study buddy

I got a request to make a masterpost on motivation, but I decided to focus on the bigger issue that makes us constantly need motivation: burnout. Doing work when you’re motivated is great - you’re focused on determined. Waiting for the motivation to hit you is a different story all together. What if instead of waiting for motivation to hit you, you learn to find it within yourself? 

Avoiding Burnout

you know that feeling you get when you have the flu and you just can’t get your ass out of bed no matter how hard you try? that’s how your brain feels when you’re burned out. You’ve got so much to do but you just can’t get yourself to do it and you just don’t care about school/work/grades anymore. Burnout is linked to depression, so if you are feeling any other symptoms of depression, please talk to a counselor or therapist. 

some tips I’ve picked up along the way: 

stay on top of your shit. If you know what to do and what you have coming up, you can afford to take time off for yourself if you need it. A little turbulence is better than crashing and burning. (I made a post on time management a few days back if you want to check it out)

your needs come before anything else. If you’ve been working hard for the past few days, take a few days off and relax. Even if you haven’t been working hard for the past few days, take a day off if you need it. 

break up daunting tasks into multiple not-so-bad small ones. Have a giant research paper due at the end of the semester? plan out your work so you don’t end up spending 15 hours working on it in one day. 

find a hobby and make time for it at least once a week. One of the biggest stress relievers for me is painting. It keeps my brain occupied so I’m not overwhelmed by my thoughts, but it also frees up some space for me to think about what’s going on my life. It’s like the brainstorming you get done in the shower. 

brain dump before you start working. Getting everything that’s in my mind out of it makes it so much easier for me to focus on the work I have to do. Instead of worrying about 10 different things, I tell myself that I can deal with them later because this way I make sure I don’t forget about it. 

create a support system. Have that one person you can rant to if you’re overwhelmed (If you need one, I am here). You will feel 10x better after you bitch about all the things that are on your mind (no matter how stupid they are). 

Find motivation that doesn’t really on that “spark” you get every once in a while. Riding that wave will only take you so far. Finding intrinsic motivation will help you learn better and consequently, do better.

Check out this gr8 pdf to learn more burnout and strategies to avoid it

Finding Intrinsic Motivation

There’s a great TED talk called the Puzzle of Motivation by Dan Pink that completely change my perception of motivation. He talks about extrinsic motivation (reward systems) and how they actual prevent us from thinking critically. Instead of focusing on our overall goal (getting a good grade in the class) we focus on getting the reward (finishing the assignment so we can get whatever we promised ourselves). Studies actually showed that intrinsic motivation increased the amount of critical thinking involved. Interesting stuff. There’s a whole field of psychology dedicated to this, but I’m going to try my best to condense the research into a few bullet points. 

Remember why you are here. Your education is a choice, not a requirement. If you’re reading this, you obviously what to do well. Why do you want to do well in school? To get into college? To get a good job? Money? Whatever the purpose is, you are here for a reason. Don’t forget it. 

Negative reinforcement is your friend. If your goals can’t keep you motivated, think about what will happen if you don’t get your work done.

The biggest key to getting your work done even if you’re not motivated is discipline. Here’s a great post about developing discipline (sorry for linking it on my blog, it seems the original post has been deleted) 

Other helpful links

motivation masterpost by @areistotle 

avoiding burnout by @acdemic

study music to give you motivation 

dopamine-rich foods (to help keep you attentive) 

managing studying with mental illness by @kawaii-geekgirl-studyblr 

how to study with a mental illness by @haleystudies

how to get motivated when you’re feeling depressed

my tag for motivation

my tag for some gr8 study playlists 

my tag for some words of inspiration 

hiii!! this is a super late reply, it’s been in my drafts for so long + i’ve had a bunch of schoolwork, i’m sorry! i get messed up sleeping schedules all the time omg, i don’t know if these would work for you but this is what i personally do:

try as hard as you can to sleep on your normal sleep time. JUST TRY, set a sleep schedule, force yourself to sleep/wake up on times you’re supposed to sleep/wake up, listen to binaural beats, etc. also try to get enough sleep, don’t oversleep or sleep for 2 hours. 

