let's go

by a horrible procrastinator

scheduling:

keep things realistic. you may think you can read 200 pages of jane eyre in one night, and honestly, you could…but you won’t unless that essay that’s 30% of your grade is due, you know, tomorrow.

you know your habits better than anyone. try to work around what you know you’re going to do. can you read about 25 pages without getting totally bored/sidetracked? well, make yourself do that. it’s only 25 pages, right?

try to accomplish one thing every day. don’t ever let your day slip away from you without doing anything. even if that “one accomplishment” is making a stupid text post on tumblr or revising your notes or washing your sheets…just be productive!

this is especially important for those of you with mental illness! having a “zero day” can really plummet your mood or set you in an unproductive rut.

if you really feel like you need a day to just chill out, napping can count as your accomplishment

don’t push studying off! you’ve probably heard this one a million times, but seriously. don’t. you’re not going to retain 10 weeks worth of information with one study session…okay, maybe you can, but do you really want to?

the best, low-effort way of remembering information is to, at first, review it often. right after you learn the material, review it a couple times during the week. maybe re-write your notes that weekend. then, the next week, visit one or two times, just glazing over parts you don’t really remember well. then, maybe once every two weeks, etc…by the time you get to finals, you’ll be familiar with all the information! trust me, it works.

organize your to-do’s. personally, i make a huge to-do list for the entire week. then, i delegate different ‘levels’ of urgency to it (see below.) you can do this however you want, but i do it this way to help me visualize how lazy i can be and not pay for it…

i tend to organize it by these ‘categories’ / ‘urgent levels’

is there a quiz on the material due soon

how likely is there to be a pop quiz

what’s my grade in the class like / how badly do i need that ‘a’

does the homework/assignment need to be turned in

etc

actually doing it:

studyspo helps. okay, i know this is kind of obvious considering i’m a studyblr, but… you see that notebook you just bought? isn’t it fucking adorable? don’t you want to make some sweet, sweet note-love to it? you know you do.

don’t spend too much time setting up your work space or browsing tumblr. seriously. you know when you’re overstepping.

have some nice playlists. preferably with music you already know! if you don’t know the song already, chances are it’s just going to become a distraction.

8tracks is a great site for this! you can make your own mixes or take a listen to one of the many, many study / chill playlists available. again, take a listen to the track on your way to class or whatever before actually trying to study with it on.

instrumentals + classical + video game music are the standard

get organized. messy = stressy. seriously. organize your desk, organize your notes. even if it’s not really your style, at least try to keep things ‘in your personal order.’ try to pretend you have your shit together. you will be so much more productive & confident if you feel in control of your situation.

if you’re a perfectionist, you may want to disregard this. really. you don’t want to put ‘tidiness’ above productivity.

taking pictures of your awesome, super-nice work space is awesome motivation. give that illusion of productivity. become tumblr famous.

if you can afford it, matching stationary and cute shit like that is super awesome feeling. it makes studying aesthetically satisfying.

take care of yourself. brush your teeth, put on that nice-smelling lotion, drink water. eating healthy foods, getting some exercise, all that good shit people tell you to do…it really is important. it’s kind of hard to focus or remain motivated if you’re miserably bloated & haven’t showered in 3 days.

especially for my neurod or mentally ill followers!

i fucked up: 

repeat after me: IT’S OKAY. IT’S OKAY. we all fuck up. you’re allowed to fuck up. sometimes assignments don’t get done, sometimes we don’t do as well on tests as we’d like. it’s okay. you’re okay.

recovery. alright, so, now that we’ve accepted that we’re human beans who sometimes grow upside-down…

cuddle in a blanket, and write down what you think you did wrong. did you not study enough? do you need to go to your professors office hours? write down your ideas.

let your failure motivate you! you hit your lowest point, alright? now you can focus on doing better, even if it’s just a few points difference.

you can do some things wrong. you don’t need to get an A every single time. did you understand 50% of the material? well, that’s halfway there!

you’re not going to be perfect at everything. we all have growing pains.

This week in a conversation with my fellow MA students about the upcoming hellmonth of term papers and preliminary dissertation research I realized that a lot of the apps and tools and Chrome extensions I use for writing, research, and productivity aren’t necessarily common knowledge. So here, for anyone who wants it, is a collection of writer tools. Feel free to reblog and add your own.

Productivity

Momentum: Chrome extension that helps organize your daily goals

Strict Workflow: Chrome extension based on the Pomodoro Technique; blocks social media to keep you focused when working online

Pacemaker: highly customizable tool which helps you form a plan of attack for various drafts, projects, rewriters, etc.

f.lux: freeware which gradually adjusts the colors on your computer screen to make working after dark easier on the eyes

Coffitivity: app and website which provides ambient background noise to fake that coffee-shop feeling and keep you focused

WriteChain: app which reminds/motivates you to write every day

Outlining & Word Processing

iMindMap: mind-mapping software

Scrivener: word processor designed for writers (who also happen to be Mac users; seriously if you’re on a PC don’t bother)

Evernote: online workspace which can be synced to your laptop and smartphone 

Final Draft: script and screenwriting software that does the formatting for you

Celtx: the free version of Final Draft

LitLift: online outlinging tool and way to keep track of all your projects

Names & World-Building

AutoRealm: free mapmaking software; there’s a learning curve but it’s not rocket science

SketchUp: 3D modeling software that helps you create imaginary buildings and keep them consistent

