Trying My Best To Study

like. this is a game changer. say you are taking the integral of x^3(sinx)dx: the tabular method involves creating a chart to easily calculate the solution with out it being incredibly painful-

so the indefinite integral would equal -x^3cosx+3x^2sinx+6xcosx-6sinx+C

~Week 2 of uni

Read about growth mindsets or watch an interview or film about what happens in your brain when you learn.

Remember that the aim of learning is to learn. It doesn’t always have to be fun. Being happy or enjoying what you are learning is certainly an advantage, but it’s not a dealbreaker. There is nothing wrong with a little discomfort while you learn. Don’t be put off if you don’t always enjoy learning; it’s really not important.

Note: making a mistake is a valuable lesson in itself. Most people don’t like making mistakes, but seen as a valuable lesson, mistakes take on a different meaning. You are, after all, learning. And if learning is important to you, mistakes become valuable.

Try to think of something that you are now better at than you were in the past. What was it that you found difficult, but which has now become easier? How did you achieve this? Thinking about this will put you into a growth mindset.

Over the past few days I’ve recieved loads of messages regarding finals and how to study for them. I thought it might be easiest for me (and you!) to put together a post with links to blog posts and answered questions. These are just some simple tips that will hopefully get you through the more stressful times of your education!

Time management/productivity

productivity and time management apps

10 small ways to improve your productivity

how to avoid distractions

extensions and programs to block websites

how to stay awake

how to write faster

productivity tips

dealing with terrible time management and no motivation

tips on time management

chrome new tab extensions

Organisation/planning

how to start a bullet journal

my note-taking method

organisation and note-taking tips

how to stay focused in class or lectures

how to create a study schedule

how to make a colour code

catching up on missed classes

weekly study schedule printable

2017 monthly calendar printables

Studying

how to study (my method)

step-by-step guide to writing a five paragraph essay

how to take notes from a textbook

how to take effective in class or lecture notes

how to set-up and use microsoft onenote

studying and note-taking methods

how I prepare to study

how I format my notes

mindmapping chrome extensions

how to memorise information

my colour code

how to revise from written notes

a few tips on identifying where you’re losing marks

how to make a mind map

how to write an essay in a short amount of time

memorising quotes

how to summarise information

how to annotate books

how I memorise essays

tips for essay writing 

how I reduce narrative/description in essays

how to use flashcards

Motivation

how to gain back motivation

types of procrastination and dealing with them

motivational monday printables

how to stop avoiding studying

what to do when you feel exhausted before studying

how I stay focused and motivated

Self-care

a list of school related movies and tv shows

dealing with anxiety

how to study when sick

dealing with self-doubt

a couple of things to do as a reward

dealing with stress

my favourite tv shows!!!

how to improve your sleep schedule

Misc

a list of apps for students

my favourite pens and highlighters

how to start a studyblr

how to set up a studygram

how to improve your handwriting

my arc notebook system

I hope this helps! If you’ve got any of your own useful tips for finals, please send me a message! Best of luck with your exams! x

21.05.2021 (34/100 Days of Productivity) 

1. what is the author trying to say? 2. what does the author maybe not realize they’re saying?

1. Your attitude dictates your experience, so start finding things to get psyched about.

2. Stock up on healthy snacks in your house!!! You’ll be glad you did when the study-munchies roll around (and they always do).

3. Invest in a good planner. Especially if you take part in multiple extra-curriculars, I can’t stress how helpful it is having a place to check back on deadlines and big events.

4. Write down all your teachers’ names and emails as soon as you get them, so you’re not searching for them when you’re absent.

5. No one is having as much fun as their snapchat story makes it seem.

6. Don’t believe what your peers tell you about tests they take before you, study how much YOU need to.

7. Be nice to your math teacher. Partial credit on math problems might save your grade.

8. Don’t throw out syllabuses/first day handouts!!!! Theres a good chance they have information on the late policy and a gazillion other helpful things.

9. In fact, try to hold on to as many papers as you can for when finals inevitably attack.

10. No one knows you wore those jeans yesterday.

11. Be conscious of how you smell. Don’t be B.O. kid, but also try not to suffocate your lab partner with the scent of artificial fruit/flowers.

