一夜漬!

[requested by anon] Hello! School can be really hectic at times and it’s easy to get completely swept up into the chaos. This masterpost will (hopefully) help you to stay calm and on top of your work :)

1. GET ORGANISED I cannot stress how important this is. The more organised and on top of things you are, the less stressed out you’ll feel.  Make a bullet journal, put reminders on your phone, make a timetable and just get your shit together in general. Here are some tips and resources to help you do that:

write down everything that you need to do in a planner or something

start doing everything in order of priority (e.g. if a science assignment is due in two days, do it!)

if you have tests, start revising at least a week earlier.

make a planner or a bullet journal 

print some timetables or todo lists’

GET OFF TUMBLR AND DO YOUR WORK 

2. SELF CARE IS IMPORTANT I’m not talking about the cutesy version of self care that you see on tumblr. It’s easy to forget about the simple things like brushing your teeth/hair and even taking a shower. It all adds up to make you even more stressed out. When your at home:

meditate 

do a small work out (even 10 minutes is fine + there’re lots of workouts on this website)

go for a walk / run / jog

take a bath / have a shower

have a nap (this infographic on sleep cycles is pretty interesting)

eat something (post about snacks and their benefits)

3. FRIENDS If you’re feeling stressed because of school, chances are that your friends are going through the same thing. I find it a lot easier to cope with stuff if people around me are also experiencing the same thing. So I guess the main message in this is to stay close to your friends.

4. GENERAL

if you can’t keep up with due dates, talk to a teacher and they will most probably give you an extension. 

take a ‘mental health day’ where you just stay at home and watch tv or just sleep (as ridiculous as it seems, it actually helps a lot)

make sure you’re getting at least 8 hours of sleep!!!!!

if you’re feeling stressed, don’t go on social media….try taking a day off.

if you get a bad grade don’t worry because your grades really don’t define you and it’s happened to everyone.

make sure you listen in class when a teacher is explaining something so that you don’t miss anything important

This is a guide of things you can do for yourself, but I am no mental health professional and I always recommend seeking a professional to help you, such as your counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist. These tips can also be applied to those in high school or just in general life.

Reminders

You are a good student.

You are not lazy. 

Your mental illness and the stress of school just makes things difficult for you, but it isn’t impossible.

You’re allowed to fail and make mistakes - you’re only human. You are more than your illness and you are so much better than you realize.

Take care of yourself. You deserve it. Your mental health is more important than academics. And your mental state won’t last forever.

Deal with your mental illness!

Medication. Medication is an important part of recovery. Don’t be afraid to try medication if your doctor suggests it. Medication will balance your brain chemicals so you can work on taking care of yourself. It’s a trial-and-error process, so don’t be discouraged if your medication doesn’t seem to help. Always consult your doctor if you want to change or alter your medication.  

Get professional help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Seek a counselor/therapist who works well with you. There should be a myriad of mental health resources on campus, and if not, check the Internet or your local community.

Journal. Or draw. Or play music. Express yourself creatively to get those emotions out. Friends/family won’t always be available for you, so learn to deal with your emotions by yourself.

Let your professors / TAs know. Hopefully you have some sort of accommodations plan set up with the university, but if not, DO IT. Often there is some way of notifying them what accommodations you require without disclosing your mental illness. If you feel comfortable, you can disclose your mental health problems with your teachers and they may give you suggestions to help you with that class.

Do not fall behind - stay as productive as possible.

Try to go to class no matter what, no matter how anxious or depressed you feel. Unless you’re so sick that you can barely pay attention in class, try to attend class. You can always leave early if you need to. If class makes you anxious, go anyway to train yourself that you’re safe, you’re okay, and it’s never as bad as it seems. Here are some tips on how to stay calm at school. The mere act of going to class can give you a boost. Try paying attention and be productive. Don’t worry about taking in absolutely everything the prof says. Just take the time to learn. Use relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing (in four seconds, hold four seconds, out eight seconds), tense and release your muscles, count down from 100, etc. If all else fails, doodle things related to the lecture. You’ll feel better. Skipped a lot of class? Get back on track in one day.

