My studyblr for posting "aesthetic" pics

we’ve all been there. You have a paper due in the morning, it’s 10 pm, and you’re sitting at your desk, feeling dead. Or maybe it’s 3 pm, and you’re just SO overwhelmed with an endless to do list and so many pages to read or annotate or take notes on that you just think,

screw it. I just won’t do anything. 

Listen, I get it. I understand. I LOVE learning, but I often find myself bogged down by homework, that incessant, painful reminder that you’re being forced to learn.  Nobody likes that.

So below are some of my tips for studying, especially when you really, really don’t feel like doing it.

What’s your absolute dream school? Columbia? That’s amazing. Harvard? Incredible. Florida State? Awesome. Wherever you want to be in two years- whether it be college, grad school, teaching, etc. Picture yourself learning in your dream learning environment, doing what you love the most. Maybe for you, that daydream means picturing yourself in a New York City coffee shop, working on Literature homework from Barnard College. Or maybe it means cramming biology in a crowded, raucous library at UMass. Whatever makes you get excited about learning- take the fuel you feel from those daydreams and use it to fan the flames of your love for learning. 

Treat every single class like it’s your absolute favorite class ever. Listen. I don’t care if you have the shittiest teacher on planet earth. I don’t care if you couldn’t give less of a fuck about quantum physics or functions or whatever. You have the privilege and the opportunity to learn anything and everything, and we could all do good to stop taking that for granted. Treat AP Calculus like it’s your favorite subject EVER, even when- especially when it feels like pulling teeth. But how? You might be asking. The secret is that it’s really, really not that hard. There are so many ways to motivate yourself to do that subject you’ve been putting off for days, and you know it!! Use studyblr to find inspiration for That Subject™, make a study group, trap yourself in your dorm/library/coffee shop until you just finish one problem set, just START. Chances are when you see other people being productive and getting shit done in that subject (cough studyblr cough) you’ll want to do it too. 

Eat, sleep, and live. Listen to me: you HAVE to stop killing yourself to do more school. Your to-do list ISN’T GOING TO JUST GO AWAY. There’s always going to be things you have to do and things you could be stressed about. But stress, school, and homework are not excuses to abandon self-care, friendships and having a social life. Go out with your friends! Go to the movies! Go to that football game! Get the important stuff done and stop worrying about your endless list! Having somewhere to go will motivate you to get done faster, and you’re going to feel a lot better after going out and having fun than sitting at home alone procrastinating. Chances are, you’ll be more energized to get some work done too. 

Pay attention to what your body’s telling you. Switch out midnight iced lattes for smoothies and fruit. Eat lots of food that makes you feel good, healthy and fulfilled. Stop snacking on the same 4 chips every time you study and start learning how to fuel your body and your brain. If you know you can’t eat a full breakfast before school, find things you can eat, and I mean MORE THAN JUST COFFEE STRAIGHT FROM THE POT. Track what you eat for an entire week, and I mean EVERYTHING. Track your water intake, coffee intake, and soda intake. On top of food tracking, also track your mood, productivity, and overall feeling of wellbeing. At the end of the week, see what’s up! Look for patterns, dehydration, food inconsistencies, gross stuff you eat a lot, things you want to change, all of it. And then actually MAKE THE CHANGES.

I know I’m going to sound like your mom friend here, but that’s kind of what I am, so: drink👏🏻more👏🏻water👏🏻!!!!!!! I cannot STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!!!!!! FUEL YOUR BODY!!! YOU WILL FEEL BETTER!!!

in conclusion…

- picture yourself learning in your dream learning environment

- picture the payoff, you doing what you want to do - nursing or teaching or building fancy ass AI robotos or whatever it is

- do NOT take your education for granted!!!! learning is such an opportunity and not everyone gets it

- treat yourself like a normal human being.  take care of yourself.  shower.  eat.

- pay attention to your body.  pay attention to what you need.  pay attention to what you WANT

- drink your water, listen to some jazz, and just start somewhere.