12. That cookie in the cafeteria is probably not worth 95 cents. Pack snacks from home to resist overpriced school treats.

13. If you’re carrying around a travel mug of coffee, people will usually leave you alone. 

14. Don’t spend more time planning your study schedule than actually studying. Just get your books out and do it.

15. Never underestimate the amount of motivation you can get from watching Legally Blonde (movie or musical). 

16. Try to attend at least one school sporting event per season, even if thats not really your scene. Some teachers even offer extra credit for going to big games!

17. Don’t be that kid that asks the teacher when you’re getting your tests back. They have like a gazillion to grade. You’ll get them when they’re done.

18. Have a pump-up playlist for the ride to school and the walk to your first class. Nothing feels more badass than walking through crowded hallways while listening to Halsey’s “New Americana”.

19. Set up a back-up study zone for when you need a change of pace.

20. Don’t put off creative projects because you think they’ll be less time consuming. There’s nothing worse than glitter gluing a scale model of the U.S. Senate at 3 AM because you thought it would be quick and easy.

21. That extra 10 minutes of sleep is not worth the risk of oversleeping completely. Get up, splash your face with some cold water, and get this show on the road.

22. Find a school inspiration, whether it be a really hardworking friend or a studyblr you follow. Check their progress whenever you need motivation.

23. If someone only ever talks to you when they need to copy the homework, they’re using. Don’t indulge them.

24. Doing your own work is so SO important. Plagiarism can destroy careers.

25. Creative outlets can be so refreshing, like a diary, a private tumblr, a sketchbook, whatever floats your boat.

“All of this information is obligatory. Chinese doesn’t let me ignore it,” says Chen. “In fact, if I want to speak correctly, Chinese forces me to constantly think about it.”

This got Chen wondering: Is there a connection between language and how we think and behave? In particular, Chen wanted to know: does our language affect our economic decisions?

Chen designed a study — which he describes in detail in this blog post — to look at how language might affect individual’s ability to save for the future. According to his results, it does — big time.

While “futured languages,” like English, distinguish between the past, present and future, “futureless languages,” like Chinese, use the same phrasing to describe the events of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Using vast inventories of data and meticulous analysis, Chen found that huge economic differences accompany this linguistic discrepancy. Futureless language speakers are 30 percent more likely to report having saved in any given year than futured language speakers. (This amounts to 25 percent more savings by retirement, if income is held constant.) Chen’s explanation: When we speak about the future as more distinct from the present, it feels more distant — and we’re less motivated to save money now in favor of monetary comfort years down the line.

But that’s only the beginning. There’s a wide field of research on the link between language and both psychology and behavior. Here, a few fascinating examples:

Navigation and Pormpuraawans In Pormpuraaw, an Australian Aboriginal community, you wouldn’t refer to an object as on your “left” or “right,” but rather as “northeast” or “southwest,” writes Stanford psychology professor Lera Boroditsky (and an expert in linguistic-cultural connections) in the Wall Street Journal. About a third of the world’s languages discuss space in these kinds of absolute terms rather than the relative ones we use in English, according to Boroditsky. “As a result of this constant linguistic training,” she writes, “speakers of such languages are remarkably good at staying oriented and keeping track of where they are, even in unfamiliar landscapes.” On a research trip to Australia, Boroditsky and her colleague found that Pormpuraawans, who speak Kuuk Thaayorre, not only knew instinctively in which direction they were facing, but also always arranged pictures in a temporal progression from east to west.

Blame and English Speakers In the same article, Boroditsky notes that in English, we’ll often say that someone broke a vase even if it was an accident, but Spanish and Japanese speakers tend to say that the vase broke itself. Boroditsky describes a study by her student Caitlin Fausey in which English speakers were much more likely to remember who accidentally popped balloons, broke eggs, or spilled drinks in a video than Spanish or Japanese speakers. (Guilt alert!) Not only that, but there’s a correlation between a focus on agents in English and our criminal-justice bent toward punishing transgressors rather than restituting victims, Boroditsky argues.

