what's the situation?

13. 09. 18

small things that can help boost study motivation

•light a scented candle while revising school notes

•use warm colored highlighters and pens

•study in front of a window with a nice view of the trees

•or study in your favorite café while enjoying an autumn special

•wear a warm, oversized sweater or hoodie

•wear some fun socks too, for extra coziness

•eat a cinnamon bun or a slice of pumpkin bread as a study snack

•study in an old library, surrounded by old books and knowledge

•drink a chai tea latte

Hey! so i just created my very first studygram (shameless self promo @decafstudy follow me) and one of my irl friends saw my stories and posts and asked “How many hours does your day have? ´cause mine only has 24″ and that got me thinking abt how i take the most advantage of my days to make them feel (or look) 48 hours long! Here are a few of the things I incorporate on my daily student life to be more productive!

• IF YOUR FIRST CLASS STARTS LATE IN THE MORNING WAKE UP 2 HOURS EARLIER THAN NEEDED i know, am i crazy? ok so here´s the deal. If your first class starts, let´s say, at 11:00 A.M you might be tempted to wake up at 10:00 A.M, get dressed, and head to school. Not only does this create bad habits for when you get assigned a 7:00 A.M class (which will happen) but you lose MANY HOURS OF PRECIOUS TIME. Get your 8-9 hours of sleep and do not let yourself wake up later than needed. My class sometimes starts at 11:30 A.M so i wake up at 8:00 have a nice morning, relax, work out a bit, light up a candle and get ahead on reading and work for school! Your day will start and feel more productive!

• NEVER LEAVE CLASS WITH A DOUBT ON YOUR MIND I know this might create anxiety for people who are shy and do not like asking questions during class (i am one of those people) If you feel just too scared to ask during class APPROACH THE TEACHER AFTER CLASS ENDS. as soon as he dismisses class, approach him and ask the question. If you are not able to do so DO NOT STRESS, BUT WRITE THAT QUESTION DOWN ASAP ON A POST IT AND STICK IT YOUR NOTEBOOK. that way you will have the question at hand and you can seek tutoring later and ask, or even ask a friend BUT NEVER LET A QUESTION GO, NEVER think “i will ask it later” BECAUSE YOU WON´T and IT WILL DOOM YOU. This will save so much time when you study, because all your questions will be at hand and you will know what you have to focus on studying.

• WHENEVER YOU HAVE FREE TIME, USE IT TO WORK WHILE DOING SOMETHING FUN instead of just diving head first into watching a movie, ask yourself if there is something more productive that you could be doing rn (reading ahead, reviewing, doing extra math exercises) if the answer is yes, then put that movie on mute and work while taking a peek at the movie ever once in a while. This will not only help you with discipline and learning to keep yourself from distractions, but it will occupy your free time in something that your future self will thank you for later on.

• NEVER ASSUME THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO IT LATER again, think in terms of your FUTURE SELF how much would your future self love it if instead of studying 3 days before the exam, you studied a week before it? How much would your future self love it of instead of reading until 12:00 PM tomorrow, you divided the reading between today and tomorrow? never assume that you will have spare time ahead because chances are that you won´t and you will end up with A BUNCH of work that you didn´t do and that you can´t do at the moment. FUTURE SELF THINKING has saved my life.

• LEAVE TIME OPEN FOR MENTAL HEALTH/PHYSICAL/RECREATIVE CARE as much as i always put work first, I KEEP MY THERAPIST VISIT AND MY GYM ROUTINE STABLE no matter how much work i have. This helps me feel more balanced and like i am on top of everything, not just school, feeling good=more productivity.

• POMODORO TECHNIQUE i know many people know about this but if you don´t, this is basically a studying technique in which you work or study for 25-30 minutes straight NO DISTRACTIONS and then have a 5-6 minute break, and then repeat the process as many hours as you need. This really helps me not get burnt out when I have a heavy load of work. Watching study with me videos on yt is a good way of keeping the pomodoro system going. Some good apps that I use for POMODORO are Forest and Tide.

