Too much work, not enough coffee

save this for your next academic year and finals, and it’ll save your grades and time.

1. whenever you read a paragraph with new content, close the book/look away and ask yourself: “what have i just learned?” explaining the concept to yourself right away and asking follow-up questions will change the way you retain new material forever.

2. at first, it’ll be daunting, and it’ll be pretty hard to actually bring yourself to do this. trust me, it’ll be worth it - as this is scientifically proven one of the most effective study techniques.

3. to try this out, set yourself a timer for how long you estimate learning a concept might take. now take away 20% from that estimate. you won’t be able to reach this goal with basic highlighting and re-reading techniques - but with active recall, you will.

4. once you’ve understood the concept, use spaced repetition systems like anki flashcards to force yourself to retrieve this information in a set period of time. this way, your brain will always be reminded of this concept before it could possibly forget it.

5. teach it to others as much as you can. as with the old wisdom “see one, do one, teach one”, one of the only guarantees you’ve really gotten something is when you can effectively teach it.

hope these are helpful for you!!

Tuesday, 18th August 2020

Summer studying challenge day thirty-seven: would you prefer a shorter or longer summer? When I was younger I got bored so I would’ve said shorter, but I do more schoolwork in the holidays now so I’d say the length is about right (we usually get 6-7 weeks).

Just finished my string theory poster for the physics department and I’m happy with how it’s turned out :)

2/4/2020 | Quarantine Fall Study Challenge

28th Aug: Tea or Coffee?

Coffee, love a good coffee

29th Aug: How did this week go for you?

Things I was stressed about turned out just fine, the ikea chair I wanted came back into stock, pretty decent week all round

30th Aug: What is your plan for the upcoming week?

Going to treat my boyfriend to a birthday dinner on Monday and help him move in. I've just been told who my supervisor is for my dissertation so I can figure out what sort of topic to research now (any ideas for cognitive neuroscience?)

31st Aug: What is your favourite thing about school/uni?

I love learning, I love having my own life, I love being here

1st Sep: Favourite school/uni memory?

Going to the pub straight after our lest exam in December

2nd Sep: How do you take your coffee?

Hello Eduard!! I’m so sorry that you’re going through a low-motivation period. I’ve been through that way too many times and it’s not a good feeling.

I think the important point to highlight before anything else is that you want to change. You sending me this ask is an act that you decided to take because you are seeking out ways to improve. That’s a vital factor that should encourage you because by doing this, you’re already a little bit on the upswing. You are being proactive and you should give yourself credit for that.

As for how jump-start motivation and get going, here are some points that help me out whenever I fall back into a lull:

Ask yourself how you measure success. Some people really don’t consider grades as relevant. Some people think approval from certain individuals in their lives as their standard. Ask yourself what it is that will make you go “I’ve made it!” Then ask yourself why. Then ask yourself if you’re being fair to yourself that that’s what you’re basing “success” on. You won’t know what will motivate you if you don’t know what will make you feel validated.

What do you enjoy? Are you sure you’re taking the classes you want to? Are you still on a path that you believe in? Of course we won’t always be enthusiastic and it’s not all rainbows and sunshine even when you’re working towards the field you love. But if you don’t believe in why you’re doing things, I suggest you evaluate where you are in life first and what you need as a person. There is no point if you’re paying for productivity with your sanity. Trust me on this one.

Visualize what you want. Romanticize the shit out of it. This will lift your spirit. Dare to believe. Don’t be scared. You won’t get anywhere if you stay in the same place.

Just try. I’ve mentioned this many times before but life requires practice and getting to know yourself. Try things out and recognize what makes you feel good and what doesn’t. For instance, I can’t focus unless I’m sitting up straight. I can’t sit up straight if I’m on a cushioned chair. Switching from a gaming swivel chair to a proper dining chair boosted my productivity so much that I look forward to sitting in front of my desk and getting work done using that specific chair. Wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t switched out my chairs. Down to the littlest things, getting to know what works for you will go a long way.

Have a reward system especially when you’re starting out. Rewarding yourself for even the smallest tasks gets you going. I don’t care if people think this is “giving medals for showing up” or whatever. You do what you have to do to get going. Rewarding yourself, within reason, helps keep the motivation momentum. You got up and tidied up your room in the morning? Get yourself that notebook you’ve been meaning to buy. You finished reading a chapter? Give yourself 20 mins of chill time before jumping into the next one!

Make sure you evaluate what you’ve done so you can strategize better next time. Once you’ve gotten the ball rolling, ask yourself if you’re not biting more than you can chew. Assess if you’re being reasonable with your goals. Nothing dampens motivation more than setting such lofty goals right at the get go. You’re setting yourself up for failure that way. Yes, try and aim high. But adjust if it doesn’t work out. Learn to recalibrate instead of quitting altogether. Refrain from extreme mentalities like “it’s all or nothing,” or “if there are no results immediately after this then it’s hopeless.”