Write everything down! I can’t stress this enough. Whether it’s a planner app on your phone or a bullet journal or a cheap planner from the dollar store or even a sticky note on your wall, keep track of everything you need to do. Make to-do lists. If you’re easily overwhelmed, write down only three things you need to do that day. Make it as simple as possible. Check your planner every day. You don’t want to miss a deadline because you forgot it.

Do something everyday. Anything, even tidying your desk, to give you a sense of accomplishment, to not give you a “zero day” and make things worse. Just do that thing. Review your notes every so often, even if it’s only for 5 minutes. If you have a big assignment to do, break it down and work on it a little bit. How to start working when you don’t really feel like it

Use the 2-minute rule(s). If it takes you less than 2 minutes to do something, do it right now and finish it. Go ahead.  There is another rule with this name: only do the task for 2 minutes. If you can’t get started on something, just do it for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, you can stop. Chances are, you’ll keep doing the task for more than 2 minutes. And if you don’t? Take a break and try again. You’ll get something done.

Start on an assignment right away. Even if it’s just an outline for what you plan to do with it. Or make a very rough draft to edit. 

Set fake deadlines. Your essay might be due in a month, but your outline for your essay is due a week after today, your research notes due a week after that, and a draft a week after that. Write down deadlines 2-3 days before they’re due. You can use those extra days to edit and have someone (a peer, a TA, an older student) look over it.

Get ahead. If you get ahead right away, by the time you fall behind you’re just on track. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this, had breakdowns, and still managed to hand things in on time. 

Ask for deadlines early. This is the one thing I have difficulty with. If you need extra time, ask ahead. You might not always get the extra time, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Professors tend to be very understanding.

Are you behind anyway? Get back on track in one day.

Need to get a lot done near the end of the semester? Use this guide.

Stay motivated!

Make a “self-help kit”. Write down reasons why you need to study. Print out pictures of pictures and quotes that inspire you. Write down self-care ideas. Write down songs that make you feel better. Print out self-help guides that pertain to your mental illness(es). This kit is something you will refer to when you need a pick-me-up and you can’t bother your friends/family/significant other. (You can, however, always bother your pet.) Here are some pictures from my kit to help you get started (some taken from my #motivation tag).

Understand that motivation is a finite resource. You will never be motivated all the time. Don’t feel bad if you’re having a “blah” day.  Don’t feel bad if you have a “blah” week. This is where the self-help kit comes in handy - you can motivate yourself right away rather than breaking down. How to Get Shit Done Even When You’re Totally Unmotivated

Don’t be hard on yourself. You are capable of great things, but not when your mental illness(es) have a grip on you and you can’t shake it off, no matter how hard you try. You will probably have bad days, and that’s okay. Don’t let it deplete your motivation.

Stay organised!

Your brain may be hectic, but your workspace and your life doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to be super-organised - whatever works for you, do it. It doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy. Just enough to keep you on track.

You want to be organised so you can avoid unnecessary stress and wasting time. When you’re organised, you can be more productive and have a better sense of inner peace.

Here are some posts to help you get started.

The Only Organisation Tips You’ll Ever Need

How to get organized (tips from a horrible procrastinator)

5 Habits of Organized Students

How I Organize by learhning

Organisation masterpost by elk-studies

Inbox zero for students

Take care of yourself!

Get enough sleep. Sleep is very important for your mental health. You want sleep to help you consolidate the information you’ve learned in school. And you’ll feel so much less stressed out. Obviously this won’t always happen, especially around the end of the semester, but put in effort to get good sleep. Generally, you’ll want to use your bed only for sleeping and relaxing. Try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at around the same time. Here are some tips on how to sleep easy.

Eat properly. You need to fuel your brain! Don’t binge, and don’t forget to eat. Try to eat some fruits and veggies every day. Eat regularly and drink a lot of water. This all sounds cliche but it really works and good foods really help you feel better. Feeling physically healthy, at least for me, helps me mentally as well. You don’t have to eat healthy all the time. You can eat junk food to de-stress. Don’t feel guilty for eating junk food. The point is to have a good balance. Just don’t make your entire diet junk food, and you should be fine. You don’t have to spend a lot of time on your food. Here are some tips for eating when you have zero time. Lack money? Try Budget Bytes or Good and Cheap (PDF).

