Fighting For Fair Conditions For Medical Students in Germany

FIX YOUR SLEEPING SCHEDULE (1-2 months)

Try to wake up earlier every day. Like 5 - 10 min earlier than the day before. Until you wake up any time before 8am or so…

If you struggle with waking up & snooze button is you bff:

Put your alarm clock as far away from the bed as possible.

Drink a glass of water right after you wake up.

Pour another glass of water on yourself right after you wake up.

Prepare some coffee the night before, leave it by your bedside, drink it after you wake up.

Have your blinds/curtains open, so that it’s bright after you wake up.

Try to go to bed 5-10 min earlier than the night before.

Track how many hours of sleep you’re getting. Aim to get at least 7h per day or 49h per week. 

Increase your sleeping hours incrementally. Aim to get at least 1h of sleep more than the previous week. For example, if this week you slept for 41hrs, aim to get an extra hour of sleep next week, so it’s 42h.Once you get enough hours of sleep and wake up early-ish.

Try to keep your sleeping schedule consistent. It is really important to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.  Even if it’s weekend. Or even if that means, you getting less than 7hrs of sleep that day. I’d say waking up at the same time everyday is the most important step, which will help you the most with fixing your sleeping schedule.

START EATING HEALTHY (1-2 months)

This step really depends from person to person, but firstly I suggest you take some blood tests to see if you have any deficiencies, etc. Especially, if you struggle with cravings.  

Try intermittent fasting, if you struggle with binge eating or overeating. As it will help you to learn to listen to your body better: when it’s hungry, when it’s full, etc. It’s really simple, there are many methods of Intermittent fasting, but I’d suggest 16/8 for the beginners. (Google it for more info)

DRINK ALL THE WATER. Again, if you’re not drinking enough water, try to level up your water game incrementally. Download some water tracking app on your phone to help you. Drinking water will make you more energetic, increase your metabolism, and decrease you appetite (among many more benefits).

Track what you eating. I would really suggest tracking your meals for around a month. Because, most of the time people have no idea that what they’re eating is unhealthy. Again, download an app to your phone for that.

Make your own meals once in a while. Not only this will save you money, but it’ll help you to see what’s really going into your body.

Eat less meat and more veggies/fruits. Go to your local market and buy some veggies/fruits, you have never tried before. I’m sure you’ll find your new favs. Eat/buy less meat. Not only it’s good for the environment, but it is good for you, too. Get a veggie burger instead of the beef one, etc.

Cut dairy. Find your new favourite milk substitute. Advice: Oat milk is really good with the tea and oatmeal/porridge; hazelnut milk is amazing on it’s own; cashew milk goes well with cereals.

Learn more about nutrition in general. It will help you to make better food choices and it will make eating healthy much easier in general, because once you understand all the chemistry behind the food and what it does to your body, you kinda don’t want to make yourself feel worse. Here are some free resources: - Human nutrition course from Alison.com - Crash course Metabolism&Nutrition: Part 1 and Part 2 - The Health Nerd’s YouTube Playlist about nutrition - What I’ve Learnt YouTube Playlist - Human nutrition course from Alison.com - Crash course Metabolism&Nutrition: Part 1 and Part 2 - The Health Nerd’s YouTube Playlist about nutrition - What I’ve Learnt YouTube Playlist

GET PHYSICALLY FIT (2-6 months)

Define your goals. Do you want to lose weight, do you want to get stronger, gain weight, be able to climb stairs without losing breath, run 5k?

Remember - you’re half-way through. Being physically fit has a lot to do with what you put into your body. So, if you fulfilled the previous step of eating healthy - you are half way through!

Make a plan. A Reasonable plan. Be honest with yourself.

Start small. Like, 5 min exercise in the morning. Or doing 10 sit ups per day. Don’t do anything overwhelming, like running 5k everyday if you haven’t run for the past 5 years.

Make sure that you kinda like what you’re doing. If you absolutely hate running - don’t do it. Hate doing sit ups in the morning? Try some yoga instead.