Color among Zuñi and Russian Speakers Our ability to distinguish between colors follows the terms in which we describe them, as Chen notes in the academic paper in which he presents his research (forthcoming in the American Economic Review; PDF here). A 1954 study found that Zuñi speakers, who don’t differentiate between orange and yellow, have trouble telling them apart. Russian speakers, on the other hand, have separate words for light blue (goluboy) and dark blue (siniy). According to a 2007 study, they’re better than English speakers at picking out blues close to the goluboy/siniy threshold.

● Seize time opportunities. If I have 15 minutes until your next class, I sit down and do homework in the hallway. If I have a long commute, I’ll do flashcards. This works because you most likely won’t have anything else to do anyways, so it’s easier to get your work done.

● Start something. When I get a lab report assignment, the first thing I do is pull up the directions and at least start the cover page and pull up some research links. It takes 5 minutes but it gets the ball rolling and makes it more likely that you’ll finish what you started.

● Auto-mode. When I procrastinating, it’s usually because I’m too busy thinking about what I’m going to do. Instead, I like to pretend I’m in “auto-mode” and just get started as fast as I can. auto-mode means shutting out distracting thoughts or pleas to watch one more funny cat video and forcing your hands to open your textbook. Works every time.

● Personally, creating time schedules don’t work for me because if I fall out of time, the whole schedule falls apart and I usually give up. Instead I use time games. I’ll tell myself something like “work as hard as you can until 11:00 sharp and if you finish, you can have a break”. This is great for developing self discipline because it’s in the moment so you can be more realistic and flexible.

● I don’t like writing down earlier due dates in my planner because it’s confusing so instead, it’s good to have some sort of mental rule. for example, my mental rule is to finish everything at least two days before the due date. following through with that will keep you on track.

● Do a little bit every day. If you have a big project, chip at it within a week rather than stressing out 2 days before it’s due. the same goes for studying for an exam. if you review lecture notes and attend office hours after class + work on flashcards throughout the week, then do a final review at the end, you’ll be well prepared and won’t need to cram. It’s a good habit and you won’t get stressed. Two birds with one stone.

● Use mornings too. I’m not really an early bird, but using mornings to get some work / chores done is great because it gives you a productive start to the day, which makes you feel proud of yourself for knocking out half of your tasks in the a.m. 

a. Lay out your lecture notes / worksheets on the table the night before and open your work tabs on your computer so they’ll be the first thing you see when you turn on your computer.

b. Put your computer far away from your work space and go to sleep.

c. When you wake up, the first thing that you’ll see is your ‘paper’ work, so get it done first. then start on your ‘screen’ work (you’ll be less likely to get distracted if you do your ‘paper’ work first). when you open your laptop the first thing you’ll see are the work tabs you opened the night before. Your job is to go on auto-mode and get started.

Caffeine addictions. this shit ain't cute, learn better ways to manage you sleep and energy.

Workaholic culture, working hard is great but not in exsess

Romanticizing mental illness, you are just as valuable and talented healthy, happy. don't convince yourself otherwise

Elitism, you aren't better than other ppl for being more educated if your not polite.

Eurocentric: Dark. Academia. is. Not. Just. For .White. Skinny. People. In. Blazers.

go down a wikipedia research hole by clicking the first term you don’t understand

binge a crashcourse series end to end (personal recs: world history, history of science, big history, philosophy)

find free books on project gutenberg

download some western classics for free

borrow books and audiobooks from the libby app or borrowbox

start a commonplace book

take a khan academy course

browse MIT’s free online course materials

teach yourself to code

go on a google scholar essay dive

try the open access button to avoid some paywalls for academic media, or install unpaywall that does a similar thing

research the history of the place you where you live

tempt the wrath of the duolingo owl and learn a language

search for online streams of the local tv in your target language’s country and use as background noise for immersion points

print and scrapbook favourite poetry and literature quotes

improve your handwriting by doing handwriting exercises

learn philosophy with the philosophize this! podcast. actually just check out all the educational spotify podcasts there are many good ones

start a weekly club with friends to share new and interesting things you’ve learnt that week

clean and reorganise your study space, physical or digital

check out online museums

fave educational youtube channels that I adore: vsauce, crashcourse, smarter every day, kurzgesagt, school of life, tom scott, r. c. waldun, vsauce3, primer, mark rober, veritasium, asapSCIENCE, scishow, TED-ed