Pre-Pre-Law Student

◜  English  ◞

The Purple subjects 

Buy a notebook or clear a place on your wall for a chalkboard, pin board or whatever.

Write down everything that you need to do.

Now determine the importance of doing each of these things. Highlight or put a star on the high priority things.

Examine how you currently spend your days and decide what hours you can replace with productive actions. (eg I like to use my lunch hour productively so I can be lazy for a few hours after class)

Now divide everything you need to do over the week. Clearly mark your due dates so that you won’t forget them.

Work somewhere that will inspire you to work. A coffee shop where you don’t know anyone, a library, your kitchen. Don’t work in your room(on your bed) or in front of a tv.

Put your phone away while you work. You don’t really need to be checking your Instagram or Snapchat. And trust me, scrolling can take up an hour of your time without you even noticing.

Exercise! Exercise really does help you stay energized.

Drink water! Get your 2-3 liters in every day.

Eat healthy foods and in smaller portions. Healthy food fuels your brains and smaller portions mean that you won’t want to take a nap to recover.

Have a rewards system. Now listen up, to have a rewards system you need to get out of the habit of just giving yourself what you want. A reward only works if you don’t get the item all the time. Rewards will vary from person to person but they could be things like doing 2 hours of proper work = 1 episode of your favorite show. 1 week of productivity every day = going out on friday night. finishing that project= this snack. etc.

Constantly remind yourself of what you’re working for. Is it University acceptance, your dream job, personal stability,your dream body? Keep the reminder close.

Cross off what you complete! This sounds funny but studies have actually shown that people feel more satisfied when they see how they’ve progressed. So, instead of mentally checking off a list, physically check off a list. It’ll motivate you!

Keep quiet about your goals! Studies have also shown that a person lets everyone know what their goal is, that person generally congratulates them, causing their brain to feel satisfied, without them actually having to do the work. But, on the other hand, we tend to be harder on ourselves when people don’t know what we’re working on. 

Try not to multitask. Trust me, multitasking means that no project is finished at the end of the day. That demotivates easily. So, instead of trying to finish all tasks, focus on one and let the satisfaction of completing it fuel you to work on the next few tasks.

Remember that you can’t do everything at once. You’ll burn out. So, dedicate time for your brain to relax. Read or journal before you sleep, stretch, listen to relaxing music. Go through your skin care routine. 

If you feel that you can’t start the work and cut the bad habits at once then focus on cutting out a bad habit. Start with saying no to watching tv and youtube. Remind yourself to make your bed before you leave your room. Put your phone away for a few hours. Then, once this comes easily to you replace these things.

21.4.18 // studygram: alimastudies

📝 sociology notes that i made in class 

You are going to feel like dropping out. I would say to stick it out for the first year and sit for finals. If you get a good grade for your finals, that could really give your confidence a boost and motivate you to keep going. And then, if you still feel like dropping out or changing majors, you should do as much research as possible.

Feeling pressured to do more things. During my first year, I said yes to everything–even things that I didn’t feel like doing. I felt like if I didn’t, I’d be missing out on something really important or fun. FOMO, basically. However, more often than not, I wasn’t missing much and these opportunities will arise again very soon.

Buying too many unnecessary things. I bought so many stationery and notebooks before I started uni in hopes that they would motivate me to study. I ended up not using even half of them my first year. At least, I’d be set for supplies until I graduate.

Revising in uni is not the same as revising in high school. I used to think I could study last minute for a test, like I did in high school. I learned the hard way that that wasn’t the case at all. Now, I review the topics after every lecture. The key is to keep up because all those lectures are going to pile up really fast.

Past papers are your new best friend. I find that professors have their favourite questions that they like to give out. During finals, they might even use the same exact questions as they did in tests!

Failing/Getting a low grade in a test isn’t going to ruin your life. I once got so caught up on that one test. But luckily during finals, I snapped out of it and just tried my best. My final grade wasn’t too bad. You live and you learn.

Wear whatever you want (as long as it doesn’t get you in trouble). When I wear a hoodie and sweatpants, I get comments that I look like I just rolled out of bed (which I did, duh). And when I have really nice makeup on and do my hair, I’m trying to impress someone. I think people just like to run their mouth and it’s nothing personal, so you shouldn’t care what they say anyway. 

Keep in touch with friends outside your university. It can really come in handy during times when you really have to vent about someone in your classes. They can also help you keep grounded and have a different perspective.

You don’t have to love the library. I’m the kind of girl who studies lying on her stomach on the bed with papers and books surrounding me and my cat stepping on them occasionally. I think the library is too quiet and public for me. And if you’re the same way and prefer the cafe or elsewhere, then that’s okay too. The goal here is that you get your studying done.

july 08, 2019. 

Here’s a look at the planner that I tried to use for the whole school year, but truly ever did start using consistently at the end with the flooding of AP tests, finals, and projects! On another note, my mother is leaving today for the cooking class and I’m considering just staying in my room for the whole duration and watching Game of Thrones or the third season of Stranger Things bcs I despise being forced to associate with other people (especially if I’ve never even talked to them before) + I find children annoying most of the time. I’m also coming down with an eye infection and it’s so painful everytime I blink or keep my eyes open for a long time. I hope y’all are having a better Monday and are being kind to yourselves! ✨

Happy Monday! Here’s a spread (ft. my desk space) I did with the free time I had last week with classes being nearly finished. Next week is my last week of school and I’m so very excited. I was also excited to use some beautiful artwork made by guuuay.studio in this spread! 💗✨

Lovely quote used by @c0ntemplations.

have 3 achievable goals a day: having a laundry list of things to do everyday is super unrealistic, and you just end up feeling bad about yourself because you didn’t accomplish your goals for the day.

leave your sundays open: i love sundays because they’re my day to chill out and catch up on school work that i wasn’t able to finish during the week.

recognize when you’re at your emotional limits: forcing yourself to get work done when you are unable to comprehend your study material does not benefit anyone.

learn how to say no: people will ask you for your time and it will stretch you to the limit, whether it be at your job, in your extracurriculars, or in your personal life. know when to step back and say no.

take care of yourself physically: take breaks, go for walks, shower regularly, get enough sleep, eat healthy, see your friends

celebrate your accomplishments: go out to eat with friends after a big exam, indulge in a night off after a busy week with some netflix and wine

make a study plan beforehand: it can be daunting to see how much work you need to put in to a class or task beforehand, but this allows you to spread your work evenly so you don’t become overwhelmed.

learn how to ask for help: it is very rare that people make it through school, whether it be high school or university or any graduate program, without needing the advice of others or just a kind soul to vent to. find that person.

never forget your hobbies: you will need things that keep you sane. if you love to play music, write, play volleyball, or cook, make you sure you don’t lose these things. they will become your escape when times get tough.

674 | Preparing for my trial practice final with a nice heaping bowl of donut holes. This case file was about 130 pages and I actually had FUN reading through it. But it was only after annotating it extremely extensively that I realized I shouldn’t have written in it at all because now I can’t submit any of these documents into evidence and now have to find clean copies somewhere 😅

16/11/16 - a very productive day at uni today, spent a couple of hours at the library, had a really nice coffee break (not pictured), got a lot of the homework done and practiced both swedish and english phonetics

I don’t know the official reason for why it works but from my experience, it pretty much shuts our brain from thinking about how boring the thing will be.

And since starting is the hardest part, once you’re up, it will be easier.

The more you think, the less you will want to do it. Same logic as counting back from 3 and