Explore until you find what you like. You don’t have to go to gym to get fit, especially if you hate it. Find a type of exercise, which you actually like. Maybe it’s dancing or hiking, taking your dog for a walk. Sign up for several trial lessons of various sport clubs. Ditch ‘em if you have them until you find something that you love. Stick with that.

Do the small changes in your everyday life. Stairs>Escalator, Walk>Drive, Do some squats while brushing your teeth, switch from regular desk to standing desk, etc…  Find ways to incorporate being active into your everyday life

Track your effort instead of your progress. You cannot really control your progress that much (especially if your goal was to lose weight). However, you can always control your effort. So track it instead. This will leave you more motivated. As you will be able to see that you can do more and more everyday. Whereas, if you tracked your progress, you may not always get the result you hoped for, which might demotivate you and make you upset, wanting to quit.

BEAT DEPRESSION

Do the previous 3 steps and you’re half way through.

See a therapist/doctor. Depression is an illness, requiring medical treatment. So, get it. Remember: there is absolutely no fucking shame in having a mental illness.

Get some extra support. Talk to your friends or family. Or maybe someone on the internet.

Write it out. If you don’t want to talk - write down your thoughts. It can be just as helpful. It’ll help you to understand yourself better, see problems in your thinking, etc.

Distract yourself from yourself. Get someone/something to take care of, so that you can, for a moment, stop thinking about yourself and focus on something else. E.g, get a plant, or a dog, or a fish.

Self-care day. Dedicate at least one day per week for self-care. Take yourself out, either to a museum or some fancy cafe, do some stuff you like, whatever your hobbies are, do some physical self care: bath, face mask, manicure, etc., listen to some nice music, watch a film…..

STOP PROCRASTINATION

Celebrate your victories instead of mourning over your loses.So the only thing you’ve done today was write one sentence for your 20 page essay? Amazing! Buy yourself a candy for that!! I mean, you could’ve done nothing, but you didn’t - you wrote that one sentence and that’s worth celebrating.

Do it for only 2 minutes. If there’s an important thing you’ve been putting off for a while, tell yourself that you will only spend 2 minutes on doing it. If after 2 minutes you don’t want to do it anymore, great, stop it. However, after 2min. you actually might want to do more. No pressure either way.

Track your productivity. Track how much time you’ve been productive that day. Try to increase that time by a little bit every day.

Always forgive yourself. So, it’s been a week and you’ve done nothing? Don’t sweat it. Let it go. Blaming yourself will bring you absolutely nothing. Nothing good will come out of your negativity on yourself. So stop it. Forgive yourself and start again. And again, if you need to. Never stop trying. Always pick yourself after you fall. Beating procrastination and increasing your discipline is a skill. And all skills can be build on. There is nothing in you stopping you from changing. Remember that.

LEARN HOW TO DO TAXES (1h - 1 day)

Go to google.com.

Type in: “How to do taxes *the name of the country you’re living in*”

Read the results.

GET MENTALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO MAKE PHONE CALLS

Remember that just as with beating procrastination, making phone calls is a skill. And, again, skills can be learnt.

Get a new SIM card.

Top it up.

Dial some random numbers and pretend to be a salesman, selling whatever you like.. E.g., trying to sell broadband, cable tv, trying to get people to donate for some charity… Or whatever really… Me and some friends used to pretend we’re selling kittens or wood logs. Alternatively, you can pretend that you dialed a wrong person and talk about whatever, e.g. “Hey, Jess!! You wont believe what I saw today!! *start telling a made-up story*…”

If you get uncomfortable - just drop the call. No consequences whatsoever.

Repeat until you build up your game and your phone-call anxiety starts to diminish.

The ABCDE Method: Accomplish Tasks more Efficiently

First reblog post that actually saves a life.

This is a life-saving post.

the more you know

yeah don’t think that this can’t happen to you or someone you know if they’re young. my cousin’s wife is 33 and she had a stroke last year

F- Face: is their face fallen on one side?