if you’re oversleeping, set your alarm. if you’re not sleeping enough, sleep earlier. don’t force yourself to sleep as late as you can and wake up super early so you’ll be sleepy the night after as an attempt to fix your sleeping schedule. it’ll only make everything worse, trust me. 

try to be healthy (this is legit the hardest thing for me lmao), eat right, exercise, etc. 

note taking masterposts

note taking by @thescholarlysquad

guide to note taking by @study-well

guide to note taking by @fuckstudy

taking notes by @delthenerd

useful stuff for your notes

smart highlighting

useful abbreviations

note taking strategies and skills

note taking tips

+ more note taking tips

note taking methods

note taking systems

note taking strategy by @eintsein​

notes set up by @studypetals

how i take notes by @academicmind

note taking system by @theorganisedstudent

how i make revision notes by @nehrdist

how to take lecture notes

note taking for different lecture styles

how to take notes from a textbook

the cornell method

revision notes

summary foldable method

guide to note taking

sketchnoting for beginners

how to take notes from different sources

digital notes

how to: digital notes

typing your notes

guide to using onenote

microsoft onenote tutorial

using the cornell method on onenote

taking ipad notes on notability

how to take notes in google docs

note taking apps

more stuff to add to your notes

ribbons

frames

more frames

banner ideas

easy doodles

more doodle ideas

mildliner ideas

20 uses for post its

cute ways to write the date

guide to pretty notes

10 ways to make your notes prettier

how to illustrate your notes

flashcards + mind maps

how to make flashcards

tips for flashcards

8 ways to make better flashcards

how to use flashcards

how to: flashcards

6 ways to effectively memorize flashcards

studying effectively with flashcards

how to make mind maps

how to mind map

fonts + headers

fun fonts

shadow font

learn cursive

header ideas

two toned fonts

cursive title tutorial

more header ideas

cursive font tutorial

fake calligraphy tutorial

handwriting

how to get neater handwriting

handwriting inspo

how to improve handwriting (video)

note printables

semi-cornell

+ another semi cornell

dotted grid

grid & lined

5 different note taking printables

regular, 3 hole punch, & cornell

meeting notes

printable stickers

my posts

advice for incoming freshman

You wanna know what happens once you kill yourself? Your mother comes home from work and finds her baby dead and she screams and runs over to you and tries to get you to wake up but you won’t and she keeps screaming and shaking you and her tears are dripping onto your face and your dad hears all the screaming and runs into the room and he can’t even speak because the child that he loved and the child that he watched grow up is gone forever and finally your little sister runs into the room to see what all the fuss is about and she sees you dead. The person she looked up to and loved. The person she bragged about to  her friends, the person she wanted to be just like when she grew up, the person that made her feel safe. But she’s never really going to get to grow up and smile and laugh and love because she’ll always be consumed with this feeling of missing you. And now there’s something missing from your family and they can barely look at each other anymore because everything reminds them of you but you’re gone and hurts more than anything. and you think that your mom never cared because she was always busy and yelling at you to finish your homework and clean your room and forgot to say I love you sometimes but really, she loved you more than anything and she doesn’t leave the house anymore, she can’t even get out of bed and she’s getting thinner and thinner because it’s too hard to eat. Your father had to quit his job and he doesn’t sleep anymore, every time he closes his eyes he sees his baby dead, and the image never goes away no matter how much alcohol he drinks. And at school your best friend sees that your seat is empty and she gets this sick feeling in her stomach and that’s when she hears the announcement. You killed yourself. And suddenly she’s screaming and crying in the middle of class and no one even bothers comforting because they’re all  busy sitting there staring at your empty seat with tears dripping down their cheeks and all she wants is for you to hug her and tell her it’s gonna be okay like you always did, but this time, you’re not there to do it, everything is dark now that you’re gone and her grades are slipping, she barely goes to school anymore and she ended up in hospital after taking too many pills because she wanted to see you again. the girls who used to make fun of the way you dressed feel their throats get tight, they don’t talk to each other anymore, they don’t talk to anyone, they’re all in therapy trying so hard not to blame themselves but nothing works. and your teacher who always gave you a hard time stares blankly at the wall, she quits her job a few days later. And then your boyfriend hears the news and he can’t breathe, he still calls you a lot just to hear your voice and he talks to you on facebook but you never message him back, he can’t fall in love again because every girl he meets reminds him of you, he’s never going to get over you, he loved you and he cries himself to sleep every night, hating himself and slicing his skin because he couldn’t save you and he’s never going to hold you in his arms or hear you laugh again. Now everyone who knew you, whether they were a big part of your life or someone you passed in the hallway a few times a week, they carry this aching feeling around inside them because you’re gone, and they miss you, and they don’t know why you left but it must’ve been their fault and they should’ve stopped you and they should’ve told you they loved you more and that feeling is never going to go away. And so you killed yourself

