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The 100 Days of Productivity Challenge with EmmaStudies!

Productivity challenges are a fun way to help boost your motivation to get things done! ‘100 days of productivity’ is one of the most popular challenges when it comes to Tumblr and Instagram. As I am planning to start the challenge, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get more people involved! So, where do we start?

What is ‘100 days of productivity’? To put it simply, the challenge is to do something productive for 100 days. It comes from the idea that each day, we can do at least 1 thing that pushes us forward. The challenge is meant to improve your sense of accomplishment and show that with a bit of motivation, you can get things done!

What classifies as productive? This is entirely up to you and what you feel is worth recognition. Whilst the majority of study blogs do something study related each day that isn’t a set rule. Some examples could be:

studying for an accumulative time of 2 hours a day

decluttering your desk and study space

finishing all your homework

drafting an assessment you’ve been procrastinating on

organising your files

sorting through your emails and implementing a filter system

backing up computer files and phone

organising your monthly plan

going to study or read at the library

finishing a book you’ve been meaning to read

setting up a file organisation structure on your computer

creating a resume and cover letter

applying for jobs, internships, work experience

spring cleaning your bedroom and study space

organising your bookshelf

unsubscribing from spam emails

collecting account emails and passwords

sorting out your expenses and budgets

deactivating unused social media/email/etc accounts

Obviously, this list has just a few options. You can do anything which you find achieves a positive and organised result! Even if you do something small, you can count that :-)

Does it have to be consecutive days? It can be, but there isn’t a rule. Most people attempt to do consecutive days but that isn’t always possible. Doing something productive one day after another is great for building your self-discipline, however, you can skip days if need be. If you do, don’t feel bad! Remember to bounce back and continue the next day.

Who can join? Do I need to have a studyblr/studygram? It is open to anyone! There are no requirements for joining. You don’t need to have a studyblr or studygram! If you’re looking for a fun way to motivate yourself with the backing of other people, this is a great challenge to be a part of. 

When do I start? Absolutely whenever you want. Could be the start of a month, the start of your school term or for the new year. For this which I’m setting up as a collective challenge, I am planning to start on Monday 9th October. For anyone who has seen this post before then, you are more than welcome to start the same day! But if you see this afterwards, you can still join and be a part of it - but you’ll just be a few days behind, but that is not a problem! :-)

How do I track document my productivity? Most people document their journey through Tumblr or Instagram by posting a photo each day (or every few days). I will be doing this! I will be tagging my posts with #emma100dop which you should too. This way I can see your photos and reblog them too!! As a challenge which I am hoping lots of people can get involved in, having a specific hashtag is great for motivation.

Similarly, it is worth tracking your days on paper. I have created a printable set which you can download for documenting each day’s work. *Download link here!*

Do I have to share pictures? If you don’t want to, you don’t have to share. For studyblr and studygram accounts this is a good idea because you’re uploading original content but if you don’t have a study account, you don’t need to upload any. You can still document your progress with photos and make a gallery on your phone if you want. As mentioned above, I have a printable which you can download for free to track your progress. If you don’t want to take pictures, you can just cross off or write down what you did that day! 

I am really excited to start this challenge with you guys! :-) I think doing it as a collective group is a fantastic idea in terms of boosting and maintaining motivation through the whole challenge. With lots of accountability partners, we should all hopefully manage 100 days! Best of luck! Remember to tag me in your pictures on Tumblr and Instagram!! x

Part two here

Part three here

I was finding it hard to naturally assimilate certain new vocab into muscle memory/everyday use. So I thought I would try an approach that would allow me to remember vocab + as well as characters, in the long term. And be able to integrate it into my everyday life contextually. 

{Here is a guide to difficult pinyin pronunciation I found in a book on the Chinese government that I will work cite at the end of the post}

As many know, Chinese characters are one syllable long, made up of an ‘initial’ letter and ‘final’ letter that dictates that overall sound of the syllable. With that in mind, here are two tables cover the harder pronunciations in pinyin for ‘initial’ and ‘final’ letters.

Initials:

Pinyin      English (pronunciation)

c              ts

qi             cheek

x              hs

z              dz

zh            jack

Finals:

Pinyin      English (pronunciation)

a              father

ai             bye

ao            now

e              but

i               see (note: after initials ‘ch’, ‘sh’ & ‘zh’,it’s pronounced as ‘r’)

iu             yo

ou            so

u              loot

ua            trois (french for “three”)

(note: italicized is equivalent in sound that pinyin makes)

Combination Examples

Pinyin      English (pronunciation)

zhou         jyo

xi              hsee 

zao           dzow

Work Cited

Lieberthal, Kenneth. “Pinyin Pronunciation Table.” Governing China: from Revolution through Reform, W.W. Norton, 2004.

A/N: If you have any questions, feel free to drop them on me!

Hey! I agree, tones can be quite tricky. I definitely need a lot of practise getting my tones right, especially when I’m trying to talk at a normal pace. I’ve discovered that I’m good at mimicking accents, so I’ve been using a listen and repeat approach. Here are four resources I’ve been using to help:

1. This pinyin chart. You can click on each syllable and select which tone you want to hear. I usually have trouble pronouncing words with -ai and -ei endings, so I’ll go through the chart, listen to the voice recording, and repeat the sound for each tone (I hope that kind of makes sense). ChinesePod also has good information on tone rules.

2. Hello Chinese app (it’s free ^^). There are speaking sections at the end of each lesson and it tells you what words are being mispronounced. Sometimes it can be a bit frustrating, but overall I’ve found the app to be really handy.

3. Practise speaking with a person. If you have Chinese friends then definitely practise with them. If you don’t have anyone in person to speak to, you could try finding a language partner on lang-8 or iTalki. Personally, I haven’t tried finding a language partner on either of those sites, because messaging strangers to skype with kind of intimidates me. I do use the community tutors on iTalki because I feel more comfortable with that, and so far I’ve only had good experiences. It’s just down to personal preference I guess :)

4. New Practical Chinese Reader. I like using the textbook because it comes with an audio CD and a ton of pronunciation and tone drills. You don’t get feedback from this like you would from an app, but listening really helps me learn to distinguish between each tone, which makes it easier to reproduce the tone with practise.

On a side note, remember to practise the pronunciation of words too! Knowing where to place your tongue and how to shape your lips when speaking actually makes the tones a lot easier. ChinesePod has some good information.