A- Arms: can they raise both their arms up and hold them there?

S- Speech: is their speech slurred? Can they speak a full sentence?

T- Time: if all the signs show a stroke, call 999.

8.7.18 // studygram: alimastudies

i’m gonna answer with more channels than just ted-ed bc honestly i love this sort of stuff, it’s great to watch while cooking or eating or doing household chores! hope y’all enjoy watching these

YOUTUBE MASTERPOST: educational videos

ted-ed/ted talks

the world’s most mysterious book

history vs. cleopatra

the neuroscience of imagination

rosalind franklin: dna’s unsung hero

who am i? (feat. theseus’s ship problem)

playlist of riddles

mary’s room: a thought experiment

the art of being yourself

planting seeds for happiness, the danish way

yuval noah harari on why humans run the world

crash course

perspectives on death (for someone who’s deeply terrified of dying this was super soothing)

actually watch all of the crash course philosophy playlist you’re welcome

crash course world history is cool too although i like overly sarcastic productions’ videos better on this topic

overly sarcastic productions

storytelling tropes playlist!

strong female characters

mary sues

realism

mythology playlist!

miscellaneous myths: atalanta

miscellaneous myths: fionn mac cumhaill

classics summarized playlist!

dante’s inferno + sequels

paradise lost

seriously if you’re studying any classic book ever they probably talked about it

modern classics too

world history playlist!!

alcibiades (what a legend)

historical models: double world wars

historical models: revolutions

xidnaf

are languages getting simpler?

how nazis stole the word “aryan”

proto-world and the origins of language

proto-indo-european culture

the linguistics of afro-american vernacular english

nativelang

does time work differently in different languages?

tonal languages

how long can a language last?

the hardest language to spell

taboos: the tribe that cursed too much

coffee break

how to ALWAYS win an argument

why the stories we tell ourselves matter

vsauce

mindfield: the greater good

when will we run out of names?

how people disappear

why do we kiss?

Here’s a list of other programs. Keep posting till it’s widely known.

winking

clenching

pulsing

fluttering

contracting

twitching

sucking

quivering

pulsating

throbbing

beating

thumping

thudding

pounding

humming

palpitate

vibrate

grinding

crushing

hammering

lashing

knocking

driving

thrusting

pushing

force

injecting

filling

dilate

stretching

lingering

expanding

bouncing

reaming

elongate

enlarge

unfolding

yielding

sternly

firmly

tightly 

harshly

thoroughly

consistently

precision

accuracy

carefully

demanding

strictly

restriction

meticulously

scrupulously

rigorously

rim

edge

lip

circle

band

encircling

enclosing

surrounding

piercing

curl

lock

twist

coil

spiral

whorl

dip

wet

soak

madly

wildly

noisily

rowdily

rambunctiously

decadent

degenerate

immoral

indulgent

accept

take

invite

nook

indentation

niche

depression

indent

depress

delay

tossing

writhing

flailing

squirming

rolling

wriggling

wiggling

thrashing

struggling

grappling

striving

Arouse -  agitate, awaken, electrify, enliven, excite, entice, foment, goad, incite, inflame, instigate, kindle, provoke, rally, rouse, spark, stimulate, stir, thrill, waken, warm, whet, attract, charm, coax, fire up, fuel, heat up, lure, produce, stir up, tantalize, tease, tempt, thrum, torment, wind up, work up

Hey! Here are a few things that could help:

decide where you’ll schedule - this is totally your choice!! It could be in a spare notebook, a bullet journal, a word document or my Tumblrs printables (or Etsy printables)! This particular set is probably my most useful, but I have lots of to what you might need! You might already have your own way - by time blocking in Google Calendar - so it is completely what works for you!

figure out what you’re wanting to schedule - are you plotting out a study schedule, a weekly plan, etc? For studying, it might be easiest to plot out the things you need to study so you can put certain topics at specific times. For weekly planning, figure out things that are set in stone and make sure you’re plotting out when you have time. It is also useful to know what is taking priority and set that at a time when you’re more awake/can focus the most.

