Doing My Best

Preperation/things you need:

- trash bags

- something to get rid of dust (swiffer or old makeup brush)

- gloves (if you have anything moldy or uncomfortable to touch stuff laying around)

- cleaning spray and sponge

- towel

- big bottle of water or other drink of choice

- snacks if you want

- boxes

- open a window to let in some fresh air and sunlight

- turn on some music or a podcast/tv show Only if it won’t distract you tho!

Planning:

First you have to ask yourself why your room is messy

Were you too depressed to clean?

Do you tire out easily?

Did you just not feel like it?

If you were too depressed, tired etc. you will most likely need a break while cleaning.

In this case leave room on your bed or another place you are comfortable at so you can sit or lay down to recharge.

If you were procrastinating because you didn’t feel like it / weren’t motivated to clean do the opposite.

Put everything on your bed / comfy place so you Can’t just sit down and do something else.

Reflect for yourself which you think is better for you.

Start with your Bed

-throw away any trash on the bed

- lay everything that was on it on the floor

- change your sheets and shake out your pillows + blanket

- (optional) spray scent on it like lavender

- find room for the stuff that was on your bed, if you can’t find a space put it in a box

Now you have to ways of approach

- Divide your room into sections

Way 1 (area focused):

Example:

Section 1 the chair with clothes on it

Section 2 Bed

Section 3 Corner with stuff

Etc.

- choose a section to start with. (I always start with my bed cause it gives the rest of the room a cleaner look and can be useful as a storage space later on)

If you get easily overwhelmed by choices like this go to a random number generator online and let that choose for you.

- take a picture of the section so you can compare it to after you’re done

- Alternatively you can record yourself cleaning in timelapse

- put on a timer of ~ 15-30 minutes and clean for that time.

If you have the forest app plant a tree :)

- throw away all trash in your sector

- put the stuff lying around on your bed so you can sort through it better (remember not to cover your whole bed if you’re prone to exhaustion)

- put everything that’s clutter where it belongs, if you don’t have a Place for it or need to clean that place first put it in a box

- (optional) vacuum that spot

this is your clean space now!

You won’t put any more clutter or trash in that sector, having a clean spot can help you feel better and allows you to step away from the chaos around you.

I used to sit in the clean corner of my room for hours before I started cleaning just so I could organize my thoughts in a clean environment.

This clean spot is also your proof that you can clean your room, even if it seems hard.

Repeat this for the other sectors.

Clothes

- throw them all on your bed

- sort them in clean and dirty

- fold the clean clothes and put them in your closet

-if your closet is messy that’s okay, just leave them on your bed for now

- put the dirty clothes in a hamper or wash them right now

- don’t forget to hydrate

Closet

- take out all not folded clothes and put the folded ones in

- either fold your clothes now or put them back in the closet in front of the folded ones to fold them later

Way 2 (full room):

I don’t use this a lot because it tends to overwhelm me

- throw away all trash in the room

- close all drawers and closet doors for a cleaner look

- make your bed

- pick up every piece of clothing and sort through it

- alternatively pick up every red item and sort through them

Then continue with another color

- put all clutter in a box

- vacuum

- slowly sort through all the clutter and decide between throwing away or putting it where it belongs

If you get tired that’s okay!

1. Make your bed

2. Throw away all trash that’s just laying around

3. put everything that’s on the floor on your bed

4. Vacuum your now empty floor

5. Begin slowly sorting through everything on the bed

Start with clothes:

Separate them into:

- Dirty

- clean

- ready to throw away/not being worn anymore (If you don’t want to declutter you can of course keep everything you own :) )

6. Put everything into its place

If you get tired just take everything off your bed and back on the floor.

This feels counter productive but you already vacuumed and sorted through some of your stuff today.

When you’re ready to continue put everything on your bed again and repeat the list.

So I’ve always stuggled with procrastination. I would stress myself out over doing no work and my solution was to continue doing no work. I got okay GCSE grades but if I would’ve revised/studied harder I could’ve done a lot better. These tips aren’t going to motivate you by themselves, unfortunately nobody can motivate you but yourself. I hope these help someone :)

Visual learners👀

Mindmaps help so much. Use as many or as little coloured pens and highlighters as you like. They really help you visualise the basic content of each topic.

