lemurs 4 studying

Choose your academia! 

If these help anyone, great!

Wear sports bras/bralettes to lectures instead of the ones with a buckle at the back. They tend to poke and prod your back after a while if you’re leaning back. Sports bras don’t.

Set your timetable as your phone background for the first few weeks. Use this method for no. 6 too if you can be bothered. 

Lay a towel on your bed a few days before your period is due. If you leak on a towel you can just wash it or throw it away. Easier than washing and changing the sheets.

When you’re in a lecture taking notes on a laptop remember to turn down the brightness on your screen, especially if the lecturer has dimmed the lights. Otherwise you’ll annoy others and drain your battery. 

Save your recordings at every given break instead of making one continuous one through pausing. Sometimes files are too large to save and you don’t want to risk losing the entire lecture recording. Save as you go along.

If you need to remember something (e.g. a library book, USB, locker key..) write it on a post-it note and stick it on your shoes before you sleep. Make sure they’re the shoes you intend to wear the next day!

Don’t shoot me: if you have left an assignment really late, stay up as long as you can completing it (yes, that means an all-nighter may be needed). Sleep as soon as you’ve handed it in. 

If you use tech in a lecture e.g. phone for recording or electronic notetaking on your laptop, then mess around with it before uni begins. Know what buttons to press and when, otherwise you’ll mess up your notes and annoy others, with your excessive clicking. 

Always, always, ALWAYS carry a plastic bag/carrier bag. You might need to make a trip to the library, drink may spill in your bag so you’ll need an alternative or you may not be able to dispose of a pad/tampon until you get back home. Seriously, just carry one.  

Find out where coursework/assignment are submitted within your first week on campus. Ask admin how the procedure works and make sure you know it inside out. 

Spend a day wondering around campus (before timetabled lectures start). Find out where the library is, talk to the librarians and ask them how to borrow/return books and also how to reserve!

When you get your timetable be sure to visit the lecture halls and seminar rooms a few days before the term starts so you know where to go. Find out where the toilets are in those buildings too. 

Find out where your lecturers offices are. Know the building and floor that they’re on (they’re usually all in the same place). 

Carry cereal bars and other non perishable foods that take up little room. Sometimes your tummy rumbles really loud in a lecture, give it some love.

Free Student Planner Printables

Here is a selection of 7 printables to use and (hopefully) improve your student life! These are seven different designs to pick from, in seven different colours: blank, blue, green, purple, pink, peach and grey! 

You can download them for free at the links below:

Folder including all 7 options + how to use guide

All other free printables (calendars, study, etc)

Note: Only the first page will show up on the thumbnails, the files contain all 9 pages (Monday & Sunday in the one file) - scroll down to see the rest.

I hope you enjoy using these printables! If you upload a photo featuring it, I’d love to see. Please tag me on Tumblr with #emmastudies or on Instagram with @emmastudiess. You can see other people using my printables by visiting the #esprintables tag on my blog! Please remember, these printables are for personal use only and should not be redistributed as your own.

Whilst these printables are free of charge, it would be amazing of you to check out my Ko-fi account! :-)

Alternatively, I run an Etsy shop dedicated to student printables, planners and digital items! You can use ‘student10′ to get 10% off any purchase :-)

i want to erase the stigma that studyblrs have no mental or physical illnesses or disabilities.

I want to erase the stigma that studyblrs never fail.

I have a 2.1 gpa because I keep flunking the same two classes and fucked up one of my years in college.

I’ve changed my major SIX TIMES

I had to stop university for a whole year! Because I was so depressed and anxious I couldn’t even get out of bed!

I suffer from anxiety and depression! 

Where are my notes you might asked? most of them are currently under the couch right now lmao!

I CANT READ MY OWN HANDWRITING MOST OF THE TIME. 

- i’ve only read one chapter of my english summer assignment and i haven’t started my history assignment

- i did not pay attention in my french literature class and threw away most of my notes for the class once summer started

- i almost never did my spanish homework

- i didn’t study for my biology final until the morning before!

i’ll tag @stormy-rains @mango-tea @stubborn-studies @acootingly @leafwatrstudy if you guys want to do it

- i don’t pay attention to most of my classes

- like really i just really pay attention to my history classes and that’s all

- i never do my composition or math homework

- i’m always talking in class

- or sleeping lmao (most of the time i’m sleeping)

- i have notes to do and here i am not doing them

- i procrastinate A LOT

- like i’ll be literally listening to lofi and start dancing out of nowhere only bc i don’t want to pay attention to what i’m studying

- i should be reading two astronomy books rn but i am on tumblr lmao

- i’m terrible at multiple choice exams

I was classes because I can’t deal with them cause of mental health stuff

I have Autism

And anxiety

And (undiagnosed) depression

I barely ever take notes

Most of my notes are digital

The ones I do by hand are super messy, unorganised and smudged

My parents of pulled me out of school twice so I didn’t have to repeat the year

I always do my science assignments the night they’re due, basically without fail

But I try

And I care

So I do my best at running a studyblr

So that I can better myself

And help others do the same!!!!

