kinibinson

Since we’re starting a new year, here’s an updated step-by-step guide on sleeping and waking up early so you can achieve all the resolutions you’ve just set! Hope everyone is having a happy new year! ^_^

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Turn off your devices an hour before sleep. The blue light from your computer and mobile can really disrupt the natural melatonin levels that control your sleep cycle. End the day with some sort of reading, whether that be for leisure or some summary notes at the end of the day.

Swap the tea and coffee for warm milk with honey. If you must, herbal tisanes like chamomile ‘tea’ are soothing. Lavendar essential oils (used as a room fragrance) are also very calming. 

Write down a list of what you want to achieve by waking up early. Having a plan motivates you and stops you from crawling back to the warmth of your bed. When the morning you isn’t able to think clearly, let the motivated you make the decisions!

Pick out the clothes you want to wear for tomorrow, and make sure they match the weather! Like with the tasks you want to achieve, it’s not a good idea to let the morning you fumble with clothes and what matches well. Have a jacket or hoodie on hand to keep you from getting back in bed!

Keep your bed reserved for sleeping. Put your smartphone on the other side of the room so that you aren’t tempted to go and check up on your messages on social media. This will reduce the chance that you start a conversation with some night owl friend that ends up continuing past midnight.

Make sure your room is pitch black. This is so that light doesn’t end up disrupting your sleep cycle and so that you condition your body into thinking that it’s time for sleep. Try to sleep without a night light. 

Clear your mind. Whether you achieve this by meditating or otherwise, don’t think about anything, lest you stay up tossing and turning. This includes both exciting events tomorrow and sad events from today. Staying up late makes your mind more prone to negative thoughts and anxiety that may be exaggerated. Take anything your mind tells you at night with a grain of salt!

Get either 7.5 or 9 hours of sleep. This is because the brain has sleep cycles that are approximately 90 minutes long, so sleeping past will immediately pull you into the next sleep phase. When you wake up in the middle of deep sleep, you end up feeling groggy and tired throughout the whole next morning.

Roll your eyes up a fraction. Not sure if this will work for you, but I find doing this, just so that your eyes naturally rest as if they’re looking up a little (don’t look up too much) helps me to get to sleep. Possibly related to Bell’s phenomenon, but give it a go! 

IN THE MORNING

Reset your sleep cycle by waking at the same time each day. We all have those nights where we absolutely need to finish something by tomorrow but try to keep it constant when you wake. So if you miss the point where you would’ve slept 7.5 hours, go for 6, since you still have a complete sleeping period, and usually that extra hour or so is enough to get the work finished. So don’t think about sleeping in for afternoon classes, because you’ll just feel worse for wear the next time you have morning classes.

Go cold turkey. Willpower is like a muscle, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets. I have tried the gradual method of waking up at 7:30, 7:15, 7:00, etc. but I found the best way is to just so straight to your target wake up time. As long as you sleep early, there shouldn’t be a problem. The first day you feel tired in the middle of the day, but it’s easier than adjusting to a slightly different sleep cycle each day.

Wake up with a full blast of natural light. If your bed is next to a window like mine, then pull up the blinds to let as much natural light in as possible to stop the production of melatonin. This seriously works. I have slept at 2:30am and woken up at 6am refreshed without an alarm. 

Set an alarm that you know will wake you up. Whether it be an uplifting song you like or a super annoying alarm bell, choose something that you can associate with waking up in the morning. 

Wake up the first time your alarm rings. People who are reliant on their snooze button can diminish the positive effect of a good night’s rest because they are constantly drifting back to sleep only to be abruptly woken up a few minutes later. This causes a shortened, disrupted sleep cycle right before a person starts their day. 

Jump out of bed immediately. Don’t lie in bed thinking; you’ll just drift off again.

Have a glass of cold water, but don’t just down a whole bottle in one go, because your kidneys are remarkably good at preventing our electrolyte balance from being thrown out of homeostasis, so downing a heap of water will just make them overwork to reduce the water levels. Best to keep that glass of water next to you as you work and drink a few sips at a time while you are working. If you drink an excess of water, you have diluted the careful balance of electrolytes. Your kidneys will rapidly dump that water to ensure these electrolyte concentrations are not diluted.

