Studyblr Master

Over 250+ spread ideas!🎊

hoping your dreams are fulfilled, your grades are awesome and your skin is glowing in 2018!

my tips for bullet journalling

Year in Review

highlights / reflection

achievements this year

lessons learnt / growth as a person

things you want to improve on

advice you’ve received / given

best music/movies/tv shows/etc of the past year

friends made during this past year

commonplace journal pages

things you’ve discovered during the past year

useful tips during the past year

odd facts and trivia during the past year

topics to explore during the past year

questions to ask during the past year

New Year, New You

calendar / future log / yearly or monthly logs

things to look forward to this year

upcoming books/music/movies/tv shows being released this year

maslow’s hierarchy of needs self-reflection spread

goals / new year’s resolutions + steps to put it into action

skills you want to learn this year e.g. coding

habits you want to break / habits you want to pick up

diary: day-to-day happenings

budgets: monthly/yearly budgets

inspiration spread for new projects

level 10 life: rate areas (academic, personal, mental, physical, spiritual, social, financial) of your life out of 10, and write down goals to improve that rating!

monthly overviews (e.g. progress on goals)

assignment due dates calendar

18 things to do by the end of 2018

Special Pages for Special Friends

business cards from networking events

gift ideas for your friends/family/significant other

birthday / anniversary calendar

emergency contacts / phone numbers of important people

friendship journal:

memories / moments they were there for you

how you met

moments you want to share in the future

their mbti/hogwarts house

their best qualities

Trackers/Logs/______ of the Day

gratitude journal - # things you’re grateful for every day

habit trackers

motivational quotes

news headlines / this day in history

daily affirmations

currently reading / watching / listening to / feeling / eating / wanting etc.

time usage (read: wastage) tracker

k-drama or tv show episode tracker (always forget what ep I’m up to :S)

expenses tracker / tax deductibles

dream diary (tracker, plot(?), lucid or not, dream meanings)

new album or song releases

photo diary / sketch diary

weather

follower milestones

social media post tracker

household duties/chores tracker

grades tracker

year in pixels

TIL (today I learned)

civics

appointments: dentist, optometrist, doctor, therapist, etc.

bills: car / internet / rent etc

tax: income statements and work expenses receipts

membership/licence renewals

health

weight tracker

resting heart rate tracker (gives general idea of cardio fitness)

water intake tracker sleep log / time to bed / time awake / total hours slept

exercise log: number of reps / steps / minutes

mood trackers

period tracker

Various Creative Spread Ideas

day-to-day / life planning spreads

skincare routines

perfect/ideal morning routine 

self-care reminders

exercise routines

wishlist

bucket list

firsts: kiss, date, house, vacation, car, concert, etc.

DIYs to attempt

savings jar (doodle it!)

yearly / monthly recurring tasks

usernames/passwords (hints only for security!) 

5 or 10 year plans

dream job

dream house

planning for moving houses

dream wedding / planning

date ideas

make a worse case scenarios primer

summary tutorials for your reference e.g. step-by-step tax returns

academic

studyblr ideas

topics I need to revise

finals study timetable/plan

aspirations: what you want to be and why / how to get there

class timetable

assignment ideas

project schedules / team meeting dates

professors’ emails/office hours

assessment results

anti-procrastination page

motivations to study

skills you want to learn or are useful e.g. coding

formulas page

courses you want to take and their pre-reqs

college comparisons

back to school shopping list

textbook list with prices

language learning

vocabulary lists

grammar structures

media (books/tv shows/movies) to consume in that language

self-reflection / personality traits

best and worst characteristics

what to be mindful of / what you need to work on

mbti types you’re most compatible with 

fears and how you want to overcome them

letters to your future self (include hopes and dreams)

letters to your past self (include achievements and things to be proud of!)

inspirational people

stress management tips

charities to donate to and why you support them

volunteering activities

fun, cute, and aesthetic spread ideas

things worth staying alive for / getting out of bed for

a spread with all the things you were worried about which turned out fine

message page from your friends to you

“i can’t live without ______”

creative crafts spread: tips / equipment / tutorials

aesthetic colour moodboards

happy / comforting / relaxing / funny things spread 

seasons (summer/autumn/winter/spring) spread

rainy day spread

holidays spreads: christmas / easter / halloween / thanksgiving

idioms and proverbs from all different cultures

flowers spread: fav flowers, meanings, bouquet/arrangements, press ‘em!

crystals spread: fav gemstones (doodle ‘em), meanings

succulents spread: fav succulents, terrarium layout ideas

coffee/tea spread: paint with coffee / fav blends / best cafes

what’s in my bag (doodle it!)

outfit ideas / polyvore style collections

magazine clippings

shower thoughts / hypothetical ideas spread

draw my life spread / personal timeline

favourite characters e.g. gudetama, kumamon, etc. (doodle ‘em!)

interesting words list (ephemeral, mellifluous, serendipity, scintillating etc)

ideal date ideas

wedding anniversary ideas (like 1st is paper, 25th silver, 30th pearl, 40th ruby, 50th gold, 60th diamond)

baby animals spread (duckies, puppies, bunnies!!)

