Studyblr

if you’re a tea drinker like me, you’ve definitely gotten through a cup and not wanted to get up from your studies to make yourself another(breaks are good, but only sometimes. 

do you have a thermal water bottle? Swell bottles and their knockoffs are perfect for this. yes? okay. when you make your tea, heat enough water to fill that as well. fill the water bottle, cap it, and take it to your desk with you. brew and enjoy your tea, and then just pour more still-hot water into your mug(most bags/servings of tea can actually make two or three cups without any flavor loss).

𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺,𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶.𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠?

○ 𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 “𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙈𝙚” 𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙔𝙏

○ 𝙒𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 ‘𝙮𝙤𝙪” 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡/𝙪𝙣𝙞

○ 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 “𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮” 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚(𝙞 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙖 𝙫𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙨)

○ 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙨(𝙞’𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜)

○ 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 (𝙚.𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨,𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩,𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙩𝙘) 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙮,𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚

○ 𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙚𝙖 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 )

○ 𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡/𝙪𝙣𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚

There’s no timetable that we all must follow.

It’s made up.

7 billion people can’t do everything in the same order.

What’s early? What’s late? Compared to who?

lol its that time…and I know we need to get it together, enjoy this guide and live by it! for everyone who is falling behind in online classes, good luck! <3

preparing

make a list

write down all of your tasks

order them by importance

now order them by deadline on a different sheet

create a very strict schedule 

this schedule needs to be unrealistically rigid, we have to aim high when motivation is low! I would take a look at the Kharma Medic 4 hour block schedule, this one will make you dream big

aim for longer focused periods

plan to do the harder things in one study session and the smaller things in a different study session, don’t mix!

it’s up to you which one comes first

PLAN YOUR BREAKS

do not take breaks whenever you feel like it

do not take breaks whenever you feel like it

do not take breaks whenever you feel like it

you need to keep yourself on a schedule to fix this situation

hide your phone, self explanatory- it might be the reason you are in this mess in the first place!

catching up

being behind in an online class is both better and worse than being behind in an in person class. first, examine what resources are available to you:

lecture recordings *golden*

textbook

office hours

TA’s

so how do we leverage all of these resources to our advantage?

Lecture recordings

These are a pot of gold, if you have them, listen carefully - WATCH THEM!

I found myself 5 lectures behind in one of my classes, and it wasn’t pretty, what I did to recover this is as follows:

stop feeling bad for myself

realize that the class moves on whether I’m ready or not

calculate how long it will take to watch each lecture

block each lecture into my calendar and force myself to go as if I am attending class in person

turn on study stream (this is amazing, it is an online study room on zoom, sometimes you’ll catch your favorite study tubers there too!, makes it feel like you’re in class!)

while watching lectures:

actively recall information

pause and quiz yourself about topics you took notes on every 15 minutes of the lecture

if the professor is doing something like math or coding, actively solve problems and work while watching.

DON’T TRY TO MULTITASK WITH RANDOM TABS OPEN

clear your tabs, only have what you need open, even use a blocker if you need to. 

realize how critical this is for your grade, remember why you need to catch up

Textbook

textbooks are also wonderful resources! especially if your professor uses it as a reference for test materials. here’s how to use them when you’re behind:

do your textbook readings before watching the lecture on that specific topic

if it is a math or cs (something like that) textbook that gives you problems to solve, do them as you are reading

ask yourself after each few paragraphs about the information, dont take notes on the textbook- paraphrase and summarize your understandings after each page

active recall is everything

Office Hours

remember that your professors have done way more school than you have (most likely lol), they have been students, and most of them can sympathize with falling behind. Yet, they still of course want to feel respected. Get through as much content as you can while utilizing

YouTube

tutor.com (free with many library cards)

google

Chegg (loml)

friends in the class

and then write down your main questions to take to your professor’s office hours!

If you are falling behind for a valid reason (anything other than laziness), being honest to your professor is also a great option. Sending an email to them could even open you up to some resources they have that you maybe didn’t know about!

Leverage TA office hours in the same way, but you can be more casual with them! They are a really great resource as students are usually more approachable!