Put on your clothes quickly! This one comes from personal experience. Doing it quickly is like a burst of energy to get you going for exercise.

Finish what you were going to do. Remember that list we wrote last night? Do it now and feel great about doing at least one thing extra this morning.

Don’t have a cup of coffee (yet)! On waking, our bodies stop the production of melatonin and start the production of cortisol to get you going. Cortisol isn’t just for stress, it also starts gluconeogenesis to increase your blood glucose levels (which is important for your brain function) and increases your metabolism. Drinking coffee will disrupt this natural waking hormone, and it also reduces blood flow to the frontal cortex which is responsible for higher order thinking and cognition (source). What this means is that although there is more sugar available, oxygen supply decreases. If you do drink coffee, it’s recommended to drink it around 9:00 or so, after the natural cortisol kicks in. 

Have an apple instead. It’s been shown to keep you awake better than coffee!

Exercise. There’s no need for me to explain that this is the best way to feel energized and refreshed for the rest of the day and to get your heart pumping! The morning air is dewy and hasn’t yet been tampered by the smell of car fumes and other pollution, so breath in :) Play some music with beats that will get you moving. 

Enjoy the benefits of a job well done. Give yourself a pat on the back, because it’s tiring to get up at 6am or earlier! You’ve got your study space all to yourself, enjoy it with a cup of orange juice, and some peace and quiet. Get to work/uni/school nice and early, ready to learn something new and feel proud that you aren’t one of those groggy students with their heads glued to the table!

Latest MasterPosts: Awesome Things to Look Forward To At College/Uni + Minimalist Studyblr Challenge + Bujo Ideas Masterpost

October Wallpapers

Hello!! I’m confused that it’s already October but I made some wallpapers for y’all to keep you motivated throughout the month! The quotes were chosen in honor of the amazing and super inspirational Ruth Bader Ginsburg, may she rest in peace and power.

Check out the full collection here - not all available wallpapers are shown in the post above.

Calendars are all available in Monday and Sunday start.

Three quotes to choose from.

No phone versions available this time because I don’t really have the time, but if you do want to modify any of these for personal use, feel free.

The wallpaper on the bottom right of the first image is meant as an organizer of sorts, or if you want to customize your own quotes/graphics/etc.

One hack for using the “boxed calendar” wallpaper (top left in second image) is positioning your assignments on the date it’s due! That way, you can keep track of everything you have to do and when.

I learned a lot about essay writing in high school and now I barely use it in college, so I thought I would share some of the tips I learned with y’all

just as a disclaimer, these are the basics that I learned in high school. always make sure to talk with your teacher / professor if they have specific guidelines or requirements for an essay (especially if it’s an academic / scientific paper). also, please don’t forget to cite your sources !!

I feel like I have to share my pathway towards success with you because I spent all my life considering success as the very end of the journey when in reality you can have it all along the way. And I think that understanding this is fundamental, not only for your studies but also for your everyday life.

I’ll start by showing you a little example. During my long stay in Cartagena I had the occasion to do a few salsa dance lessons with some of my friends (yeah cliché I know) and as I was listening to the salsa teacher I kept telling myself that I was too rigid and not coordinated at all and that I’d look terrible dancing.

When we had to practice the moves I couldn’t keep up with the rhythm and honestly, I was a mess. The teacher even came to me to tell me that I was thinking too much about the moves!!

In that very moment, I thought: “ok Margot, now think you’re a latina goddess, you’re sexy and you’re a born-to-be a dancer”. As soon as I started telling this to myself, my moves completely improved. They got so much better that I was the only one in the group who was able to perform all the moves correctly on the first try.

What I want to tell you with this story is : you won’t go anywhere as long as you keep a negative mindset. The second you switch your mindset and you turn it into something positive, a little miracle happen. Just as me being able to perform good dance moves (and trust me that this one is really a true miracle :)

Now, I know it’s easy to say but I really want you to understand this because it’ll change your life like it changed mine : whatever you think about, you become.

