The study life ✌

You don’t need a fancy camera to be a studyblr, you don’t need apple products and editing software. You do not need all of the fancy pens, mild liners, and stationary. You do not need to post several times a day, or go to coffee shops, you do not need to have a lot of followers, you don’t need hundreds of reblogs and likes.

To be a studyblr you must meet the following requirements:

Have a tumblr acount

Be interested in studying, learning, or you just like the pictures

Enjoy it :)

- you are a studyblr

- you are super friendly

- you love when people message you

- you want to support everyone in the community 

1. start studying a week before every quiz/test. seriously.

2. watch youtube videos/ted talks on the topics you are learning about.

3. get lots of sleep! sleep helps you process the day’s events, including what you learned.

4. write out your notes. it’s proven that handwritten notes help you learn better than typed out notes.

5. don’t just read what your professor gives you. find academic journals, books, etc. that correspond with your subjects.

6. read the news! especially in the social sciences/humanities, connecting concepts with current events helps you understand and process more easily.

7. exercise! this doesn’t have to be going on runs or lifting weights, it could even just be going for a 20 minute walk. just get your blood pumping, it’ll help you focus.

8. study at your desk. it may be tempting to study in bed, but your brain connects your bed with sleep, so you’ll get tired more quickly.

9. reviewing notes doesn’t have to be something you sit down and do for an hour. skim through them and test your memory while eating breakfast!

10. expand your study time throughout the day to avoid burnout. for example, rather than studying for 5 hours straight, study for an hour here and there in between your activities.

11. make your notes organized and easy to read, but not distracting. bright colors and flashy notes may seem better, but can sometimes distract from the purpose of the notes.

12. use apps such as quizlet. this way, you can go through definitions while waiting in lines or walking to class.

13. it’s more important to know concepts rather than facts. for example, you should be able to take what you know and apply it to different situations, not just the situation the textbook gives you.

14. just because the professor doesn’t require you to read textbook, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. it helps explain concepts in a different way than your professor, and a lot of times hearing two different explanations for the same concept helps you understand it.

15. read in advance. read the textbook before your professor begins going over the chapter, so when he/she does, you can easily follow what they are saying.

16. do any extra credit work that comes your way. even if you don’t need the extra boost now, you might later.

17. go to class!! if you always skip class and show up at office hours completely lost on the concepts, they’ll laugh in your face. they’ll take you 100x more seriously if you show up.

18. however, if you are sick, take a day off. it’s more beneficial to you in the long run. 

19. learn how to say “no”. if you have an 8 am the next day, don’t stay out until midnight with your friends. 

Remember it’s not just a matter of grades.

Maybe you’re studying so you can correctly diagnose those patients before they’re told it’s too late.

Maybe you’re memorizing the mistakes of history in the hope of never seeing them repeated.

Maybe you’re understanding how the law works so you can defend those who need it. 

Maybe you’re absorbing as much information as you can so you can pass on your love of learning to others.

General Tips: 

Make a to-do list everyday. 

Organize your tasks by how urgent it is. 

Always start with your hardest task. 

Set goals. 

Make sure your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. 

Be realistic about your goals. 

Give yourself an incentive for achieving goals. 

Set deadlines. Usually, I set my own deadline for many of my task 3-4 days before it really is due, giving me an ample amount of time in case of an emergency. 

Break down large projects so they are more manageable and over a spread out. 

Don’t over schedule things for yourself. Overfilling your plate will only stress you out more. Know your limit and how much you can handle. 

Concentrate on one task at a time. 

Take frequent breaks to prevent burn outs. 

Keep a planner. Color code by class, work, personal so skimming it will be easier when you need to manage time.

Create a time table. Designate a block of time for every task you do.

Develop a daily schedule. 

Schedule in study time. 

Learn to be flexible. Not everything falls perfectly in place like you would like to, but that’s okay.

Create “cushion time” to catch up with tasks that you’ve fallen behind on.  

Use your time effectively. Although it is tempting to waste 4 hours on the internet, try to limit yourself to 1 hour of time on the internet not related to studies. 

Turn off your phone when you are studying. 

Apps for Productivity + Planning:

Forest: Grows a tree for every thirty minutes you are off your phone. If you touch your phone, the tree dies. ($0.99 on iOS)

FocusNow: Free version of Forest for iOS. Instead of trees, it grows fruits and vegetables.

30/30: Great time management app. 

Any. Do: Great app for creating to-do lists, organize tasks, syncs with other devices. You can also change the priorities on certain tasks.

Studious:  Great app on Android that reminds you when homework is due, when exams are and even silences your phone during class.

StayFocused: A chrome extension that you can customize to limit the time on websites to stay productive

Timeful: An app that organizes time for you. 

Google Keep: A chrome extension that lets you have post-its, checklists, and reminders.

Self Control: Allows you to block your own access to distracting websites for a certain amount of time. Useful for people who get distracted on the computer (Also known as Cold Turkey for Windows)

My Study Life: Student planner app

myHomework Student Planner: another Student planner app

To-do List: extensive to do list, like an online bullet journal

Other Resources:

Time Management Masterpost by study-survival

How to Overcome Procrastination by academicmind

The Pomodoro Technique

How to Schedule Your Study Time by greek

Eat a meal with slow release carbohydrates and vegetables. Make sure you drink water to keep your brain hydrated.

