loya!

@danidonovan has signed her name at the bottom right of her artwork. Please give her blog a follow for more information on ADHD. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I also pull a lot of my information from additudemag.com. Thankfully, we’re learning more about ADHD every day!

Also, remember, that people without this diagnosis can experience these symptoms, as well. ADHD is more chronic and a daily struggle.

》REVISION TECHNIQUES

● Work smart, not hard. Keep a schedule of exams so that you are able to prepare on time. Remember not everything will work for some people, so find what works for you and stick to it.

● Making notes- don’t write notes for the sake of it, be concise. Grow a habit of summarizing everything. Break down notes in to diagrams, flash cards, graphs or other pictorial representations. Summaries are great for remembering long notes/chapters.

● Teaching others- this is an excellent way of retaining what you learned. For example, you can get together in group and each person could teach one module to the rest of the group. Plus, you’ll be rewarded for helping your fellow brothers and sisters. (Remember too many people may become distracting, so try limit it to 1-2 people you know who are highly dedicated).

● Practice exam questions- This may be obvious but gets overlooked. Practice exam questions, then go to lecture notes to try and understand. This way you can filter out the non-essential stuff quicker and be more efficient with your time. Go through lecture notes, because lecturers might put similar if not the same questions they delivered in the lectures in the exams. Also, doing past papers/ exam questions helps familiarize you with the exam.

● Memorising- Look at you notes multiple times. Spider diagrams, mind maps and concept maps are great for visual learning. You can memorise it and then try re-create it.

● Breaks- Take regular breaks for revision, this helps the brain remember all the information that you’ve taken in. Try 50 minutes on, 10 minutes off.

》 TIME MANAGEMENT/PLANNING

● Start early and finish early. Wake up for Fajr and stay up till lunch. There is a lot of barakah as the Prophet (Sall Allāhu ʿalay-hi wa-sallam) said: “O Allah, bless my nation in their early mornings (i.e., what they do early in the morning).” [Ibn Majah]. So utilise the early hours for revision. It is advised to work from the morning (whether after Fajr or at 9am) to 5pm, and to take the evening off for rest and enjoyment

● Try and take the Afternoon nap (Sunnah). Any nap shouldn’t prolong such that you enter deep sleep. For example, 20-45mins, you will feel refreshed and more productive Inshaa’Allah.

● Organisation- With any goals/targets one must be organised from the start. So have a plan/timetable/diary etc. that divides your time.

● Avoid futile activities- Minimise activities such as watching TV, Netflix, social media, gossip and bad company.

● Procrastination- Constantly remind yourself of the end goal and make lots of Du’a to Allah to protect you from Procrastination.

》MOTIVATION ● Intention – As Muslims it is vital to have a noble intention behind our studies e.g. doctor – to save lives; an engineer – to build things that will benefit people etc. These will benefit us not only in the Dunya (world) but also in our Akhirah (Hereafter) insha Allah (If Allah wills).

● ‘Struggle now, enjoy later’ – put yourself in this mindset throughout i.e. in the short term you will work at Uni/library then relax at home; in the medium term you will work until exams and then relax in the summer; in the long term you will work until Uni finishes and do well in your chosen career.

● Company – Surround yourself with highly motivated and hardworking people. Being around aspirational people can help you in the right frame of mind and help prevent you from procrastinating

● Avoid regret – One of the worst things in life is regret, and something that happens to us a lot. Put yourself in the mindset that if you don’t work hard now, then you will regret it later.

● Fight procrastination – “Never do tomorrow, what you can do today, procrastination is the thief of time”. Something of an epidemic amongst students is to procrastinate, but fight the urge and make a start to get the ball rolling and remove the ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ mentality.

● By yourself – Realise that you have to work hard for the simple fact that you are the one who will be sitting in that exam hall doing the exam, no one else will be writing for you, so prepare as much as you can.

》SPIRITUALITY

● Plan around Salaah (Prayer) – It is very important to plan your revision around the five daily prayers and use these as breaks, they are an obligation upon us set by Allah, imagine seeking success in exams whilst not fulfilling the obligation that is a backbone to ultimate success.

● Qur’an – set aside some time (15 to 30 minutes) to recite and contemplate on the Qur’an, not only is this a break from revision but also, by the permission of Allah, puts barakah (blessings) in your time so efficiency will increase

● Make plenty of Du’a (supplication) - Without Allah’s aid you have nothing. You can have all the knowledge memorised but then you arrive at your exam and with a click of a finger it’s gone. Ask for His aid often.

