how  i study from home: mentally ill edition .･.:*â
hi everyone! iâve been studying from home from january this year as i am doing all my coursework online this year. itâs been tough adapting to this new way of learning but i figured i could share a few of my tried-and-true tricks with you all as we are all in the same boat right now. a lot of us adapted to the school-style learning environment and spending time with ourselves right now is really hard. i want to help as much as i can. remember that above all, itâs trial and error with working out how you study best! and with that, here we go ďžď˝Ľ:*･(ęá´ę)
1. your mental health comes first
no, seriously. i know itâs said over and over again, if you donât take care of your body and mind, youâre NOT going to have the mental energy to throw yourself into hours of study each day. when you plan your day, include things like showering, eating good foods, taking walks, messaging a friend. the more you put your mental health on the back pedal, the less work you are going to be able to get done. journal. be creative. work out what makes you feel good. do those things every day. iâve found that doing something creative every day helps me - creating something outside of myself, and expressing how i feel, whether itâs drawing, poetry, colouring in, painting, or collage. by the way, you canât skip over this one. your. mental. health. comes. before. study.Â
2. study when you feel good
a common mistake people make is forcing themselves to study. that can be okay. sometimes you need to force yourself into those first 5, 10, 20 minutes before you get into the flow of it. but if youâre hunched at your desk, irritated, tired, with nothing going through your head, your study isnât going to be effective. whatâs worse, your brain is going to associate that irritable fuzzy feeling with study, making you want to do it even less. but studying when you feel good, your brain will associate those feelings with it. study when the material seems clear, challenging in a good way, and when your body feels good. youâll notice the difference this brain association makes SO quickly. stop studying when you stop feeling good, come back later. (also, giving yourself study snacks also makes it more enjoyable!)
3. make yourself a dedicated study space
youâve heard it before. but, really. reserve this space (i use a desk in my bedroom) specifically for studying. no phones allowed. donât let it get messy. decorate it a bit with plants. paste the walls with notes, diagrams, pictures you love. this is your study space. come here when you study, and when you finish, leave it alone. there was a study done that showed students who had a designated âstudy lampâ at their desk, which they only used when studying, performed better than students who didnât! this is also part of the ~brain association~ thing, and it works with the tip above. this should be a place where you study when you feel good. a positive space. i have my desk facing the wall so i donât get distracted by anything else (such as staring longingly at my bed).
4. so youâre in a rut - itâs time for a ~dopamine detox!~
THIS. if you find yourself watching youtube 5 hours a day, while study seems impossible and youâve become overridden with guilt, this is for you. things like youtube, netflix, video games, and music all give the brain high amounts of dopamine. (guess what doesnât? thatâs right. studying.) if you spend your morning on instagram and youtube, youâre not going to want to switch off and start studying. the dopamine change will cause your brain to feel like studying is slow, difficult, sluggish, hard. we all know the feeling. but imagine like when you sleep, that dopamine resets. if you avoid your high-dopamine triggers - youtube, facebook, music, your phone - youâll find that study becomes easier. not hard, challenging and refreshing. interesting. set yourself a time for your âdopamine detoxâ - for example, i sometimes tell myself i wonât let myself on my phone / youtube / spotify until 4pm. (however, you can let yourself read, go for walks, journal, etc. during that time.) part of the idea is you find yourself so bored you actually WANT to study - what else would you do? i highly encourage you all to try this. itâs the best way, iâve found, to get out of a rut.
i hope these can help you. studying from home is hard. but it doesnât have to be miserable. i also want you to remember that we are going through a global freaking pandemic, and in an ideal world, we would not be forced to study at all. but, alas. keep yourself afloat, everyone. iâm proud of all of you. itâs okay to get a lot done some days and not much on other days. your study productivity does not measure your worth. your mental health does not measure your worth. you are kind, strong, and hopeful.
good luck out there. âĄ
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