Exercise! For the mentally ill, exercising is often the last thing we want to do, but exercise just has too many benefits to not do it. You don’t even have to go to the gym. Take walks and do some simple exercises in your room. There are so many workout videos on YouTube - my personal favourite is blogilates. They’re perfect if you feel too anxious at the gym. Go with friends to the gym if you can. Try to do something every day if you can, but even a couple days a week should help.

Write down things you need to do.  You can always enlist the help of friends/family, but independence is key when they’re not available. If I feel like there’s too many things I need to do, I pause everything, take out a piece of paper, and write down basically everything that needs to get done. Then I tackle each item, one at a time. Even if you don’t finish the list, you’ve gotten things done, and there’s less on your mind.

Don’t study everyday. You want to do something productive everyday, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be studying. Use 1-2 days of the week where you don’t study. This will help avoid burnout.

Here are some self-care posts that I recommend:

What to do when you don’t know what to do

Comic for when you’re feeling overwhelmed

Self-care masterpost

Masterpost for rough times

Staying positive

Other resources for getting through college with mental illness(es):

General

How to conquer college with mental illness

Neurodivergent and Studying: Tips & Resources

College and Chronic Illness: 19 Tips to Study Strong and Fight the Fog

Studying while dealing with stress/anxiety/mental health issues

Studying while Mentally Ill

Tips for Studying with a Mental Illness

Mental Health masterpost

81 Awesome Mental Health Resources When You Can’t Afford a Therapist

Anxiety

Study Tips: Overcoming Anxiety

What not to do when studying with stress/anxiety

Ways to Avoid Burnout at University

How to be productive when you’re anxious

Depression

Coping with Depression at University

Studying with Depression

21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together When You’re Depressed

Tips from bloggerforstudentprogress

Hello everyone! ♥️️ I have a lot of unanswered messages in my askbox involving how I learn Mandarin characters, and so I decided to make a guide with all the methods I’ve come up with so far to help everyone who’s having troubles with it :) (This can also work with Japanese kanji) 

First, I make sure I know how to recognize the character and its meaning, so I write the new vocabulary like this:

After I’m sure that I know what a certain character means and it’s pronunciation I start learning the stoke order. I print out these beginner writing sheets  or just regular writing sheets and fill them in like this: 

This is enough to remember and recognize a character for short time but if you want the word to stay in your memory for longer I put even more methods.

Next, follow these steps: 

1. Write a (cheat) sheet full of random vocabulary you learned (better make them smaller so you can carry them to school to practice between classes) and it’s supposed to look like this: 

2. Chose a notebook where you will write the pinyin and meaning of the characters, in exact order that you wrote hanzi on your (cheat) sheets, it’s supposed to look like this: 

3. What you gonna do now is you’re gonna read the pinyin and the meaning of a character and write it down into a different notebook. If you cannot remember the character you can look at you cheat sheet that you made before and write it down couple of times, until you don’t have to look at your cheat sheet anymore that is!  Anddd this is what my notebook for practicing characters looks like:

While writing down the characters you can try and develop your own style, make them cute or classy or try different things, until you know how to write every single character from your cheat sheet.  One more thing you can do is writing sentences using the new vocabulary you learned and adding some grammar structures in there with the new vocab. That way you’re making sure the character won’t be forgotten soon. 

I want to see the scribbling out after many attempts at the same problem before getting to the solution. 

I want to see the way your handwriting gets steadily messier as your thoughts come faster as you get new ideas. 

I want to see parts of the text book you found fascinating, articles you’ve read that made you think ‘wow!’. 

I like stationery and aesthetically pleasing notes as much as the next person, but behind the neat, organised photos of notes I see are stories of success, stories of struggling, stories of someone smiling at understanding a new topic after hard work. 