Diagrams! But I don’t study a subject that uses diagrams? It doesn’t matter! Draw little diagrams and doodles to help you picture the content in a more fun way!

Colour code everything! Colour coding really helps you create cues. Cues are essential in recalling information so if you write your notes for one topic in purple and there is something purple in your exam you will activate that cue!

Sticky notes! You can put these everywhere. For my GCSEs, I had sticky notes: on the hallway mirror, in my sock draw, on the fridge, stuck to the TV remote. Literally everywhere you go on a regular basis or everything you use. Use digital sticky notes on MacBooks or set alarms with the info as the title of the alarm.

Use kahoot! Everyone knows what kahoot is so I’m not going to explain it. However, it is very fun and competitive and if you struggle to enjoy the content using a kahoot makes it a lot more fun.

Audio learners🎶

Record lectures or online lessons. You can use these to look back and listen to what your teacher is saying, listen to what they emphasise.

Watch YouTube videos on the topic. Honestly, ASAPScience’s songs helped me so much in GCSE science. It’s easier to understand and it gets stuck in your head if you want it to or not. (Just don’t listen to songs before opposing subject exams: I once had the periodic table song stuck in my head during an Literature exam- not helpful.)

Create mnemonics!! Just liked in primary school when we learnt the colours of the rainbow by remembering “Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain”, it’s so helpful. And, the stupider and funnier the more you will remember it.

Written learners📝

Rewrite them notes!! Rewrite them in different colours, type them up. Write them and see how much you can remember after 10 minutes.

Revision/note cards are amazing. You can lay out revision cards however you like. You can have them as questions with the answers on the other side, you can use it for the basic information or to just rewrite your notes in a form you can easily carry around with you.

Exam questions. This isn’t only for written learners, it’s for everyone. Anyone who ever has a test or exam for something. Use past exam papers or practise questions. Answer them and then use mark schemes to grade them. You’ll learn how to structure answers for different types of questions and you’ll also learn timing. It’s the best way to revise!

Overall tips🪄

You need to find something to motivate you. For you it can be getting into university, to show off to someone or even to just reward yourself. In all honesty, I use spite to motivate me. To prove people wrong and show that I’m more capable than they thought is an easy way to get myself to study.

You have to force yourself sometimes. There is never going to be a time where you want to study that extremely difficult topic that you haven’t been able to grasp. So you have to push yourself- this is harder for some than it is for others. But once you get into the swing of pushing yourself a little, it does become easier.

To counteract the point above, you have to take breaks. And I’m now taking, an hour break for 10 minutes of work. I mean, study for 25 minutes and have a five minute break and continue that. Get up, stretch, walk around, listen to song, get a snack and some water. Shake your body because sitting at a desk for hours on end is only going to hurt you.

Find a study buddy. Some people work better alone, I know I do. But some people need others to keep them on track and that’s perfectly okay! In my opinion, you shouldn’t choose your best friend as your study partner unless they are going to be strict with you. If you know that the person you plan to study with is only going to distract you, then pick somebody else.

Use a study group! Similar to a study buddy but in this case you can discuss the material you are going over and ask for other’s help. Peer mark fake questions for each other or again, do a quiz. Pick the right people and a study group will work perfectly!

Find a way to shut your brain off. Easier said than done, I know. But if you’re brain is pumping out thoughts about what you’re having for dinner or the show you watched last night, then you aren’t going to get anywhere. Some people use rain sounds (like me!!) but I wouldn’t recommend listening to music. You may think you’re new Playlist is going to get you excited to work but it’s only going to distract you. If you want to listen to music I would recommend purely instrumental music of songs that you don’t know- they’re plenty on YouTube!

Use reminders on your phone or study apps to keep you on track. I’ve heard so many people talk about the app, Forest. I have given it ago and I’d fully recommend it too. It has built-in reminders, sounds to listen to (and we know I love rain sounds) and small achievements to keep you motivated. You get rewarded with a tree or a few trees after your study session and if you get enough coins you can plant an actual real tree!! If you don’t want to pay £1.99, I completely understand so I would recommend Flora. It’s free and has almost all the same features as Forest. Give them a go!! (I will make another post about the differences:))