•smol studyblr•

Hello, hi there. Recently I made a post about what to do the day of your exam and it’s still getting notes which is amazing. Thank you all. So now, please enjoy these realistic tips for the night before your exam that do not involve perfum, gum, or cramming. Please don’t cram.

Get a good night’s sleep. I know that for many of us this is a major challenge because we deal with insomnia or anxiety disorders that keep us awake. Try taking a warm bath in Epsom salts. Stay in the tub until you break a sweat. Pick your salts wisely because some of them are more energizing (i.e lavender salts are more energizing I have found).

If you are having trouble sleeping because of tension in your neck/back, try to relieve the tension by rolling out your muscles on the floor, or conciously tensing them up for about 10-20 seconds before slowing releasing. The Epsom salt bath really helps with any sort of tension. I have chronic nerve pain from a car accident and it’s one of the few things that help me that is more holistic.

Don’t shy away from melatonin. It works wonders and you won’t feel “hung over” in the morning like you may with Z-Quil. They have melatonin gummies too!

Try lowering your body temperature. Sleep naked. It’s life changing. If you can’t sleep naked (because you live in a dorm) still do your best to keep it cool. Our bodies get tired when their temps are lower.

Additionally, do not cram for any exam. The night before your exam is not the time to be learning any new material. We are way past that. Gently refresh the material that you already know; however, do focus on items you may struggle with. Remember, althetes don’t go crazy hard the day before a game - treat your brain the same way; no heavy lifting.

You may take this time to rewrite your notes. It’s a simple act that can definitely help you to remember.

Try teaching the material to someone else, or if no one else is available - stand in the mirror and give your own personal TedTalk on the subject. Hey, if it works for Sims, right? Remember that if you can teach the material, you know it. Reiterating in your own words is so helpful.

This should go without saying, but eat a good dinner.

Use the “Match,” “Test,” and “Spell” functions on Quizlet. Very helpful.

Have I said do not cram yet?

Lay out your clothes for the morning. The fewer decisions the better.

You’re going to want to wake up with enough time to review your study materials a couple more times, get ready for the day, and leave for the exam early (so that you have time to review when you get there and to ensure you are on time!) So set your alarm in advance.

Make sure that you set out your blue book, calculator, etc. so that you are prepared for the exam tomorrow and you aren’t sprinting across campus to find somewhere that sells blue books.

Triple check that alarm.

Try to limit your use of electronics 30 minutes before you need to fall asleep. I know that isn’t always reasonable though. Just make sure your phone is plugged in so that it is well charged and ON when you need that alarm to go off.

Drink some water.

Don’t drink any coffee or other caffeinated beverage/over induldge in nicotine/or take your *prescription!!!* adderall after 8 PM. Really for the Adderall don’t take it after like 5:30. You will be up all night long, my friend.

Okay last time: do not cram for any exam. That’s like over extertion for your brain and it will take you time to recover. If you continuously pull all nighters to cram you will crash and burn eventually. So just start early on your study plan. You can make time for it, I promise.

Hello!!💕 Here’s the other side of one of my notes. Usually, I take pictures of the front side bc of the title ahah but I want to show you the other side so here you go! As you can see, the mildliner&watercolor&brushpens I used on the front side doesn’t really show. I’m using Kokuyo loose leaf and they’re super great!! Have a lovely day🌸✨

Studgram: @natastudies

Wednesday, July 5;

The ‘100 days of productivity’ challenge can be an overwhelming experience, that’s not a big surprise. 100 days of doing something productive every single day?, it’s not always that easy. Not everybody can manage to finish the challenge when they start it, which is ok, but nothing is impossible either! Here there are some tips to help you on your journey through the most (in)famous challenge among studyblrs:

1. Redefine ‘productivity’. Productivity doesn’t need to mean homework or studying for an exam, but it can go from visiting your grandparents to grocery shopping or even travelling. There are going to be days within the 100 in which you are going to be unable to do study-related things because you’re sick, it’s a big day like Christmas or a birthday, or because you are on vacation away from home. But that’s totally fine! ‘Productive’ is anything that makes your day worth it, that will make you go to bed with satisfaction and the feeling that you made that day count. I’ll for sure consider ‘productive’ a day in which you had an important conversation that you were postponing with your parents, an unexpected date with someone you like, or a visit to Ikea to buy furniture for your new room. But try to do as many ‘studyblr’-related things as possible as well, as that’s the spirit of the challenge!