• HAVE AN APP CARPET ON YOUR PHONE THAT IS CALLED “PRODUCTIVITY” ie. download a BUNCH of cute as hell apps that help you get motivated and organised when you look at them. This will make you more prone to look at your phone as an INSTRUMENT rather than a DISTRACTION. (my fave apps are Taskade, Forest, Tide, Brainscape and Pocket)

• Lastly, GET MOTIVATED i know this sounds cliché, but the reason why i love keeping my day busy is because i surround myself with a romanticised idea of studying. Doing these kinds of posts, following a bunch of accounts with pretty notes, having a clean room and desk, going to the library and appreciating the color scheme or sounds around you, listening to relaxing sounds or music while working, downloading many pretty apps to keep myself on track while having a cute aesthetic… all of these things might seem small, but they make you feel cleaner, more balanced and more prone to LIKING the work you do.

Make some coffee/ tea / snack.

Instead of spending hours procrastinating on your phone, watch a motivational video while you eat.

Tidy your study space, get rid of dishes, mugs and anything that isn´t study related. Leave your glass of water.

Go wash your face with cold water.

Check time.

Turn off your phone and computer. If your study material is there, turn the wifi off.

Study.

Take a short break. (Go to the toilet, refill your glass, stretch, open a window, listen to music, talk to someone, call your mom, etc)

Follow this sequence four times.

Take a long break. (Get another snack, watch a motivational video, go on a short walk, read a book, do some yoga, take a shower, go outside, doodle, post something on tumblr, take a nap or whatever you´d like to do. DO NOT WATCH A TV SHOW YOU ARE NOT GOING TO STOP AND YOU KNOW IT PUNK. Also, make it so that your break doesn´t last longer that 25 minutes, don´t waste precious time)

here’s a definitive and totally subjective rating of davids

donatello: 3/10 honestly pretty embarrassing, but worth a mention. just your run-of-the-mill, oh-you-haven’t-heard-we’re-copying-classical-greek-sculpture-now david. stiff, awkward, and pretty dopey looking twunk. has the same expression of someone being told dona-fucking-tello sculpted this. can’t even hold his slingshot bc it’s too gay. don’t worry there’s a redemption arc on its way.

donatello pt 2: 9/10 fucking superb you funky little gay man. total glow up. a complete deviation from the norm by a well-known deviant. takes contrapposto to sultry new heights. look at this lad’s little hat and boots he’s not a nude he’s just naked. some people say goliath’s head is modeled off of donatello himself literally he was horny enough he said “step on me” in full fucking bronze. goliath’s helmet has little gay greek reliefs on it, not even remotely subtle. look at the feather going up his thigh and tell me u didn’t cross your legs when you did. commissioned by the medici for their palace, which makes it even cooler by association. 

verocchio: 8/10 ily baby a perfectly fine lad, looking at him makes me smile. his little dress is so cute with its stylized arabic psuedo-script border, and the floral pasties? adorable. something about goliath’s head feels a little disjointed, but you know what? fuck him. he’s not important. david’s the real star here in his little cheerleader get up. what really makes me biased towards this one is that the model was supposedly verocchio’s star student, the young leonardo da vinci. and look how fucking radiant he is! love it.

michelangelo: 7/10 technically this thing’s great. look at the fucking veins on the hand that’s absolutely mental. but all in all it lacks the overtly homosexual intrigue of some other davids and, frankly, i expected more from well-documented gay disaster michelangelo. obviously a classic but also makes it prone to being too over-saturated. i do love his yaoi hands though.

july 29, 2018 // notes on the persian (or greek depending on your view haha) wars for ancient history! trials are soon and I’m stressed

school is just around the corner, and i know that once school starts, i’ll have less and less time to study languages. as students, we can’t avoid crazy schedules, especially with all the lectures, labs, and extracurricular activities interrupting our perfect duolingo streaks! but there are ways you can still keep up with learning a language, even when you’re busy! here are some tips to keep up with a new language.

squeeze language practice into your every day schedule - even just 5 minutes a day! you don’t need to spend an hour everyday on learning languages. you can practice for as little 5 minutes a day, as long as you do it everyday. 5 minutes before you go to bed, on your transit to school or work, when you’re eating lunch, before classes start - you can always find at least 5 minutes to work on duolingo practices or refresh memrise vocab lists. for duolingo and memrise, make sure to set a daily goal - this will motivate you to maintain those streaks, encouraging you to practice everyday!