The minute you start filling your brain with useless thoughts like “I’m not enough of this”, “I wish I had this”, “I wish I looked like that”, “I’m too fat to wear that”, “I have no self-control”, “I’m bad at maths”, etc. well guess what : you’ll still be bad at maths, you’ll stay sad and in months from now you’ll be stuck in the same place.

Here are some bits of advice about what you should be doing instead. Notice that this post is inspired by Gabrielle Bernstein’s book “The Universe has your Back” and also by other inspiring video’s I watched in the past few months :) 

Focus on your goal and imagine how you’re gonna achieve it, how you’re gonna feel and how proud you will be. Make it as clear as possible. Write it down in your journal if you want. Visualize every single detail. If your goal isn’t clear, it’s ok! You can still think about how you can improve your life or how you can work on just loving yourself more. And don’t be afraid to think big.

Practice positive affirmations. This one will be hard in the beginning because we all are used to focus on the things we don’t have, or the habits we want to get rid of, but we never pay attention to what we already have or why we really want success. Instead of thinking “I want to stop biting my nails so I won’t be ashamed of them” think “I’ll be so proud of myself if I stop biting my nails and I’ll feel more confident!”. Trust me, it makes ALL the difference.

Practice gratitude. You have no idea about the positive impact it has. If you struggle with this, try to make a list of at least 5 things you are grateful for every night before going to bed. Write it in a journal or just think about it for a moment. There’s no “wrong” way to practice gratitude. You can be grateful for the pizza you had today, or your cat. It just has to be positive.

Get some inspiration. Read a new book or look for some videos that inspire you. Get closer to people you admire. Inspiration is so important because it allows you to get a better view of what you want to become. I really started changing my mindset the first time I read “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero. It has been so eye-opening to me that I started practicing more and more positive actions ! I also found TED Talks to be really helpful for me!! 

Judge less. I know, we’re all humans. We all judge and it’s totally normal to do so. However, we can modify our judgment towards a lot of situations : whenever you notice yourself judging something or someone, take a step back and think why you are doing so, it’ll help you to see clearer and you’ll let more space for love. You don’t know what’s behind the people you’re judging and it doesn’t help you to reach your goal. Use this energy to work on yourself instead.

Stop comparing yourself. Don’t stop because you think you’ll never be enough. You don’t know what the others are going through, you don’t even know what they are thinking. I remember in my first med school year that I was constantly focusing on what the others were doing and comparing it to what I was working on instead. I spent so much energy doing so instead of studying that it made me fail my exams. And you know what the funniest part is? That the people I valued better than me failed their exams too. This definitely changed my vision! The next year I only focused on myself and on my own study methods and I passed all my exams :) 

Start where you are and celebrate small victories : you’ve been feeling like crap and all you did was taking a shower? It’s fine. You took care of yourself. Be happy about it. Be grateful to be able to do so. Don’t wait for the right moment to start something because the truth is that there’s no right moment and that you’ll never really be ready. Success is more about the journey than the destination. Always remember that.

Stay true to yourself. Don’t seek perfection but start loving every part of yourself instead. Don’t apologize for being authentic because it will allow you to understand what truly matters to you in every situation. Being your own self will also help you focus on your goal and not letting distractions around. You’ll gain confidence as you’ll know what works best for you and you’ll be able to let go of negative things in your life.

Also, don’t apologize for your success and your abundance. You are worth it. You’ve always been. 

I hope these tips will help you to reach your goals! You deserve to be happy and successful!

Margot X

Discipline: “discipline is doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to”, which means that you have to force yourself to start doing things. 

Concentration: when you make a real effort in your work (study, homeworks etc…) you will be more likely to actually focus, understand and learn. 

Organization: always set tasks and goals and organize a study-schedule. Maybe you don’t really want to plan all the week, but if you just wake up and open your agenda/bullet journal/iphone calendar and write down all the things you have to do, setting due dates and deadlines, you’ll feel more conscious and encouraged to stay on track. 