● Morning and Evening Adhkaar (remembrance) – Fajr until sunrise (Morning Adhkaar), and Asr to Maghrib (Evening Adhkaar), try to keep up with remembering Allah in these times and read the Adhkaar which are Du’as that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) read. The Adhkaar can be found in the Fortress of the Muslim (a pocket sized book that many may have, can be bought cheap from Islamic book stores)

● Intention – As Muslims it is vital to have a noble intention behind our studies e.g. doctor – to save lives; an engineer – to build things that will benefit people etc. These will benefit us not only in the Dunya (world) but also in our Akhirah (Hereafter) insha Allah (If Allah wills).

》MISCELLANEOUS ● Diet - During long days of revision it becomes very tempting to just each junk. Heavy fatty food makes not just your body sluggish but your mind too. Have healthy lunches and also have good snacks such as nuts, fruits and plenty of water.

● Speeding up videos – When watching videos, lectures, seminars etc. on Q-Review, Moodle, YouTube and so on, it is helpful to increase the speed to 1.5x or 2x so you can save time as well as absorb information quicker

● Someone to monitor you – If you find it difficult to discipline yourself then you may want to get someone like a family member to ‘monitor’ you by controlling your reward and punishment. For example, your parents could hold your PlayStation controller, if you complete a good amount of revision or fail to, then they can allow you to play or prevent you, respectively.

● Distractions – Smart phones can be a major distraction so battle this by giving your phone to a family member or friend while you revise; or switch it off completely and leave it on the other side of the room; or download on app called ‘Forest’ which prevents you from going on your phone and if you do then your virtual tree begins to die, if you leave your phone untouched for the time limit set then you get points and may be able to get a real tree planted somewhere in the world; or some brothers have even gone to the extent of getting an old ‘brick’ phone as their primary phone, they say that productivity has improved hugely. Also try to cut down on other distractions such as video games and TV shows, it may be tough to stop completely so limit it e.g. normally if you watch 4 episodes of a TV show a day, then reduce it to 1 episode a day.

Weekly study schedule printable

After releasing my monthly calendar printables in several colours, I decided to publish my study schedule with a few different options in design and colour! I’ve had so many people say they’ve been really helpful and that makes me so happy! I’m just pleased to know that something small I’ve done has the ability to help someone who needs a little bit of organisation in their lives.

For ease, I’ve created entire Google Drive folders for the timetables starting on either a Monday or Sunday. You can then go through to pick whether you’d like it with or without times on the left-hand side. Then you can pick a colour, download it and print! Click the links below to access the PDF files.

Monday start (includes with and without times, and four different colours) Sunday start  (includes with and without times, and four different colours)

If you need some inspiration on how to use your new timetable, check out my sample! Other examples you can see on my blog or on my tagged photos on Instagram!

I hope you enjoy using these and if so, I’d love to see them in action! Feel free to tag me on Tumblr with #emmastudies or on Instagram with my username @emmastudiess in any photos you upload. If there are any problems or errors, please let me know via my inbox.

19/03/2016 - day 2/100 of productivity

I don’t get it.

I just don’t understand why every IGCSE student isn’t emailed or plain given a list of definitions at the beginning of the year.

Textbooks go out of date.

Teachers can be wrong.

The internet is an unhomogenised amalgamation of IB and CIE and random fragments of single-nation-relevant curricula.

Just give me the definitions. Give me an official glossary. Give me an app. Give me a list that is sent to every CIE teacher and given to every one of their students that gets simply printed out as part of the starting-the-year housekeeping.

I have had enough of losing unnecessary marks.

I have had enough of scouring dubious internet sources, my ancient textbook, and the seventy definitions that I see of the same word. Just so that I can get my best mark?

All I ask for, 

is a unified, digitally accessible, print friendly, universally available, annually updated prior to the beginning of classes, alphabetically ordered

I don’t get it.

I just don’t understand why every IGCSE student isn’t emailed or plain given a list of definitions at the beginning of the year.

Textbooks go out of date.

Teachers can be wrong.

The internet is an unhomogenised amalgamation of IB and CIE and random fragments of single-nation-relevant curricula.

Just give me the definitions. Give me an official glossary. Give me an app. Give me a list that is sent to every CIE teacher and given to every one of their students that gets simply printed out as part of the starting-the-year housekeeping.

I have had enough of losing unnecessary marks.

I have had enough of scouring dubious internet sources, my ancient textbook, and the seventy definitions that I see of the same word. Just so that I can get my best mark?

All I ask for, 

is a unified, digitally accessible, print friendly, universally available, annually updated prior to the beginning of classes, alphabetically ordered