Google Earth: great for working in real-world locations

Stellarium: lets you get a real-time look at the night sky in any location on Earth

Ambient Mixer: free tool for creating custom soundscapes; or you can listen to soundscapes other people have already made

City and Town Name Generator: a lot of great resources here for fantasy/RPG writes but this provides examples of real-world place names based on geographic data

Ever-Changing Book of Names: freeware which creates random names, also based on geographic data; geared toward fantasy but extra sets can be downloaded individually

Names by Decade: US census data of popular baby names by decade

Lit Agents & Query Letters

QueryShark: blog run by ruthless lit agent Janet Reid who will teach you how to write a query letter, and how not to

QueryTracker: online directory of lit agents and agencies

Writer’s Marketplace: the paper version of QueryTracker

#mswishlist: agents open to queries and what they’re looking for

MSWL: a more organized website which keeps track of the above hashtag

Other

Calibre: free software which lets you create your own ebooks; a great way to read later drafts and look for errors on the go

Mendeley: a great way to organize research and resources if you don’t want to pay for Scrivener

timeanddate.com: calendars for any book you might be writing that takes place in recent history; also provides solar/lunar info

Dropbox: document storage so you don’t literally lose your shit

so you’re in class while the professor is talking about something seemingly important, but of course they don’t explain why it’s important, or don’t explain anything in general, or their thick accent makes it basically impossible to understand anything they’re saying and their powerpoints are lacking any interesting points and-

slow down. 

we’ve all had classes where the professor or teacher just doesn’t cut it. for whatever the reason, you’re just not getting what you need to get out of this class, lectures are pointless, and the exam is coming up. 

let me just start out by mentioning some things:

not all professors want to teach. from experience, i’ve learned that not every single professor you’ll have really wants to teach. unlike high school, where most teachers are dependent on their job as a main source of income, most college professors teach part-time in addition to any outside work they’re doing. and, at most universities in the united states, to be able to conduct research at the university of their choice, most professors are required to teach a course in collateral. so, in short, not all professors want to be there. some make the best of it, but some of them don’t, and to be frank, they don’t care about what grades you get.

some of them have hit tenure. once professors hit tenure at a university, they’re metaphorically untouchable and their teaching styles rarely differ semester-to-semester (or quarter-to-quarter). i once had a professor ask if we all thought his grading scale was fair, and his response was, “i’ve hit tenure, so it doesn’t really matter”. it was a joke, but there is some truth in that - they probably won’t budge on their teaching methods and there’s not much you can do about it. 

professors are evaluated just like any other job. they are usually examined once a year to make sure they’re lecturing effectively and grading efficiently and fairly. but, like i said before, sometimes when professors hit tenure, they’re less likely to be evaluated on a consistent basis. 

now onto my tips i’ve hoarded over three years of college. hopefully they help you when the professor, well, doesn’t.

Study repeatedly - Overlearn. Take advantage of life’s little intervals (i.e.- riding the bus, walking, waiting in the grocery checkout line)

Spend time actively thinking about material - Exercise weak memories with rehersal and critical reflection. No skimming!

Make material personally meaningful - Write notes in your own words. Form as many cue associations (i.e.- images, experiences) as possible! 

Use mnemonic devices for lists - Associate items with peg words, create a vivid story involving the items, or chunk items into acronyms 

Refresh your memory by activating cues - Mentally re-create situations/moods where you orginally learned the material or physically return to the location 

Minimize interferences - Study about an hour before sleep. Don’t study similar subjects back-to-back (i.e.- Studying Spanish then French right after) 

Test your knowledge - Don’t be overconfident about recalling the material. Test yourself with the learning objectives. You can outline sections, define terms/concepts, create practice tests, or explain the topic to a friend without using your notes

(Credit to reddit user ryans01).

No zero days. ‘What’s a zero day? A zero day is when you don’t do a single fucking thing towards whatever dream or goal or want or whatever that you got going on. No more zeros. I’m not saying you gotta bust an essay out everyday, that’s not the point. The point I’m trying to make is that you have to make yourself, promise yourself, that the new SYSTEM you live in is a NON-ZERO system. Didn’t do anything all fucking day and it’s 11:58 PM? Write one sentence. One pushup. Read one page of that chapter. One. Because one is non zero.’

Be grateful to the three yous. ‘There’s the past you, the present you, and the future you. If you wanna love someone and have someone love you back, you gotta learn to love yourself, and the 3 you’s are the key. Be GRATEFUL to the past you for the positive things you’ve done. And do favours for the future you like you would for your best bro.’

Forgive yourself. ‘Maybe you got all the know-how, money, ability, strength and talent to do whatever is you wanna do. But lets say you still didn’t do it. Now you’re giving yourself shit for not doing what you need to, to be who you want to. Heads up champion, being disappointed in yourself causes you to be less productive. Tried your best to have a nonzero day yesterday and it failed? So what. I forgive you, previous self. I forgive you. But today? Today is a nonzero masterpiece to the best of my ability for future self. This one’s for you, future homes. Forgiveness man, use it. I forgive you. Say it out loud.’

Hey! I am really late with this, but I though that some of you might like to see how I make my monthly spreads. I did this sort of “infographics” (??? am I even allowed to call this thing infographics??) and even though it looks like this, I had so much fun making it :D. I really don’t know whether this is helpful or not, I tried. In case you’d like to see more tutorials (and hopefully better ones) in the future, let me know please? And thanks if you read it till the end, it’s so long :D