Tasks-splitting: sometimes, you write down your tasks. Some of these tasks may be very hard and complicated, and it will take a long long time to complete them. So, you can split them in smaller tasks, so you will feel satisfied after a shorter period of time, instead of studying for hours and still seeing that chapter undone on your study-schedule. 

Watch the sunrise: when I wake up late, I feel like I don’t have enought time to do my work and lose my motivation. I literally panic and then I think “whatever, I could not complete all the things anyway”. So, if you wake up earlier you will feel more positive and  controlled. 

Smart reading: try not to read your textbook just like a newspaper. For every paragraph you read, try to underline and write down key words and then your question about that subject. Literally, turn your textbook into questions. If you write down question - particularly why…? - and think about the answer, you will be more likely to remember that stuff later. 

An Overview of Note-Taking Styles

Hi! Sorry for the slightly late reply! I had exactly the same problem in history for the longest time (literally until the week before my exam) so here goes!

Plan your essay, but always make sure that you have an overarching argument and that every topic sentence reflects the point you’re going to make and how it relates to the overall argument

Chuck in as many facts to prove your point as possible. I literally made a billion flashcards with dates and statistics and went through them as many times a possible before the exam. Make way too many flashcards. If you have too many, then chances are you’ll have enough facts for your essay

e.g. “[Event X] demonstrates that towards the end of their rule, [leader] was showing weakness, as [statistic 1]. Although [statistic 2] contradicts this image, the reality was [analysis of statistic 2 that shows it an be interpreted negatively], further demonstrated by the fact that...”

Remember the type of essay you need for the exam! There are papers where a thematic understanding is required (e.g. comparing one leader to another), where a super-factual essay is required (for me this was my shortest paper, and it discussed specific events in detail), and some where both is required (I needed this for my British history paper but I don’t know what board you do)

If you’re doing the essay as homework, it’s frustrating but really worth the time to go through and edit and add facts where possible. It’s also useful to make flashcards based on the information you used in the essay, or note which facts are coming up the most frequently in your essays (because chances are it’s an easy fact you can drop into the exam)

I touched on this a little bit in the second point, but always make sure to critically analyse what the facts mean! It’s all well and good to know and insert loads of facts, but they need to be situated in context: if the average living space for a peasant in Russia decreased over Communist rule, what does this say about how effective Communist treatment of citizens in villages/cities was, and (most importantly) how can this be used in favour of your point in the essay?

Just keep practicing! Before my A-Levels I think I wrote one past paper question per paper per week for history, because I knew it was my weakest subject, and tortured my teachers with “please could you look at this and tell me how I’m doing?” but it worked! The worst a teacher can say is no, which they’re unlikely to a lot of the time because they also want you to do well, and even if they do say no, it means you can either go back through it yourself and be really critical of what you’ve written, or give it to someone else in your class whom you trust to be honest and they can look through it!

I hope this was a little bit helpful (and not just a rehashing of the things you’ve been told in school)

66 Essay Transition Phrases-

To continue an idea:

Furthermore

Moreover

In addition

As well as this

What’s more

Additionally

Regarding this

The fact that [x] is so, shows that

To compare and contrast ideas:

In comparison

In contrast

Unlike [x], [y]…

Like with [x], [y]…

Similarly

Comparatively

In the same way

Another way of viewing this is

Yet

Still

Nevertheless

On one/the other hand

Conversely

Notwithstanding

In spite of this

However

Besides

Though/Although

On the contrary

Contrary to this

In order to list:

Firstly; Secondly; Thirdly; Finally

To begin with; In addition; In conclusion

These are the following:

These are as follows:

In order to introduce an example:

An example of this is (the fact that) (the following)

To illustrate this

This is exemplified by the fact that/to exemplify (this one seems a little bit weird, but I use it all the time in order to show an idea being strengthened within a lot of my English Literature essays)

For instance

For example

In this manner

In particular

Namely

[x] can be shown strongly/most clearly when…

To show that something causes something else:

As a result

Because of this (I wouldn’t use this one in very formal writing because formal writing tends to discourage the use of ‘because’ and ‘also’ at the start of your sentences)