LET GO. I’m serious. You won’t find motivation by letting your past mistakes anchor you. You have to be able to say “yes, I didn’t do so well last time but I’m going to try again.” You can’t let the past cast a shadow on you. So you have to let go and you have to be willing to let yourself have a new start. This also means that you’ll try to refrain from cynicism. You can’t think “oh well I’m sure I’ll just fail again” because that also keeps you from breaking through.

Crucial Distinction: Motivation vs. Discipline

The steps above, imo, help you get started but the goal should always be beyond motivation and more about building tolerance. This tolerance--the ability to resist the impulse to self-sabotage or get distracted--is discipline. Motivation gives you a reason to do what you have to do in the moment but discipline is what will get you to your long term goal. Recognize that motivation can be very reliant on the external. You see something you find pretty so you want to buy it, or you want be free for the weekend so you have to get things done before Friday--these are very “in the moment” desires that expire after a certain amount of time. You don’t always have control of these things. But discipline is more internal and self-driven. You have the agency. You make the choice to get yourself to work and do what you have to do. So while motivation is very important, make sure that you’re keeping discipline in mind as well. As with most things, this takes practice and it’s not linear so please be patient with yourself. The bursts of motivation help you establish discipline and with time, you’ll be able to stretch your productivity for as long as you need it.

Practical Tips:

Freshen up and dress up. Personally, brushing my teeth is the thing that gets me going. I’m not kidding haha. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m a clean freak. So when my mouth feels cool and fresh, I feel extra alive and ready.

Do your chores. In relation to the previous point, it helps to have a clean slate, with nothing waiting to get done. I hate it when there are dishes in the sink, for example. I really can’t get to work unless I’ve cleared the stuff I can quickly do. It just doesn’t feel good for me to think “I’ll do it later.” I feel extra heavy. So with your chores or other quick tasks like responding to an email or making your bed, just do it. Now. Get it over with.

Reorganize your room. Variety is the spice of life. Whenever I feel down or unmotivated, reorganizing my study space helps clear my mind. I know some people like “clutter” because they have their own organization styles. But even then, that’s organized clutter. You have to know where your stuff are. So refreshing your mind about where you put stuff by rearranging your room, unearthing junk and tossing those away, etc. goes a long way to making yourself feel more put together.

Take your time getting invested in subjects that interest you. I know productivity culture tells us we have to be going 1000 miles per hour but you won’t get to savor life like that and you won’t enjoy what you’re doing. What’s the point if you aren’t invested in what you’re doing, right? So if you don’t know what interests you, try and try and try different methods, classes, styles, etc. A put together life that is filled with things you enjoy won’t just fall on your lap.

Inspiration is real and it does sometimes come in the most unexpected ways but it has to find you working!! Again, what this means is you have to try. Nothing will change if you stay in the same place, doing the same things.

LIGHT. LOTS OF LIGHT. Natural light if possible. Brightness helps clear your mind. I promise you this works lol.

Have a to-do list which includes even the smallest tasks! Seeing a long list mostly/all done is a mood booster. It feeds your brain the reward signals it needs to then feel motivated.

Drink water and make sure you’re eating well. Too much carbs and you’ll feel heavy, too much sweets and you’ll feel high then crash later on. Too much of anything is bad, period lol. Just pay attention to what your body needs and make sure you respect your body by doing your best to take care of it. I don’t even mean gym five days a week and protein shakes and all that. No. Just don’t neglect your body.

One thing at a time. Avoid multitasking. Do that later when you’ve gotten the hang of things. For now, the important thing is getting the task in front of you done. You’ll only overwhelm yourself if you do too much all at once and you’ll feel even more dejected that way.

I’m so sorry for the long response but I really wanted to give you a substantial answer. I hope this helps somehow. Best of luck with your studies. I’m here for you if you need someone to check up on you or just randomly chat with.

what a hectic week :(

26.08.2020

Hi, guys! Lala here. We all know the importance of having a morning and night routine, but I haven’t seen a lot of people talking about having a study routine. So I wanted to share mine with you and hopefully you guys can get some value out of it. 

August 2, 2020 // had to take some time to recharge but i’m back :)

this is an entire mood in and of itself and oh boy do i feel you! i fall into valleys of this occasionally - but the good news is it’s definitely a valley, not a pit, and valleys are arguably much easier to climb out of. 

you gotta figure out how to give yourself a lil bit of structure, my friend! and it has to be structure you’ll actually respect. this will look different for everyone: i am the worst at following self-set google calendar schedules, for example - my entire being rebels against them immediately, especially if i’m in a ‘why do it now?’ valley - but i’m great at using and sticking to pomodoros when i’m having a ‘wow we’re short on focus energy’ day. 