It doesn’t cost a damn thing. 

Shout out to those who write pages and pages of essays instead of practice questions

Shout out to those who run out of ink writing up one essay

Shout out to those who read novel after novel that they don’t even like

Shout out to those who, at the end of an exam, their hand is aching due to the amount of writing they did

Shout out to those who don’t feel appreciated on studyblr because they do a humanity subject and not a science one

Helloo!

These answers are slightly obscure (but they’re good!):

Have a bedside table and a lamp (with dimming settings). There’s casual ways to keep studying. This is one of them. 

I get in bed about 30/40minutes before I want to sleep. I put my phone on silent (and it’s out of reach). Then I sit up in bed and read (the dim lamp helps me doze off and I can just reach over and turn it off when I’m done, instead of getting out of bed). 

The bedside table gives me easy access to my current reads!

Buy a clipboard: print off the journal articles you need to read for tomorrow’s lecture and sit up in bed annotating them. Then turn the lamp off and sleep.

Keep your favourite snacks with you when studying:

To stop me from getting up and wondering around (aka scavenging for food) I keep essentials near my desk:

A bag of Gala Apples, 6 pack of 50cl water bottles and gummy bears. 

Make lists: not a list for the week, or the day but for the specific study session. Write down what you want to achieve in the next 2/3hours and do it! 

Use sticky tabs in your books:

But always write on sticky tabs! Don’t just stick them in, always scribble something. Why did you put it there? You will forget if you don’t write it down. 

Visual learners tend to learn information by seeing, whether through reading or watching.  Reading textbooks, material on the board or on overhead projectors, as well as demonstrations and diagrams are helpful.  Here are some learning strategies to try:

Write things down because you remember them better that way.

Make study area visually appealing.

Look at people and professors when they talk.  This technique will help you stay focused.

Most visual learners study better by themselves.

Take thorough notes in lectures and when studying textbooks.  Review and revise notes after class, preferably immediately after class while you still remember a good deal of the lecture, to reinforce your knowledge.

Read assignments in 25 minute intervals (you lose 85% of your input after reading for 25 minutes).

When beginning a textbook chapter, read the chapter overview and summary first to get a general idea of the information.  Then begin reading.

Underline main points in an eye-arresting color – for example, neon highlighters.

After 25 minutes, take a one-to-five minute break.  Disconnect totally from your reading (walk around the room, stretch, look out the window, snack, restroom break, whatever is comfortable for you).

Review your underlined/highlighted material after your break.

Read for another 25 minutes, take a 1-to-5 minute break, and review underlined material.

Just before closing your book, review all underlined material read that day to reinforce your learning.

Write new vocabulary words on colored index cards (or write in color on white index cards) with short definitions on the back.  Carry these with you and review them at odd moments or whenever you have spare time – for example, before class or when waiting in line.

hey !! the school year is getting closer and closer so i made a little guide on how to prepare & feel better about it :] good luck this upcoming year~