Consequently

Hence (this can also be used in the middle of the sentence to explain why something is the way it is)

For this reason

The consequence of this is

To repeat an idea with more/as much detail:

To repeat

That is,

In other words

To be precise

To be exact

More precisely/exactly

To reiterate

To draw conclusions:

From this, I can extrapolate (most of the time, personal pronouns are not used in very formal writing, so ‘it can be extrapolated’ is good if you want to sound very sophisticated)

From this, it can be inferred that…

It is clear that from [x], [y] means…

This shows the reader/audience that…

This enables us to understand the fact that…

[x] shows us that [y] feels…

From this, it is clear that…

To make an overall conclusion:

In conclusion

In short

To summarise

In summary

To conclude

Okay, so you’ve been called smart all your life. As a kid, you were one of the smartest in your class. Maybe you could read at a much higher level than your peers, or you could fly through multiplication drills like they were nothing. Then, you get to high school and suddenly you’re surrounded by lots of people who were ‘gifted kids’. None of what made you ‘special’ seems all that important now. Your work is actually challenging, and it’s actually requiring effort.

If you’re experiencing this, just know that so many students have gone through the same thing. Maybe it happens in high school, maybe college. But a lot of us who were considered gifted as kids suddenly run into this and it challenges our entire identity. It can be paralyzing, but it’s 100% possible to overcome it and succeed! I’ve compiled a few tips for ex-gifted kids dealing with impostor syndrome and self-doubt. I’m not a therapist, psychologist, or any sort of education expert. I’m just speaking to my own experiences, and I welcome any input from others who have insight into this as well!

1. Understand that working hard does not mean you aren’t intelligent. If something doesn’t come naturally to you, that’s not a reason to give up. Believing that people can do things “just because they were born with a talent for it” is only going to hurt you. It’s not true! People may have natural aptitudes for things, but hard work is involved even for the smartest or most talented people. You are capable of learning anything, and you don’t have to be “good at it” right away to do so.

2. Comparison will kill you. You are your only competition. Focusing on how you rank with other students, and comparing yourself to your classmates is going to exhaust you. By focusing on others, you can’t put your full energy into focusing on your work and yourself. You belong. Even if you struggle with your work, you belong. Focus on your own self-improvement and doing your best.

3. Don’t focus on the goal, focus on your current actions. If you’re always thinking about the future, and about whether you’ll get into that school or that program or win that award or get that scholarship, you’re not using that time to get work done. Don’t worry about college applications, just do your homework. Focus on what you are doing now to reach your goals so you can apply to schools with confidence later.

4. Your grades may not reflect intelligence, but they do reflect work ethic. Don’t let others convince you that grades mean nothing. They sure as hell mean a lot to colleges, and thinking that you should “reject the current education system” is not going to harm anyone but yourself. If you don’t feel like you’re learning anything in your high school classes, that’s all the more reason to want to get into a university that will challenge you. If you put effort into your work, it will not let you down. Your hard work will be reflected on your transcript. Don’t lose focus.

5. Talk to someone. Let people know if you’re struggling. It can be hard to feel like you aren’t allowed to identify as “smart” or to feel pressure to constantly compete and improve. I went to a highly competitive high school that pushed kids to cope in dangerous ways. This is not healthy and not okay. If you’re feeling overwhelmed you need to find healthy coping mechanisms. Speak with someone you trust and don’t let yourself spiral. Don’t try to self medicate. Your well being is always more important than your grades. Period.

1. start studying a week before every quiz/test. seriously.

2. watch youtube videos/ted talks on the topics you are learning about.

3. get lots of sleep! sleep helps you process the day’s events, including what you learned.

4. write out your notes. it’s proven that handwritten notes help you learn better than typed out notes.

5. don’t just read what your professor gives you. find academic journals, books, etc. that correspond with your subjects.

6. read the news! especially in the social sciences/humanities, connecting concepts with current events helps you understand and process more easily.

7. exercise! this doesn’t have to be going on runs or lifting weights, it could even just be going for a 20 minute walk. just get your blood pumping, it’ll help you focus.