#just bullet journal things

bujo spread layouts and devices to try out (e.g. chronodex, parallel time ladder) 

key/legend (keep it simple!)

colour palettes/swatches

washi tape / pens / markers swatches

banners / fonts

doodles

ticket stubs / receipts

stickers / stamps

cutouts of info brochures

pressed flowers

calligraphy / brush lettering / handwriting practice

favourite stationery

activities

_______ that you want to do* / have done* (kind of bucket list) *watch, read, listen to, try, taste, cook, play etc. 

books

movies

tv shows

music

hobbies

arts/crafts e.g. paper quilling

sports e.g. archery

how to play / equipment / etc.

video games

foods

activities

board games

books / movies / tv shows

summary / review

favourite characters

meaningful moments / moments that made you laugh / cry

(for the media critic) artful moments:

best descriptive passages

best cinematography

best action scenes

best use of soundtracks

(basically moments that make it deserving of awards)

music

album reviews

favourite songs

playlists for every mood and all seasons

meaningful lyrics

songs you shazamed

favourite genres and exemplar songs

kpop

reasons why i love my bias / bias wrecker / group

letter to your bias

comeback concepts / favourite outfits

visual/picture tutorials for makeup styles

calendar of your favs’ schedules during comeback season

in-jokes/memes

awards / achievements / records broken / milestones

translated lyrics

kpop songs vocab lists

upcoming releases

on this day

art

pics of your favourite artworks/artists + write about it

art styles you want to emulate

explain techniques for different media e.g. watercolour wet-on-wet

doodle ideas

astrology

natal chart readings/aspects/placements

solar return reading for the incoming year / transits

synastry / compatibility chart readings

constellation/star charts

symbol reference page for planets, zodiac signs, aspects

food

recipes

meal plans

shopping lists

interesting foods: (doodle ‘em!) taste / texture / smell (e.g. truffles, caviar)

cafes/restaurants you want to go to + their specialty dish (photo)

cocktails you want to mix/taste (doodle ‘em!)

media

interesting articles + moral/ethical issues it prompted you to think about

controversial topics on the news and for/against arguments/your thoughts

on this day in history

fav websites / blogs

jokes / puns / pickup lines

favourite poems / quotes / short stories

kinaesthetic

burn book - write things that make you angry/sad and rip the page out

wreck it journal - e.g. colour, scribble, stickers all over this page

travel

places to visit

travel itinerary

cultural parables

useful phrases in the language and their meaning

travel memories spread: things you did / places you went / selfies

postcard collection

packing list

friendly and not-so-friendly people that you met in foreign lands

writing

short story ideas

plot brainstorming spreads

journal prompts

drabbles

character designs

foreign words which can’t be directly translated into english

Taken from Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, daughter of the Tiger Mother

As a psychology student, I have studied about Memory; its encoding, storage and retrieval process, how memory is organised in our minds, and how we can improve our memory. 

Studying involves using our memory because we may need to remember excessive information at a time during examinations, or to understand complex concepts which may include a lot of numbers, formulas, or labeling of diagrams etc. Therefore, I feel that knowing some memory techniques or knowing how to remember or retrieve what we’ve already learnt will be extremely useful for students or even for people who work. 

There are many suggested ways in which we can improve our memory. There are some memory aids we may use like making Mnemonics, which is a technique which relies on the linking of ‘to-be-remembered’ information with an organised set of images or words that are already firmly established in our long-term memory and can therefore serve as reminder cues. To make this definition easier, we can imagine a cloakroom where “reminder cues” are pegs and the “to-be-remembered” information is hung on these pegs! For example, to remember the names of Great Lakes we can associate the first letter of every lake with the word HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. 

Another Mnemonic device is ‘Stories You Tell Yourself’ which is to relate the information in a made-up story. For example, if we need to remember the following list of words; lumberjack, dart, skate, hedge, colony duck, furniture, stocking, pillow, mistress  We can remember these unrelated items by relating them together in a story we make up. The made up story might go as follows: “a lumberjack darted out of the forest, skated around a hedge past a colony of ducks. he tripped on some furniture, tearing his stocking, while rushing toward the pillow where his mistress lay.” 

Yet another technique is Chunking. It simply means grouping or combining certain parts of information and remembering those chunks of information instead of the whole information all together. For example, if we are required to remember a credit card number- 19141609007, it would help to break down the number into chunks. The first four numbers can be remembered as an year in history, the next four numbers can be chunked as a date too, while the last three numbers form a chunk which is easy to remember by itself. 

For all the above techniques it is important to use our originality, creativity or imagination, because that would enable us to remember what we have learnt more clearly and accurately. It is  important to understand that these techniques help us to remember what we have learnt more clearly because we are LINKING or ASSOCIATING new information with ALREADY STORED information in our minds. 

Mnemonics are fun to use and can be helpful in remembering many things. We all want to remember what we need to know in courses or in our work, as we can best and so we will need to go beyond the mnemonic techniques. 

