly). classes that are mandatory but suck will be more fun if you have someone to suffer with.

it’s okay if not all friendships last beyond the end of term. sometimes you just become friends for the benefit of knowing someone in class. sometimes you become friends because you see each other regularly and it kinda fades out during break. that happens and it has nothing to do with your qualities as a friend, that’s just life.

it’s okay to feel lowkey heart broken if you hoped for more than a just-for-the-term-friendship. this can hurt just as much as every other heartache. it sucks, I know, so feel those feelings, but then move on. you have more important things to do.

be careful who you talk to about your term paper plans. my topic once got stolen, because I told a girl in my class (I elaborted on it a lot, yes, I definitely wanted to impress her) and she immediately went to my teachers office hours and got the topic secured for her paper. boy was I surprised when my teacher told me that someone else came to her with almost the exact wording. my new topic was better suited for me in the end, but still.

reach out when things get tough. people might not have the answers to your problems, but talking about them makes it easier to tackle them. if they’re your friends/family/loved ones you’re not bothering them. promise. they’ll probably feel appreciated that you trust them so much (I always do).

don’t expect shit from university offices. if you should hear about your grade/appilcation/etc after 3 weeks, call after week 4 not week 8. if they tell you you don’t need that latin class for your masters get that information signed as proof.

trust your friends, (chosen) family and other loved ones when they tell you they love you no matter what. your academic success does not define your worthiness of love and affection. if someone treats you like that they do not love you the right way, I’m sorry.

you will find friends and a chosen family who love you the way you are not despite but because of your little quirks. uni is more diverse than it seems in white upper class college movies and you will find your kind of people. be patient, but dare to reach out.

friendships do require work, but it shouldn’t be a struggle. most of the time they start because you reached out and told someone how much you like their *insert thing you’re also interested in* and then you go from there. keep a balance of reaching out to each other, listen and remember that it’s not about seeing them by coincidence (aka classes) every day, but because you make time for each other.

read that damn department newsletter. there might be job offers (uni pays well, my dudes!) or annoucements for free events, goodie bags, studying abroad programs, etc. otherwise you might miss a really cool event, conference, speech or lecture set. I missed a non-credit lecture set about harry potter once bc I didn’t read that newsletter. a whole lecture set on harry fucking potter. the agony.

read non-mandatory additional reading only for these reasons: a) you got all mandatory reading and assignments and study notes for all classes done; b) you want to write a term paper about that topic (maybe save it for when you’re actually working on it, if a) doesn’t apply); you can fit it in your schedule and want to impress your teacher, bc you’ll write a term paper for that class. some additonal things might be more fun than your assigned readings for other classes, but you need to prioritise the less fun things sometimes.

need to hand in a class protocol, give a short presentation, etc to be admitted for the exam or term paper? get the second to fourth time slot. being the first is always hard, so if you’re not that confident, maybe stay away from that, but get it done before the second half of the semester starts. your stress level will rise with exams and term papers coming up, so having these things out of the way is a huge relief. plus, the bar won’t be that high yet if you weren’t given specifics and you can learn from the mistakes (aka what your teacher criticized) of those before you.

be brave, participate in class. you are not under-qualified and most teachers love a good in-class discussion. even mandatory boring classes will be more bearable that way.