I don’t care that I wasn’t tagged in this

Because it’s important for you to know that no one’s perfect

That we are all human (probably)

And that you can run a studyblr without being an amazing student!!!

i hated my french class. i did not pay attention or anything and now that this class is over i feel like i already forgot everything

i’m super unproductive. like maybe i study a bit / do homework but after that most of the time i lay in bed lmao. 

i have nightmares abt bad grades

i cry when i have to study for subjects i don’t like (like literally crying)

i’m not v good with teachers, they always know if i don’t like them 

smth that i rarely see the studyblr community talking abt: yes my friends and me “cheat”. we do copy sometimes things from each other in tests (#teamwork)

-actually that’s happened three times total: i switched to online halfway through eighth grade, nearly dropped out freshman year, and had to take a sabbatical the last quarter of sophomore year through the end of the first semester of junior year

-i took spanish 1 three times (i’m actually quite grateful for that. i met some of my favorite teachers and classmates while retaking it)

-^^^ and yep about that cheating thing. i was queen of pulling up spark notes during pop quizzes on To Kill a Mockingbird lmao

-it took me ages to finally get an iep because i didn’t outwardly show any of the typical “signs” of autism in the classroom but i was struggling immensely internally (i have always been terrified of getting in trouble and would always do anything the teacher said)

i read a grand total of zero books for my romantic literature class and showed up to the exam having prepared nothing (here’s the post to prove it) 

overall i basically do no readings for literature, if i’m feeling motivated i’ll skim the abstract and that’s it

i dropped ancient greek after one semester and didn’t even go to the exam

i always have a tab with tumblr open during lectures, often also twitter/ao3/whatsapp, you name it 

back when my major was still physics, i failed both theoretical and experimental physics in the first semester 

i’ll get tutoring in maths next semester and it’s my minor. i also had tutoring in high school

i opted out of my algebra one exam last year because i 100% would have failed and had to take it again a semester later

i strategically plan on when to take my allowed absences 

due to changing majors and a year abroad it’ll take me almost five years to get a BA instead of three

things on my desk right now: several half-full water bottles, a huge pile of papers and i’m not sure what they even are, wrapping paper, pretzels, some maths books i haven’t touched in forever, dvds, loads of receipts and other garbage, a mess of cables and USBs, and only one square of space for my laptop

at the time, i hadn’t read any book assigned to me. ever. it wasn’t that i didn’t like to read. i loved reading. but homework took place in a function of my brain that i couldn’t access. i would sit in libraries or at my desk and just. not do my homework. i spent hours like this, days like this, years like this. just not doing what was assigned to me, no matter the consequences, no matter how badly i wanted to be doing it. i just wouldn’t. and i wouldn’t go to class because i didn’t want to deal with the fact i didn’t do the homework. and then i wouldn’t get the homework. so i didn’t do it.

i remember realizing while i was doing college applications that i had actually, real-life fucked up. that it was permanent, what i had done. that i had a C- of an average and no future to look rosy at. and i still couldn’t make myself do things. i tried to submit applications only to realize i’d shoved off the date to the very last moment. and i was fucked.

it takes me three years and two transfers and three new starts before i am actually real-life trained how to study, how to read, how to enjoy being assigned things. 

and i watch parents of my students yell at students for being the same person i was six years ago: screaming at an A-, confused at skipped classes, punishing missed homework. and these students don’t have an answer. they just don’t do things. even if they want to. and they look at me, confused and defeated and without an answer for their parents. “i just can’t,” i hear a lot, and i understand.

parents don’t like “executive dysfunction” as a reason. “anxiety” and “depression” are often misdiagnosed as “procrastinating” and “lazy”. kids just learn they’re like this. that they’re always going to be. that it’s their fault, permanently. they are surrounded by books they didn’t read. and it doesn’t feel good. it feels like suffocating.