Holidays are just that, holidays. However school and university doesn’t always stop for them. Whilst you’re supposed to be relaxing, there is usually a stack of work waiting to be finished before you go back. After a couple of requests, I’ve put together a small guide to setting up (and following) a holiday study schedule. Keep reading to find out more:

Start early - most students (myself included) generally leave all their work until the last few days of the holidays, then they panic about not having enough time. As soon as you’re able, get started with your schedule. The sooner you start, the sooner all your work is done and you’re free to have a study free holiday. Plus starting early means that you will remember things from your last few classes. If you’ve been off for two weeks and not thought about school, you’ll have to review everything you did before school finish in order to jog your memory!

Write down everything that needs to be done - create a list of everything that you need to finish before you go back to school. I find it easiest to write everything in chronological order and separated by subject. For example, I’d write ‘read chapter 2′, then ‘summarises chapter 2′, then ‘complete review questions’. This way you can see everything you need to cover in the study plan.

Decide how long it will take - estimate how much time all your to-dos will take - maybe a day to type up your class notes, an afternoon to write an essay or an hour to finish a worksheet you didn’t complete. Start fitting in each task around your holiday plans. If you have a spare hour, you could draft that essay you need to write. If you’re spending two hours in the car, print your notes and revise them. Before bed, read the flashcards that you made!

Plan it out - using a calendar or excel, make a schedule for your holiday. It could be daily, weekly, or monthly depending on which way you find it best to plan. Include all the tasks you’d want to complete in that time period. If you get bored easily, break it up into small time periods or change subjects after a few hours! Vary the tasks you need to complete. For instance, no-one wants to spend a day writing essay after essay. Spread them out across a few days and add other small, more fun tasks in between. Here is a study schedule I created which you can download and print! Here is an example of how to fill it out. Design it to what suits you the best, illustrate it or highlight it! Make it something you want to follow.

Take charge of improving your productivity - By planning out your time and setting up a schedule you’re attempting to improve your productivity. Since it is the holidays you don’t want to be spending hours on end finishing work or revising. Find ways to keep yourself accountable for your time. Applications such as Forest or RescueTime are great for helping you stay focused. I also created a post with 10 small tips to improve your productivity. Have a read and try to apply some of them to your studying!

Stick with it - the best way to actually follow your study plan is by being motivated to use it. Put it in a place you see often, for instance near your bed or above your desk. Each morning, see what you need to do and try to get it done. Reward yourself for completing the tasks you need to and cross them off your schedule. However, don’t be afraid to make changes to it. If you can get something do sooner, go ahead but if you miss a day, don’t fret. Either reprint or retype your schedule with new plan!

Take time out - remember that it is your holiday and you don’t need to work 24/7. Have a break, have ten. Take a day to binge watch your favourite show or read that book you’ve wanted too. Don’t feel bad about having some down time, you deserve it! 

Hello people! Your beshy’s back again with another guide for those students who will face new year with a new semester :) 

FIX YOUR BODY CLOCK.

Create and stick to a routine. Set a time when you are supposed to go to bed /wake up and follow this everyday. Keep in mind that it is recommended for you to sleep for at least 8 hours (if possible). This might be the hardest thing to do, but it can totally help you in the long run. 

KNOW THE COURSES / SUBJECTS YOU WILL BE TAKING.

Start researching about them so that by the time you attend your first class, you already know what to expect. Stay interested even though your university forces you to take these/that subject (just like in our uni where we just follow the curriculum and students aren’t allowed to take subjects they personally prefer). 

FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH YOUR CLASS SCHEDULE.

Start organizing your class schedule. Print them out, keep one on your desk, paste it on your planner/ bujo, set it as your mobile or desktop wallpaper… whatever you like! 

READ IN ADVANCE.

No further explanations. Advance reading for your courses is the 🔑!

SET GOALS.

Do you want to be a Dean’s Lister? Make new friends? Nail all exams and quizzes? and etc. Right it down! Have a list of clear and measurable goals to work toward. 

GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES.

We all know that feeling we get from buying cute school supplies / stationeries right? Even if it’s just for the purpose of #aesthetic to some, it all makes us want to study! 

UPDATE YOUR PLANNER. 

Take note of the important dates and write it down on your planner. I swear, having a planner is really a great investment for school/college! 

START A BULLET JOURNAL.

If you’re not the planner-type of a person and wants everything personalized. 

FIND MOTIVATIONS.