use little things to help plan better - try to colour code the areas of your life such as studying, school/uni, your job, social life, etc. Being able to see things all at once can help you determine the free time you have to do other tasks. Having the ability to refer to it should help you stay on top and not stressed over it!

set a review day to organise your schedule - set yourself a day to review and plan out each week. I would recommend Sundays! On this day, look at the past week and see what you accomplished and what you didn’t. This can help see where your productivity lacks and what you can change. Then move on to planning out what is up coming during the week.

put it somewhere visible - if you can see your schedule and be reminded of it every day, you’re more likely to implement it into your daily life. I’d suggest putting it near your bed or on your desk.

try to avoid scheduling a lot of stuff at once - it can be highly demoralising if you’re getting behind or not completing tasks. Try to set a couple of priorities for that day and not a million different things. For this, I’d probably schedule a time rather than a task! I’d recommend having actions list that you refer to during your time periods. With the ‘actions’ list, you need to assess what is the next move when you begin. Decide whether you can do it straight away. If it is under 2 minutes, do it there and then. If not, you can defer it or delegate it. If someone else has to do it, make sure you send it to them and organise all that. If not, defer it to either a specific time in your calendar or a specific day.

tell yourself you’ll follow it - if you tell yourself to go check the schedule in the morning, take note of it and follow it, you’ll be more likely to see it through. Make a real point of adding it into your life. Either telling your friends/family to ask you about it (or even getting them to do one with you), setting reminders on your phone to see how you’re progressing, and finding some gratification if you complete it. Believe you can, and you will!!!

use your school/college timetable - during exam periods, we get time off at home so it’s easy to be unproductive. I’ve found sticking to my routine (early morning, classes each day, break times) actually really helpful. I don’t need to do any additional planning but can just follow my normal timetable. It’s also very handy when it comes to doing more than one subject a day. Additionally, it gives you structure so you can start at 9am and maybe finish around 3-4pm giving you the evening to relax.

structure your breaks - another thing is it’s very easy to end up having a break that lasts ages! I’d maybe recommend avoid doing something that is likely to suck you in - unless you have good willpower (eg. Watching a show). Perhaps do something that isn’t as easy to just let time fly! I also find it really useful to note down what I was doing, what I’m thinking and what needs to be done after the break before I leave my study area. When I come back I can refer to that and not feel lost or unfocused!

“But that’s unfair to the people who submitted on time!”

I didn’t say you had to give everybody full credit. Drop the grade for each individual assignment by 5% for every day late until it gets down to 20%. Never, ever take it below 20%.

Here’s my rationale:

1. If you are a good educator, then you created that assignment in the first place because YOU WANTED YOUR STUDENTS TO LEARN SOMETHING. You still want them to have an incentive to complete that learning experience even if it’s not “on time.”

2. You want to prepare your students for the the real world, right? Well, if you missed a deadline (for example, submitting report cards), would your boss throw away everything you’d worked on, dock your paycheck, and tell you to try again next time? No. They would be upset with you, but they would ask you to take time out of your schedule to finish the project as quickly as possible. It wouldn’t cease to exist.

3. Based on point #2, if you are teaching high school or below, not accepting late work is holding children (who by the way, generally do not have full control over their schedules or what materials they have access to) to a higher standard than adults. 

4. If you are teaching college or graduate school, you are working with adults who are taking years out of their lives and paying thousands of dollars to learn from you. Why make it harder for them than it already is?

5. You have or will teach students with extenuating life circumstances that they don’t tell you about (e.g. chronic illness, caring for children or sick relatives, abusive relationships) because they are embarrassed to share this information or have already been taught to shut up and stop making excuses.

6. You have or will teach students with learning disabilities that they don’t even know about. I was diagnosed with ADHD in high school after years of being treated like I was just a bad kid. I suffered from depression and anxiety for over ten years before I went on medication. I did not even learn the words “executive dysfunction” until I was in grad school.