Look through your notes, but don’t try to cram because you will likely forget it. If you have time you could do a practice essay/paper.

Pack your bag, notes and anything else you need for the exam so it is ready in the morning when you need it. If you need to plan an outfit get that ready as well so you don’t waste time in the morning thinking about what you should wear!

Have a bath, read a book and relax. Try not to think about the exam - I know it’s hard. Try not to use any technology an hour before you go to bed because it awakens your brain and makes it harder to go to sleep.

Go to bed early, aim for 8 hours sleep but no more than ten hours. If you are well rested and alert you will do better in the exam.

We’ve all been there at some point, and it especially sucks if you’re interested in the subject. Sorry this is long but I really hope it helps!

These are some things that bad teachers have in common, in my experience.

Qualities of a crappy teacher

relies entirely on videos to teach lessons

rarely, if ever, gives notes

doesn’t give reviews for tests either or any clues as to what is actually on the test

if they do give notes, they are disorganized, scrappy, and ultimately meaningless

doesn’t give straight answers when asked questions / answers questions with questions that don’t even make sense

loses your homework/essays all the time

they are genuinely surprised when their students actually do well

tells students not to study a certain thing because it won’t be on the test. Then it’s on the test and you’re screwed.

when showing how to do a problem, they only do the easiest examples ever. Honestly. You would be blessed to get a problem that easy on the actual assignment, where there are now super complicated problems that you have no idea how to do!

the homework assignments they give don’t help you understand the lesson better, it’s just a bunch of busy work.

they hand out a sheet, no explanation whatsoever, and say “alright. go do this” what? Go do what? Rip out my hair? I don’t even know what stoichiometry is and now I have 55 minutes to do it. Fabulous.

if someone does something wrong, the teacher just makes them do it over again and again, without helping the student understand or explaining anything

they hand back your tests five decades after you actually took it. What was the test even on? Same deal with homework and worksheets

They often have a condescending behavior towards students and make students feel stupid when they get something wrong or ask questions

Now that you’ve verified that you indeed have a crappy teacher, here are some tips to actually do well in their class. Impossible? Nope. But it will take more effort to get a good grade in this class and understand the material because you are now both the teacher and the student. (Sorry I talk about Khan Academy a lot, but at the same time, not that sorry because it’s a life saver).

Teach yourself lesson by lesson. If they won’t, you will. Make sure that you are learning the right material, so that you can ace your quizzes/ tests. Yes, it takes time, but it will be worth it once you can finally understand the class, I promise. You can teach yourself by relying on other sources to learn the material, such as the textbook you already have for the class, Khan Academy, and other online resources and study aids.

Don’t rely only on their notes, study materials, or worksheets to study off of or understand the material. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them, you should definitely pay attention to them, as it might give you a clue as to what is on the test. However, you should probably invest some time into making your own notes and study materials outside of class, whether the material is from your class textbook or online resources. 

Khan Academy!!! (It’s completely free and amazing) I honestly can not stress how many times Khan Academy has saved my life and my grades, especially in math and science subjects. If there’s a lesson (or, let’s be honest, an entire class) that you’re having difficulty understanding, just go to KA and find the lesson and they will have videos that take you through it step-by-step. Also, you can pause and rewind the videos if you need to understand something better (unlike crappy teachers) and they do plenty of examples (unlike crappy teachers). I swear I’m not sponsored by them or anything, it’s just a life saver! You can take classes on there in your free time too. For example, I couldn’t fit a personal finance class into my school schedule, so I’m taking it on KA.

Use online sites and resources to help you understand the material. Quizlet is an app for creating sets of flashcards. In my opinion, they are way more helpful than notecards, because they have games using the terms you put in and different methods of studying the material (by spelling, term, definition, etc). Duolingo is great for learning languages and maintaining your vocabulary in a language you are taking in school. You can use SparkNotes to better understand literature and poetry (they also have great studying/ test prep materials). Shmoop is another great resource for poetry. Khan Academy has lessons on math, science, art, music, history, and economics. The Purdue OWL is a life saver when it comes to writing essays; it has everything you need to know about grammar, writing techniques, format (especially MLA format), and mechanics. Basically, it has all the info your crappy teacher failed to give you. 

STUDY. Good teachers go over the material enough to ensure that their students understand the material and they make sure the students are familiar with it. They will also usually go over the same materials in different ways, so that students with different learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) can benefit. Crappy teachers? Not so much. Therefore, the material is not ingrained in your mind, so you need to work harder than in other classes to familiarize yourself with the material and make sure you understand it enough to recall the information and be tested on it.

Practice what you’ve learned. Try to find practice quizzes and tests online on the subject and material you are learning. Sometimes there will be mini quizzes at the end of chapters in class textbook. Also, some of the online resources above have quizzes on the specific material.

Talk/ study with other people who are taking the same course or people you know who have taken the class in the past. If your friend is taking the same class as you but they have a different teacher, study with them and ask them for help and notes. If you know someone who has taken the class a previous semester or year, as them for help with the material and advice on tests and passing the class with a decent grade. You can also study with other people in your class, because it is likely that they are in the same position as you and you can all help each other out.