• stop obsessing over people who don’t put any effort into your relationship (platonic, non platonic, whatever)

• if the “love of your life” is happy with somebody else, be happy that they’re happy and move on

• stop comparing yourself to people who are so bland, you are astronomical

• don’t say shit about other people that you 1) wouldn’t say in front of a large audience and 2) wouldn’t want said about you

• “friends” that tell you you’re annoying or weird, don’t talk to you about your general interests, and leave you out of shit are not your friends

• if you can only gossip with somebody, they are also not your friend. also, why you out here gossiping? get a hobby. gossip is only best in small portions. if you just blabbing ‘bout Stacy and her 10 boyfriends all the time, that just makes you dull

English:

AP Literature and Composition (1 Semester)

AP Language and Composition (1 Semester)

Math:

College in Schools Statistics (1 Semester)

Science:

Anatomy and Physiology (1 Semester)

Advanced Chemistry

Arts:

Symphonic Winds (Band class)

(I play Flute and Piccolo, and was in Marching Band! If you want to talk about band I’ll talk all day, feel free to message me about it.)

Social Studies:

World History

Language:

yeah you!

quit scrolling through tumblr. 

go do the thing you’re supposed to be doing whether that be finishing an assignment, making your bed, working out, or anything else.

quit procrastinating. let this be your motivation. trust me, you won’t regret it after you get that thing that’s looming over your head done. 

ok now go do it

Studitonious loves 8am lectures. Every day he cartwheels to class, radiant with the joy of acquiring new knowledge. Morning coffee? Ha! That’s for uncultured plebeians. He has no need for caffeine when he has his daily shot of morning eDUCATION!!! 

Here’s the thing - Studitonious doesn’t exist. Or if he does, he needs to get some serious help. Yet, there seems to be a common misconception that a “perfect student” must emulate this model. 

Getting up at the crack of dawn? Well, you don’t need to get up if you never go to sleep… #lifehacks. Oh, there’s a blizzard outside? No biggie, the cold never bothered me anyway. Everything is worth it because getting good grades is all. so. wonderful. Right?

Well, here’s a thought. What if you don’t have to attend all your lectures to get good grades? What if instead of forcing study habits that work against us, we develop flexible routines that work for us? What if we began studying smarter, not harder?

Let’s get one thing straight - not all lectures are created equal. There’s a big difference between ditching class to binge your latest Netflix obsession vs. ditching class because it’s counterproductive to your learning. Here are a few factors to consider:

Is attendance compulsory?

Does participation contribute to your grade? Do you have any in-lecture assessments? 

If the answer is “yes”, then go to your lecture. The mark may only be worth 5%, but would you rather have 5% added or deducted from your grade?

Are your lectures recorded?

At my university, all lectures are automatically recorded due to Access & Inclusion policies but this isn’t the case across the board.

If there’s any lecture-exclusive content (i.e. content discussed in lectures but not in the slides, group activities etc.) and your lectures are not recorded it’s a good idea to attend.

Is the content actually helpful?

Does the lecture aid your learning in a way that other mediums (reading lecture slides/the textbook, attending tutorials/labs etc.) do not? For instance, if your lecturer just reads off the slides, you can save time by looking at them yourself.

Is your subject more “hands-on”? For courses that are more heavily based on solving problems, I often find doing the problems myself way more helpful than watching my lecturer solve them.

How dense is the content of each lecture? Sometimes, there is simply too much to absorb in the given time slot. E.g. I once had a flipped class that had a brief 1-hour intro lecture to a week’s worth of content. Since it just briefly skimmed over everything, it was more worthwhile to study the concepts in detail myself.

Do you actually pay attention to the lecture?

Are you actually awake? I once had a friend tell me he attended all his 8am lectures despite always falling asleep because he “just felt like he should”. Bro, sleep.

How engaging is the lecturer? Obviously, you shouldn’t skip a class just because the lecturer is “boring” but there is a certain point where the line is crossed. In first year, one of my professors took long pauses between every second word and spoke very s l o w l y. Needless to say, he was much easier to listen to at 2x speed.

Note: there is a significant difference between a bad lecturer and just being distracted. If it’s your meme addiction, not the quality of your lecturer that’s making you lose focus, turn off your phone.

Other factors to consider:

Do you have any other commitments (e.g. other courses, work etc.) at the same time? While it would be nice to try and re-arrange your schedule sometimes things just don’t work out.

Are you sick? If you’re feeling rough mentally or physically, you should consider taking a day off.

Ok, so you’ve decided that you’re better off not attending your lecture but what should you actually do instead? How do you deal with this newfound flexibility and freedom?

Develop a study routine (and stick with it)

The key to skipping class successfully is just doing consistent work. If your lecture is 2 hours long, pencil in a 2-hour study session.