GET EXCITED. Find some books that you really want to read and make a list of them to motivate yourself. Remind yourself why you like to read. Dredge up that childhood excitement and love.

MAKE IT A PRIORITY. Reading is not a difficult task. It’s just that most of us fail to make it a priority when we factor in the rest of our responsibilities.

ALWAYS CARRY A BOOK WITH YOU. You’re more likely to read if you have a book within reach, for practical reasons and because it’ll remind you of your reading. Bring a novel with you to school or a cafe just in case you find a few minutes to read.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE LITTLE SLOTS OF TIME. If you take public transportation, read on the bus. Read in the five minutes before class starts. If there is a time slot when you’d usually be browsing your social media to pass the time, read instead. I promise it’ll make you feel a lot better about yourself.

MAKE IT A HABIT. If you’ve decided that you’re going to read on the bus every day, read on the bus every day. Block out a time that is dedicated to reading and make it a habit.

GET OUT OF READING SLUMPS by reading short books, pageturners, or graphic novels to build momentum.

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS. Get a goodreads, make a spread in your bullet journal, keep a spreadsheet, or keep a piece of paper to track what books you’ve read and whether you liked them. It’s satisfying to look back on your year and see how many books you’ve read. You can even keep track of how long you’ve read in a day, or how many pages you’ve read in a day.

Wednesday 2 January 2019

based on this post, with my own additions. these tips can be used both for school tasks and for everyday tasks like cooking or cleaning, but they are mostly focussed on school!

not working because you feel tired?

eat and drink something! often I don’t notice that I’m hungry or thirsty and just feel really fatigued and don’t know why. then I eat/drink and feel better really quickly!

have something with a bit of caffeine.

try to expose yourself to natural (or at least bright) light.

do a mini workout to get your heart pumping. skipping is fun?

keep yourself stimulated. play upbeat music, use bright colours in your notes, etc.

not working because you’re struggling to think straight or or organise your thoughts?

talk through what you need to get done with a friend, your teacher/professor, etc. they can help you organise your thoughts around the task and come up with a plan!

break the task up into small, easy to approach chunks. write them down.

use a visual planning method like a mindmap to organise your thoughts - putting them down like this can help you sort out the confusing tangled mess of thoughts in your brain.

not working because you feel bored or frustrated with the task and are struggling to push through it?

reward yourself for completing parts of the task (keep the reward non-distracting though, or it can lead to the next problem!). you could set up an accountability system with a friend - they could, for example, promise to bake you something if you manage to get a task done on time.

list the reasons why you should finish the task. use these as motivation.

relieve your restless energy by doing something active during your breaks (like working out), and by keeping yourself stimulated while working on the task (for example by using a fidget toy).

if it’s frustrating because it’s difficult, get help!

modify the task to make it a bit more fun. relate it back to your interests, use fun stationery, etc. this might involve asking your teacher/professor if you can complete an alternate task. they’re usually pretty accommodating.

not working because you’re distracted by other activities?

use an app like ‘Forest’ to encourage you to work solidly on your task for a period of time without getting distracted.

block distracting websites.

write down thoughts and activities that you want to come back to later after finishing your task, rather than getting caught up in them.

related to above - use the Chrome extension ‘Tab Snooze’ to put distracting browser tabs away for later.

if you don’t need internet for your task, go work somewhere where you can’t access the internet.

not working because you feel stressed about the task and trying to do it makes you feel worse?

try the two-minute rule - work on the task for just two minutes. you might find that after this time the initial anxiety around starting the task has faded and you can continue to work on it.

similarly, break your task up into small, manageable chunks and approach them one-by-one. remember that something is better than nothing, even if that something is just writing out the subheadings in your report.

try to make your work environment calm and comfy to soothe you while you work on the task - turn a heater on if you like it to be warm, keep the space minimal and organised, play calm music, etc.