I hope this helps someone! Stay safe, study hard, and I know you can do it! <3

tips for all my dear professional procrastinators 😏

okay okay now don't get too excited about this 😌 BUT this is the ultimate "get out of study rut" package.

- planning : this is what i did. i snatched the entire syllabus and wrote it down in my planner. i planned out my entire 3 weeks, when to study what. included breaks as well. i filled my entire day with 9 hours of study + exercise + classes + self-care stuff + sleep.

- time limit : you literally can't afford to sit for an entire day with one page of studying to do. that's such a wastage, babe. in a time deficiet, the first thing you need to do to allot a time limit to certain subjects. for example, i spend three hours studying biology and another three hours with dear old physics. if it exceeds three hours, i give up and come back to it later at the end of the day. time is galleons 💸

- distractions & autopilot mode : absolutely no distractions when you sit to study. no reading through with autopilot mode on. i know there are other better ways than reading through but i still do the ancient trick and that's reading, alright? coz you can't just jump into active recall methods without even reading through the chapter and knowing what it is about. while reading, ask and frame questions like you're the teacher.

- timer & techniques : set a timer, kiddo. i study for an hour and then take a 15 min break. work out which study technique works for you best and study accordingly. don't you dare lose your sleep to study 😤 sleep is important too! honestly, i always prioritize my health over studies coz if im not feeling good, how on earth can i expect my studying to be good?

- stress : pain is temporary but rewards are forever. i reminded myself how this stress is gonna last for only 3 weeks but the exam results are gonna leave a lasting good impression on me. it will lead to my self-motivation, improve the relationship i have with my teachers and encourage me to do even better next time. you have to realize that this will take a lot of hard work & consistency but do you want a good result? yeah? then go for it. take this challenge as an opportunity to learn new things. yes you pushed it beyond your limits and you're gonna achieve it. you just gotta push harder.

I have been taking online classes every year for the last 5 years, at both the high school and university level, so I thought I would make a post with some quick tips for succeeding in online classes! 

Make sure you know what time things are due. Obviously, knowing the date is important too, but when you are using an online dropbox, knowing the time it’s due is crucial. The link will disappear on you. I once almost failed an online class because I thought my assignment was due at 9PM, but it was actually due at 9AM! 

Email the prof with your questions. It’s a lot harder to a prof to know you or like you with an online class. You can’t get their attention by just showing up, because they can’t see you! This is what saved my ass in the above story… I had contacted the prof many times throughout the semester, so he accepted my assignment late anyways. 

Schedule a time to complete each module. There is no specific lecture time, obviously, which is nice but also makes it easier to fall behind. I recommend choosing one day a week that you use to complete the week’s activities, and can then forget about it for the week. 

Participate in small activities, even if they are only worth 1-2%. If something is easy marks, you should always do it, especially in online classes where sometimes participating in a discussion can take 3 minutes and get you a 1% mark. 

Remember what the prof can see. For example, don’t get heated on a discussion board that is moderated by the prof. Remember that the prof can see what you have completed on your checklist (what links you have clicked on) and how much time you spent online. In high school, I knew a girl who lost 10% of her mark because her teacher found out she was completing weeks of material in one sitting. 

Start by signing up for one online course to try it out. I really like online classes and try to take one each semester. It definitely has it’s benefits, but some people hate it. Don’t decide to do an entire semester or half your classes online if you’ve never taken an online course before. See how you like it first!

In the same vein, for your first online course, take something you are comfortable with. If you struggle with math, maybe don’t go with math for an online course. You are already dealing with a new learning environment and an unfamiliar interface, so piling “extremely confusing content” on top of that is probably going to be a bit much.  

Still buy the textbook and do the readings. Just because it is online, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do readings! Also, because you can’t ask questions in real time, the textbook is a great resource if you don’t understand lectures. 

Know who/how to ask for help. I mentioned above that the textbook is a great resource, but you may need more than that. Figure out who your specific content is for questions, if there is a discussion board for questions, if there are secondary texts, and/or if there are any linked websites the prof said would be helpful!