ballpenned

[220719] i love love love old buildings, particularly libraries. i’ve found a pretty botany book at the secondhand bookstore and after rummaging through my mum’s old stuff i unearthed her books from her time in russia. made me want to learn the cyrillic alphabet so i’ll be working on that tomorrow ♡

ig: doestudies

august 12th, 5:40 pm i’ve been trying to journal more often and write more notes about the things i’m reading. school starts in a couple days so i’m excited for that !!

Just been catching up on Friends recently, relaxing myself after intense studying sessions for the past few days for tests. It is important to take good care of your mental and physical health!

sweaters: droopy eyes in the library, hands wrapped around a warm mug, laughing with friends in between classes, pens almost out of ink

changing leaves: studying in bed, thin slanted handwriting, rain pattering on windows, slouchy clothes and glasses, local bookstores

tea: early alarms, pencil pouch bursting at the seams, exponentially long to do lists, unassigned assigned first row seat, tapping fingers

pumpkin patch: bullet journal entries in delicate cursive, woolen coats, book pages worn soft from use, asking questions after class

halloween: assigned reading becoming a new favorite book, getting to class just barely on time, on a first name basis with every barista

bonfire: indecipherable in class notes, maroon everything, intricate diagrams, the clinking of a spoon in a mug, a love for graph paper

flannel: chipped nail polish, spiral notebooks, notes in the margins, shaking off an umbrella, classes with teachers who love their subject

11.21.17

day 7 december 10th, 2015

after two pretty low days, today was a high one! i finally presented and handed in my physics project worth 10% and then received a test back in maths which i did well on (96% yay!) so i’m quite proud of myself.

A friend once asked me how I manage to do my tasks so efficiently. I wrote a 500-word essay in 20 minutes. I finished my math homework and studied for a quiz in the half hour before morning assembly. I sleep at 9 pm on most nights. But how can I possibly achieve that?

I’ve seen people, even good students, check their phone every minute or two as they’re studying. I’ve seen students “study” for six hours straight, meaning taking down some notes then watching a YouTube video then reading their textbook then opening Instagram… you know what I mean.

My advice is to commit to whatever you’re doing. Not too long ago, another friend asked me, “Jo, do you ever get distracted at home?” to which I replied, “Distracted by what?” They told me about how they always have the urge to check their phones, talk to their friends, or get some food.  I can’t say I never get distracted, but it very rarely happens to me because I focus on what I’m doing–and only what I’m doing. Here’s how:

1. During the time I allocate for working, I turn my phone to airplane mode (with WiFi switched off, of course). No messages or notifications will distract me from what I’m currently doing. Recently, though, I’ve left my phone on in case there’s anything important. There might an RMUN photoshoot tomorrow, or a Physics quiz, or a music showcase. I know myself well enough to know that I have the discipline to do nothing more than glance at the notification. However, if this isn’t true for you, then I suggest you keep your phone on airplane mode.

2. When I allocate time for relaxing, that’s all I do. No homework. No textbooks. No opening emails as they come. Just me and a good book or Photoshop or the piano or something. That way, I can satiate my thirst to relax within the half hour or so and not crave more when I start working

As for music, it’s been proven that music makes you less productive when trying to recall and absorb information (studying, in other words). Music only makes you happier when you’re doing things but not more productive.

By this, I don’t only mean which ones are most urgent, but which ones you can’t accomplish anywhere other than at home. For example, let’s say you have these three tasks: a) research about structural unemployment; b) write a poem with the theme of death; c) answer some questions about quantum physics; d) do a problem set about implicit functions; and e) memorize a set of chemical reactions. This is how I would do them:

Write the poem on the way to school. Maybe this is just because I like poetry. And because I can’t write when other people are around. I’d probably get a first draft done by the time I get home.

Do the research about structural unemployment. My school’s WiFi is terrible.

Answer the quantum physics questions. The new information is still fresh in my brain and doing the homework will help me revise, easing the process of spaced repetition.

Memorize the chemical reactions before I go to bed. Studying before you sleep is supposed to improve your memory, and since my memory is terrible, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Do the implicit functions problem set as soon as I get to school the next morning. Math is undoubtedly my best subject, and it’s very refreshing to do math at 6:45 AM in the morning.

If you saw the pattern, I assigned each task a time slot when I would be most productive. I also did them from easiest to most difficult to the easiest again. Because everyone works differently, I suggest you find out which types of tasks are the most difficult (memorizing, in my case) and which types of tasks require a certain environment (e.g. requiring WiFi for doing research).

I guess that’s pretty much self-explanatory. I like to nap right after I get home from school if I’m feeling especially tired. As for breaks, I prefer to take them between tasks instead of every 25 minutes because of my high study inertia.

Commit to what you’re doing

Delegate and prioritize

Give yourself shorter deadlines

Take breaks!

drive