don’t overestimate how much you’ll be able to accomplish each day. i used to set my duolingo daily goal super high, and when i don’t meet the goal for that day or miss a streak, it’s easy to feel discouraged. AVOID OVER-REACHING. set practical, realistic goals for yourself. you can always overachieve those smaller goals and feel better about yourself. don’t be afraid to take it slow!

treat language studying as a class and block a schedule for yourself in your routine. if you’re super motivated into learning languages, treat it more as class than as a hobby. this means you have to get organized. like you would for a class, set a designated time block to study the language. for example, twice a week tuesday and thursday, 30 minutes each after lunch. in those designed time blocks, you can focus on sharpening those language skills by learning more in-depth grammar points, reading a short piece, listening to dialogues, or watching a short video in your target language. doing this will make sure you’re not just scratching the surface - you will actually progress.

engage in passive learning. this is perfect for when you’re busy. listen to music in your target language, listen to podcasts when you’re exercising, watch movies or tv shows (even with subtitles is ok!), switch your phone and other devices into your target language. 

do something fun with your target language to spark continuous interest. once in a while, come up with fun and interesting projects you can do with your target language! for example, if there’s a song you love, translate the lyrics! watched a good movie recently? look at the screenplay and analyze your favorite dialogues, and make sure to break down new vocabs and grammar. transform your favorite quotes into an artwork and hang it in your room! get creative and do something you’ll enjoy.

record your progress and your accomplishments! this is super helpful for organizing your studying progress, seeing how far you’ve gone, and celebrating your accomplishments. 

set long term goals to keep motivated. you can scratch the surface with that 5 minutes per day routine, but to truly get anywhere with a new language, make sure you’re setting long term goals! that is, by the end of the year, what will you want to be able to do? do you want to read harry potter entirely in your target language? be able to hold a conversation with a native speaker? watch movies without subtitles? travel to the country? these are the type of questions you should ask yourself.

having a strong resume is crucial for job applications, scholarship applications, college, etc. it is a sales tool and, ultimately, the first impression an employer/application reviewer will have of you. therefore, you need to make it interesting and impressive. below, i have listed a few tips and need-to-knows to help you build your resume. keep in mind that this list is geared toward industry jobs. while the information is still useful, it may be less relevant for those applying to digital marketing/design jobs. 

General

make different versions of your resume. by this i mean, have a master resume that lists everything. then, from that master resume, make specific resumes for each opportunity you are applying for. 

in high school/university, it is usually best to keep your resume to one page. unless you have done substantial work and are capable of filling up two pages, it is best to keep it short and concise.

always review your resume before submitting !! it is crucial that your resume does not include any typos 

Formatting 

keep your formatting consistent throughout your entire resume

use 11-12 point font, your name/headers should be no bigger than 14 point font

have a 1 inch margin all around your resume

do not include decorations (unless you are applying to a digital marketing/design job where aesthetics matter !!)

keep your font selection professional. my personal favorites are times new roman, garamond, and helvetica.

do not use caps unless it is for headers/titles (but even then, use caps at your own discretion)

Sections/Components to Include

name & contact info (phone number, email)

summary/3-5 second snapshot of your greatest accomplishments

job/internship/related experience

publications & speeches

awards & recognitions

memberships & affiliations

certifications

language skills

special/technical skills

extracurricular activities

Synonyms/Power Words

instead of “new,” use “unusual” or “innovative”

instead of “improved,” use “better” or “faster”

assessed/measured/quantified

conducted/performed/undertook

created/designed/developed

optimized/maximized

increased/reduced

spearheaded/led/directed

~~~

8.12.18 

A new coffee bean just opened and I just love the interiors and the lighting! And it’s just right across from where I live. Finally, a new study place! Idk why but I’m not a huge fan of their coffee though. 

I will be trying my best to be active again. I’m now in my 3rd year of law school. I started my studyblr during my first year and it has helped me de-stress from my law school life.