(if you’re feeling a bit more like you’re in a pit due to missed deadlines, an overwhelming amount of work to do, etc, this post might be useful!)

here are some of my go-to strategies for dealing with this whole work-from-home aka "why is there no structure!!” situation:

find a virtual work buddy

i have a two friends who are also doing this whole ‘working from home’ thing and are also struggling with the departure from their usual “i will sit in this coffeeshop that has no wifi for three hours to get done what i need to get done” routines. we start chatting first thing in the AM when we sit down at our computers and we use each other to rant when work is being ridiculous or frustrating or to be excited when we find something especially cool and we share our plans and what time we’re wanting to finish work for the day. it’s like having a virtual accountability buddy.

google cal, that fickle friend

i am so hit or miss with google calendar - sometimes it saves my actual life and sometimes it makes my brain take a sharp left turn into “rebellious mode” (a mode it very rarely engages in. i am not a rebellious soul). however! it can be an absolute life saver. here’s a post i wrote on it ages ago when google cal was my friend. block out when you want to work/when you want to take breaks/figure out what your ideal routine looks like (a post will be coming about figuring out your dream routine on the living hours soon!). make it as detailed or as broad as you like, but keep the tab open in your computer. stay aware of it, pay attention to it. respect it!

re-create that elusive external commitments energy

if you’re dying without actual external commitments, try to create a few! i know that’s a weird thing to do right now and it won’t work every day, but it’ll start to mimic the structure that used to work for you. you can involve other people in those commitments - meet someone for a social distanced walk in a park, or go on a hike with a family member - or you can use things you know about yourself to create commitments you’re super keen to stick to. examples: “at 2pm i’m going to go grocery shopping, because the grocery store is dead at 2pm on a wednesday so that’s the time i really want to go” or “i’m going to walk through this park at 9am tomorrow morning so that i can go grab a to-go coffee from my favourite place before it gets busy & before i start work for the day” or “i’m going to work out at 4pm because that’s when i know i’ll have the energy to do it and i’ll be useless for doing brain work after that, so my work day needs to happen before 4pm.” treating these as immovable schedule items (like attending class a class) can help to bring back a bit of work urgency to the rest of your day.

figure out your hard stop time for the day (and week!) and respect it

this can be a tricky one if you have a tendency to procrastinate (like me!!) but figuring out your stop-time for the day can help make the rest of your day more focused. i am not working a 9-5, so my hours are literally mine to do what i will with, and that’s... a lot of pressure! why does my brain occasionally think it’s okay to say, “don’t worry, you can stay up until midnight tonight catching up!” that is a) not true, i cannot stay up until midnight, and b) the worst kind of work sesh. setting a hard stop time - i will not work past 6 pm, for example, unless i absolutely have to for meeting deadlines or what have you. i refuse to work on the weekends unless a deadline makes it impossible to avoid. it takes care of me and protects my brain and my energy levels. stick. to. it. you can do it! hard stop times are self love, babey!

do whatever you gotta do to feel like a character in a studio ghibli movie

we all know i’m big on environment when it comes to work and writing and studying and research sessions. clean your desk! light a candle or three! make a pretty and delicious drink! grab a big ol’ glass of water! find the perfect coffee shop playlist (i recommend this one, it’s my go-to - cheerful but chill)! make sitting down at your desk, or on the deck outside, or wherever you want to settle yourself to do some work feel really heckin’ good. 

pomodoros!

pomodoros don’t always work for me, but when i’m short on focus they absolutely do. magic lil things, pomodoros! i work for 20 minutes, usually using the forest app, and then i take a five minute break. i find i can build up from there (i usually get to 40 minute work sessions with 5-10 minute breaks) but 20 minutes is the sweet spot for starting. i also try to brainstorm in advance what i want those breaks to look like so that i don’t immediately reach for my phone and scroll social media for five minutes (aka an hour). stretching is a big one, and so is tidying. both allow me to get up, and my brain to percolate about whatever it is i was working on. excellent break activities.

keeping promises to yourself builds self-confidence and self-respect

i cannot for the life of me remember where i read this (if you know, please share!) but... life-changing. magic. essentially, when we make a commitment to ourselves, we’re making a promise to ourselves, and when anyone breaks a promise to us - including ourselves!! - we feel like garbage. excuse my language, but it fucks with our ability to trust ourselves! if we don’t trust ourselves, then we already subconsciously think we’re full of it whenever we commit to doing something. terrible!! make a small commitment, with intention and awareness of your current limits (”i will work for thirty minutes, then stop and make lunch”) and stick to it. then make another one. and another one. every time you follow through you’ll build confidence in yourself and begin to have more respect for your self-set deadlines. forgive yourself when you mess it up (as we all inevitably do! we’re human!) and keep going.

hype hype hype!