2. Take pictures ahead if you need to. There are days in which inspiration is not at its peek or you just can’t be bothered to snap a photo of what you’re doing. I usually keep a couple of extra pictures of things that I do almost daily so I can use them other days. The book that you’re currently reading + a coffee, or your laptop + your planner, you know, that sort of things that are representative of most of your study days. I believe it’s totally fine to skip posting a picture some days, or even upload one for two or three different days, but this is a useful trick for those who at least want to try to post photos almost every day of the challenge.

3. Plan properly, divide your tasks evenly among your days so none of them ends up being too bulky and drains your energy. I’ve found out that when I have a week of crazy work I find myself procrastinating more the next one, as I’m too burned from the previous days. I also use this idea of planning for dividing my errands among days, so I have to go outside the house and walk around the city doing stuff ever single day, to achieve my goal of 10k steps per day. Obviously this is not for everybody, it’s just an example depending on your goals, as you could easily do the opposite: run all your errands in one day so you don’t waste a lot of time in the afternoons, for example!

4. Try to follow a strike on something. Use the challenge as a way to track a strike on a thing that you want to incorporate in your habits. Mine is Duolingo, but it could be reading every day, making your bed every morning, or not drinking soda, whatever you want to achieve! I’ll say that if you actually want to do a 100/100 you shouldn’t pick habits that can vary easily, like waking up or going to bed early, as it is very possible that one day you won’t manage to do so because you’ll be on a party, have had a bad night sleep, or any other thing.

5. Think what you want to get from the experience. It’s kind of related with the previous point. ‘100 days of productivity’ doesn’t need to be only a ‘I’ll work for 100 days straight’-thing but it can be the path to achieve a goal. Vision yourself gaining something from it and you’ll be more likely to finish the challenge. It can be something very specific like learning the first steps of a new language or, like in my case, something more broad like achieving better discipline or learning to plan more efficiently.

6. Use the challenge as a journal. Especially if you don’t own one, it is nice to be able to read what you did on the previous days of the challenge to check how your overall performance is going. Express yourself, tell us about your day in the description of those cute pics you took early on. I don’t like to write a lot nor get too personal, but it’s nice to describe better how you think you did one day or which other things that are not related to the challenge happened to you that day, very briefly. It’s a very nice way to engage with the studyblr community and get to know each other as well!

7. Not all days have to be extremely productive. It’s ok to be tired, sick, or fall a bit out of track! It is enough if in a low day you manage to do something tiny like tidy your room, as I would for sure consider a success to fight tiredness to do at least one thing. Don’t be too hard on yourself, normally it’s not possible to be an excellent student for 100 days in a row.

8. Tips on pictures. Last but not least here I have a compilation of easy and quick tips for those who are a bit lost in the ‘What to post?’ department:

Things you can photograph that might look cute: your notes, your planner or bujo, the book you’re currently reading, your desk, some stationery, your computer, the library, your textbook, the trees you manage to plant in Forest…

Things that you can add to your picture to jazz it up: stationery, beauty products (hand cream, lipstick/lip balm, face mask…), snacks (fruit, cake, pop corn, sweets…), drinks (tea, coffee, hot chocolate, smoothy…), a cozy sweater or blanket, jewelry, your pencil case, your glasses, a plant, your bag, electronics (tablet, headphones, mouse…), your watch, a candle…

Vary your background once in a while. Very optional, but it’s a way to not have very repetitive pictures. Use your desk, your floor, your bed sheets, a piece of paper… depending on which ‘vibe’ you’re feeling that day.

Be true to yourself! You don’t have to go with what’s ‘trendy’ in the community if you don’t like it. If you like pictures au naturel, don’t edit them a lot; if you like greens to pop a lot, add a filter that makes that effect. You do you!

If you can, take the pictures in the morning. It is less likely that you forget to do it if you don’t postpone it, plus most of the people find natural lighting more beautiful than artificial.

You don’t have to post something study-related if you don’t want to. What you did in your break, your work-out session and your meal outside with a friend are also valid, if you consider them part of the productive stuff you made that day.

Don’t overthink it. I just grab a couple of things that I’ve been using and the first things I can think of to ‘decorate’ the picture. I do a quick arrangement and a very simple editing and done! The whole process can take me as much four minutes of my time in days in which I am not very inspired. The challenge is call ‘100 days of productivity’, not ‘100 days of studyblr aesthetic’, so don’t worry a lot about it. Honestly, your favourite pictures may not do as well as you thought, while that one that you didn’t fancy as much might get a lot of feedback, you can never guess it beforehand. The most important thing is to remember that this challenge is to improve yourself, not your studyblr account, and your success in it is measured by your work, not the number of your notes.

Favourite July Planner shots ✨ (So late into August but I forgot about Planner shots)