Today I just read out my chem notes and then wrote them on a whiteboard while making a mindmap and I can confidently say that I remember all that I did today and learnt and I feel so proud of myself cause I’ve been in a studying slump for a while. Then again when motivation lacks, its DISCIPLINE, DETERMINATION AND PERSEVERANCE THAT GETS YOU THROUGH THOSE EXTRA HARD STUDY HOURS.

School’s tough, and when you’re getting hours of study and homework dumped on you every class, it’s easy to feel swamped, and it’s even worse when you feel like you’re not making progress anywhere else either. These things have seriously helped me with my mental and physical well-being, hopefully they can help you too!

1. Get the Forest App.  It’s $3 on the app-store, and trust me its $3 well spent. i use this app pretty much whenever I shouldn’t be using my phone. in class, studying, working out, not only does it make sure i stay off my phone, it feels really good to look back on all the time I’ve spent focused throughout the week. 

2. If you’re gonna waste time, do it properly.  Limit the time you spend scrolling social media to 10 minutes. I can’t count how many times I’ve been on Instagram explore page and suddenly an hour has gone past. This makes you feel crap. If you’re gonna waste time, do it in a way that can be measured. watch a tv show, ted talk, or youtube. make a social media post. It’ll make you feel like you’re spending your time doing something and that’s good in it’s own way.

3. Clean your room.  Feeling ridiculously overwhelmed? Clean your room. I don’t care how much work you need to do, or how soon it’s due. If you’re stressed you wont get anything worthwhile done. So clean your room, make your bed, vacuum the floor. It’ll calm you down and make you feel better about yourself. I promise.

4. Leave the junk food to the weekends. I know, everybody says it. But if you’re eating crap 24/7, it’s going to drag you down. I hate the idea of diets, they’re designed for failure and then you feel even worse, but trying to avoid junk from monday to friday helps a lot with your general perception of yourself. 

5. Work out. Another cliche! But they’re cliche’s because they work. I don’t care how often you work out or how much you do, just make sure you do it regularly and do enough to feel tired but good about yourself after woulds. it makes a difference. trust me.

6. Do a skin care routine & use face masks If you dont have a skin care routine, you need one. Not a fancy one by any means (some of us are uni students, I know) just a cetaphill cleanser and moisturiser day and night (with any creams / other products you may use) does the trick. It helps maintain routine and feel refreshed. Facemasks will help you feel like a self care goddess, even if they’re $2.

7. Burn candles & paint your nails Get a few cheap candels (just make sure they wont give you a headache) and burn them whilst you listen to music and paint your nails, its incredibly relaxing and makes you feel like you’re really taking care of yourself.

8. Have a hobby Last one! Learn something completely outside of school. Cooking, art, writing, photography, even if you suck, find something you enjoy and do it, you need a break from everything around you. 

Franz Kafka

1. Notice when you are slipping into negative, absolutist ways of thinking where you think the worst of yourself, your life and your future.

2. Recognise that these are habitual ways of thinking. It’s what you always think when you start to feel bad.

3. Be aware of triggers. Often certain people and situations trigger painful, negative self-destructive thoughts. Try and distance yourself from these, or completely avoid them, if you possibly can.

4. Deliberately look for the counter arguments. For example, when have things been a bit better, when have you done something right, when has someone been kind and understanding?

5. Visualise positive things that make you happy, such as curling up with a book in bed, listening to your favourite music, and so on. Often changing our thinking to things that make us happy changes our negative feelings and thoughts.

Hey guys!

I had an idea a few days ago to try and set up a studyblr discord for the community! If you don’t know what discord is, it’s an app that started in the gaming community so people can have group chats and such (like Skype) but other communities have started to use it as well.

If you would be interested in this, reblog this post so I can get an idea if anyone would be interested!

Here are some things that we could talk about in the discord:

-Study tips, bujo tips, etc.

- Lettering, art, crafts, and music

-Things to get to know each other

-Support for each other’s posts

-Favorite movies, bands, tv shows, games, and books

-Book, show, and movie of the month to discuss!

-Education, work, etc. (the important stuff!)

-mental health and physical health (self care is important)

And much more!

I want to create a safe and fun place for everyone of the community to join if they’d like to make friends and chat. Help and tips will be offered, but fun talks and opportunities will also be there! Open to all studyblrs that are interested.

you have a lot of potential and you are very smart and talented, i love you and believe in you