8. study at your desk. it may be tempting to study in bed, but your brain connects your bed with sleep, so you’ll get tired more quickly.

9. reviewing notes doesn’t have to be something you sit down and do for an hour. skim through them and test your memory while eating breakfast!

10. expand your study time throughout the day to avoid burnout. for example, rather than studying for 5 hours straight, study for an hour here and there in between your activities.

11. make your notes organized and easy to read, but not distracting. bright colors and flashy notes may seem better, but can sometimes distract from the purpose of the notes.

12. use apps such as quizlet. this way, you can go through definitions while waiting in lines or walking to class.

13. it’s more important to know concepts rather than facts. for example, you should be able to take what you know and apply it to different situations, not just the situation the textbook gives you.

14. just because the professor doesn’t require you to read textbook, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. it helps explain concepts in a different way than your professor, and a lot of times hearing two different explanations for the same concept helps you understand it.

15. read in advance. read the textbook before your professor begins going over the chapter, so when he/she does, you can easily follow what they are saying.

16. do any extra credit work that comes your way. even if you don’t need the extra boost now, you might later.

17. go to class!! if you always skip class and show up at office hours completely lost on the concepts, they’ll laugh in your face. they’ll take you 100x more seriously if you show up.

18. however, if you are sick, take a day off. it’s more beneficial to you in the long run. 

19. learn how to say “no”. if you have an 8 am the next day, don’t stay out until midnight with your friends. 

A lot of us have difficulty when it comes to learning all types of new information. Especially when we’ve got other priorities to worry about. After much experimentation, I’ve found that the following tips helped me make the most of my time and also helped me plan much more fruitful study sessions!

- Designated Study Area.

A coffee shop, the library, a desk, or even your bed. Figure out where you are most comfortable studying - The right location provides comfort, no distractions and is quiet. Another factor to consider is timing. Are you a morning person, an evening person or a night person? Combine the time with the location and there’s your study area!

- The Key to Success is Time Management.

Plan your time using a simple schedule template, or make a simple to-do-list. The trick is to complete short tasks in a reasonable amount of time; like going over 5 pages of a textbook in approimately 15 minutes. Keeping a written schedule keeps you in line, and this way you won’t forget the tasks you need to complete for the day!

- Note Taking.

Personally, I like to keep a hardcopy of the days lecture and just scribble down any information that I think is important. BUT, there are some pretty cool note-taking strategies out there that you can utilise. Check out The Cornell Method, Mind Mapping, and the Split Page Method. Active learning produces more results than passive learning - so write down those notes and stay active!

- Meet the Syllabus.

The syllabus outlines the most important learning outcomes/ learning goals, and thats pretty much all you need to plan a productive studying session. 

Bid farewell to all that extra, unnecessary information. 

- What is your learning style?

Are you a visual, auditory, verbal or kinesthetic learner? Experiment with all 3 and find out which one works best for you. You don’t necessarily need to stick with one! Do you study better alone or do you prefer group study?  

- Bite-sized Learning.

Do not try to cram in a huge amount of information all at once. Instead, try breaking information down into learnable, manageable chunks. Combining this method with tip #2 will help you make the most of your time.

- Review, Review, Review!

It’s scientifically proven that the more you review material, the easier it’ll be for you to recall it when needed. So, take another look at your notes a couple of days after you make them, then again a week later, and so on.

THIS SHIT WORKS OKAY, I AM DEAD SERIOUS.

The last time I saw this on my dash, I didn’t think it would happen, so jokingly I wished I could go to a fun. concert.

AND GUESS WHAT, I WENT TO A FUCKING FUN. CONCERT.

I SAW THIS ON MY DASH THE OTHER DAY AND THOUGHT “ITS WORTH A TRY” SO I WISHED I COULD GET A 3DS

LITERALLY LIKE 4 DAYS LATER MY DAD SENT ME A PICTURE OF THE 3DS XL HE BOUGHT FOR ME WHILE I WAS AT SCHOOL

GUYS.

HE FUCKING CALLED ME 20 MINUTES LATER

20 FUCKNG. MINUTES. LATER.