It’s important to maintain a sense of regularity and routine. Treat your study sessions like a compulsory class - do them at the same time each week. It may even help to study at the intended lecture time.

The most common pitfall is to go “Oh it’s easy, I’ll just skip my lecture and do xyz instead”… but never do xyz.

Identify the lecture’s problems and provide solutions

Why exactly did you decide to skip your lecture? How are you going to make your independent study more effective? If you don’t do something more useful with this “free time”, you’re just wasting it. Be specific.

Here are a few examples:

 Problem: Lecturer speaks too slowly. Solution: Watch the lecture recordings at a faster speed.

 Problem: Lecturer just reads off the slides, providing no new content. Solution: Read the slides yourself, making your own notes and saving yourself time.

Problem: The lecture is too theoretical in comparison to the assessment scheme. Solution: Do more practice problems instead of just going over abstract concepts.

Find a study group

Having friends who take the same course can honestly make the experience so much better.

It can also help increase accountability. For instance, you would probably feel more guilty ditching a group vs. solo study session.

However, this can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes my “study sessions” with friends will just dissolve into us looking at memes for hours. Make sure you’re actually going to study!

If you're anything like me, the hardest part of staying productive is starting in the first place. Here are some tips I use.

Have something on in the background: make sure its not any thing you actually have to focus on. I prefer YouTube videos I've already seen (especially if they're informative), and anything true crime-related.

Download a focus timer app: I use Forest because they plant real trees alongside the ones you grow by staying off of your phone. For me, this doesn't work when I'm studying or taking notes because I like to have actual background noise so I use it when I'm doing chores around the house.

Start small: by starting with small chores and assignments, you'll eventually accidentally end up doing larger things. For me it's cleaning up the feathers around my bird's cage to vacuuming the whole room and changing his newspaper.

Take breaks (using the Pomodoro method): this method is 4 sets of 25 minutes of working followed by 5-minute breaks. After the 4th session, you take a large 25-minute break.

Have a tidy workspace: don't fall into the trap of "I can't study because my desk isnt clean". Try to make sure your study area is always clean or at least organized so you can work.

Have a hobby: or anything that you like. I dont mean studying as a hobby. Have something that you can physically see the results of like art or gardening or woodworking. Humans need to make things and I'm assuming you're human.

hi angel!! it’s okay if you don’t know yet - lots of people don’t. it’s actually really rare for people to know exactly what field they want to go into + what they want to major in. out of everyone in my school i think i legit only knew about two people that were dead set on what they wanted to do right from the start, everyone else just kind of found their way with time so don’t worry if you’re still unsure bc it is v v normal!! here are some things to consider/try out whilst you try and figure out what to study:

what’s your favourite subject(s)? what would you enjoy studying for a minimum of three years?

what’s your strongest subject(s)?

which subject(s) open doors for you? (i don’t recommend focusing too much on this one tbh bc a lot of people end up working in fields completely unrelated to their major, and your major definitely doesn’t close doors off to you - eg. you can major in economics and still find work in a completely unrelated field, so don’t worry!! it’s just something to think about though to help you narrow down your options)

what have you always wanted to study but never got the chance to pursue at school that you want to study at college?

One of the things I hate most in the world is that sinking feeling you get when it gets to like 7pm and you've done nothing with your day. A mix of disappointment and anxiety that makes me wish I could turn back time and start again.

But you know what? It's okay. Life is hard sometimes, and sometimes we just need a day to zone out and do nothing.

It's okay if you didn't manage to get that problem set done, talk to your teacher - or your councilor. It's okay if you didn't drink 2 litres of water today, just have a glass now. It's okay if you forgot to eat dinner, or if your lunch was a family sized bag of chips, but make sure you eat something healthy and nourishing when you can even if it's small.

I will be discussing different types of journals, both in the sense of things like dot grids and of things like a travel journal. I will go kinda in depth on why/how you should and can keep a journal.

I personally have four different journals.

A bullet journal to keep organized and on task.

A personal journal where I reflect on myself and my surroundings.

A thought and idea pocket journal that looks like the way I think (erratic and distracted) and that I take everywhere. 

A note journal that has anything I needed to write down that isn’t a task typically. 

For a journal all you really need is a pen or pencil and paper. Most people have either a hardcover book or spiral journal that they use but you could even just have paper in a folder.

Materials

Pen or Pencil

Journal of some kind

Washi tape (Optional)

Stickers (Optional)

Colored pens (Optional)

Markers (Optional)

Scrap booking stuff (Optional)

Paper Types

So journals come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, of all kinds of colors and papers, And it is completely up to you on what you want to use. Depending on the type of journal you keep, the paper type can influence the style you use.

The four main types of paper

Lined : Good for personal journals, writing journals, dream journals, etc. Basically anything that you are writing about with long streams of thoughts.

Blank : Good for travel journals, memory journals, art journals, etc. These are great for journals that let your creativity go wild with a blank canvas.

Dotted: Good for bullet journals, pocket journals, etc. If you have lists this one and grid journals are the way to go. Also this journal can act as a blank journal but with some guidance if you want more structure.

Grid : This one is good for bullet journals and pocket journals as well. It also is great for habit journals or work out journals. The grids make it easy to track things.

Journal Types

Personal : A place to reflect and tell your deep thoughts and/or secrets. Great for times in your life when you are unsure or stressed. 

Bullet : A way to have all of your tasks and projects organized all in one space. Great for people who are busy and/or need to keep track of their life. Unlike what you will see when you look up bullet journaling, It doesn’t need to be pretty, the basics are actually really simple and there is a video from the creator of the system that explains how it works. Here.

Writing : if you are a writer, use this space to flesh out ideas, be it worlds for a fictional piece or notes on a nonfictional one. If you are struggling through writer’s block, this can help. The only way to get over writer’s block is to write no matter how hard is seems.

Dream : our brains can get weird or even questionable when we sleep. If you had an interesting dream, write about it first thing when you wake in this journal.

Food : People who have a condition that needs them to track or just want to track what they eat can use this. 

Ideas and Thoughts : Do you have a great idea for a story or product? Then write it here and flush it out.

Pocket : Take this everywhere with you. You can write or doodle whatever you want. It doesn’t even need to be readable 

Travel : if you travel a lot then this is for you. Take your photos, memories, and mementos you have from your trip and put them here along with the date and place you went.

Art : if you are an artist then maybe consider this one. Inspired by something? Write it down or draw it. Just got some new supplies? Swatch them. Take notes on what you like about your art and what you dislike. Use it to learn how to improve.

Prayer : this is great for a deeply religious and spiritual person. Write down your deepest desires and prayers. If they are answered you can cross them out.

Reading : Are you in a book club, or like to read. Write quotes, or about your favorite character,  or why you like certain things and/or reviews of the books you have read.

Gratitude : What are you thankful for and why. Write these down and reflect on them.

Project : If you are working on a project and have notes, ideas, and/or info lying around everywhere. Then this journal can help you keep all of that in one place.

Garden : When did you plant it, when will it mature, when can you harvest? What are the best plants to grow where you live? Write everything you learned or need to know here.

Workout : Track what, when, and how much you are doing during your workout. You can combine this one with the food journal for a Health and Fitness journal.

Pregnancy : Write down how you feel, how the baby is, what you need to do to prepare. Just use this as an outlet/keepsake for everything you are going through. 

Junk : If you are stressed then you can just do whatever you want to this journal. Kinda like the Wreck This Journal books.

Poetry : Write a lot of poetry? Read a lot of it? Take notes or write to your heart’s content. 

Combination : There are many others but just find ones that suit you and your needs.

Why you should Journal

Life is stressful and overwhelming sometimes. Journals can help you relax and get rid of negative or daunting thoughts.

It can be a creative outlet. 

You can learn to improve on yourself and your abilities

It can help you get through a tough time in your life.

You can document memories.

Tips for journaling

Be honest

Be consistent

Dreading the school year?

If your mind is focused on not wanting to go to back to school, you are going to fail. If you are thinking about your dislike of the classes and teachers and fellow students, you are going to fail. If your attitude is centered on a poor opinion of your own capacity to do well, then you will fail.

BUT... you can fix this. Just change your mindset, and you can rock this school year. You will have the best semester ever. All you need to do is decide to work harder and more efficiently than ever before. Decide to be intentional in building relationships that will push you to be a better person. Surround yourself with the smartest most driven people on campus, and you will become one of those people yourself. Decide that this year of school is going to be phenomenal, and that you are going to be the best that you can possibly be.