1. Study is work and takes time

We all have been in a situation where we leave homework or essays till the last day because we think it won’t take as much time. But, we all regret it later because studying is work, and it definitely takes up time. So, plan a schedule that you can stick to. During the time you set aside for study, work at it instead of talking to your friends or spending massive amounts of time on Instagram/Tumblr/Youtube. If we spend that time scheduled for study by studying, we will find that we still have plenty of time left for other activities.  

2. Rehearse the Information

Rehearsal is simply keeping the new information at the center of attention by repeating it silently or aloud. The more an item of information is rehearsed, the more likely it is to be remembered, because it will get transferred to our long-term memory. In the last few years, experiments have indicated that the sheer amount of rehearsal may be less important than the ways in which the information is rehearsed. Maintenance rehearsal is simply going over and over what is to be remembered. It is a passive repetition of the information (merely repeating the information). Elaborative rehearsal is more likely to succeed because it involves organizing and giving meaning to the information as it is being rehearsed. It is an active process of repetition- thinking about what is being rehearsed in an effort to relate it to other things that we know or are learning. 

3. Organize the Information

While rehearsing, we will start to organize or arrange the information into categories, groups or in a way which makes “sense” to us. This is called Organizational Encoding. We may make tables, charts, diagrams, separate information through headings, subheadings or paragraphs, make groups or categories to organize the information. We can do this both mentally or/and also on paper through making notes.

4. Test Yourself

After planning, rehearsing and organizing the information try to get an idea of how much you remember. If you study by breaking the study material into parts, test yourself after each part. Go back over what you have studied using the organized material (headings, pointers, diagrams, tables, flashcards etc) as reminder cues.This will tell you what you know and what you need to work on. By testing ourselves, we will also be practicing our retrieval skills. 

5. Revise/Review before Examination

We may forget many details we learned. Use the organization of the study material and go back over the things you have forgotten, relearning them the way you learned them in the first place. It is important to relearn the information in the same way because the information is already stored and organized and just needs brushing up, so following the same path of learning will speed up the process of remembering what you have learnt. Revising/reviewing should also be based on the type of examination you are taking. Long answer type/essay type questions will usually look for major ideas and experiments which support the information. Trying to think of what the questions will be ahead of time and practicing the answers to them is a good idea. For MCQ’s/objective type questions be sure to know the definitions of words and also be able to recognize a word through a definition. However, that being said this doesn’t mean to neglect certain terms or ideas for any examination; just give a little emphasis, depending on the type of examination. 

To conclude, studying to remember involves planning, rehearsal, organization, feedback or testing, review/revision, and over-learning. It is a word psychologists use for the phrase “practice makes perfect”. Studies have shown that such “over-learning” works to reduce the amount forgotten. 

Credits: psychandchill

HOW TO STUDY A DIFFICULT SUBJECT?

STEP ONE, ALWAYS, is MINDSET.

Eliminate “can’t understand” from your vocabulary. Transform it to “will find out”. This way you open your mind to accepting new information, without it hitting the wall inside your mind that would have said, “Can’t. It’s too much. It’s too difficult.”

Appreciate the fact that you get the opportunity to learn the amazing science to know the world at an elemental level.

Remember that no one is born with knowledge, we all learn it, some topics just take a little longer, esp if were aren’t that familiar with the related concepts. Don’t compare the fact that others in your class are learning things at a different speed. Because you’re living your own journey. You’re in a lane of your own.

So allow yourself to spend extra time exploring the topic. There are two parts to learning: understanding and memorising. This helps with the understanding.

Familiarise yourself with the concept from various points of view, not just the way the teacher is teaching it. Because often the way you are taught something can make something seem more difficult, vs a teacher who really takes the time to make it seem easy.

Take the time to learn the basics.

Find other ways to learn the same info. Have multiple sources of info: YOUTUBE (helped me personally), textbooks, google the topic.

Ask a fellow student who knows it better and ask them to talk about some of the points with you.

Relate what you learn and see how they impact and exist in the real world - turn it more practical, beyond theory. Connect it with other disciplines.

Read the textbook - slowly. Give yourself to understand esp the early paragraphs

‘cause that girl took my heart and i ain’t want it back, no a bulletproof restart

sex // EDEN

Hello fellow nerds!

A new school year is approaching, and since I have to nail my A* this year I put together a masterpost with helpful links and tips that I have gathered throughout my school years. Good luck this year: you´ll do just fine!

1. Learn ´em languages

Learn terms and glossary in Quizlet.

Learn a language for free on Duolingo.

Learn a language for free on Busuu.

Oxford Dictionaries.

Games and fun activities for English learners.

Irregular English verbs.

2. Do your research

Google scholar.

Scholarpedia.

You can learn anything (KhanAcademy).

Didn´t listen in class? (Crash Course).

Simple Wikipedia.

Learn littérature without having to read it (SparkNotes).

Wolfram Aplha.

TED.

Open 2 study. (Online studying) 

Free college courses.

3. Learn how to write like a God

10 practical tips for writing better exam essays.

Writing an essay.

Harvard writing resources.

Writing application essays.

Writing a personal statement.

Genre characteristics.

Writing a literary analysis essay.

Answering essay questions.

Get feedback.

Bibliography maker.

What is the word you´re looking for?

4. Oh yes sweet reading

8 tips to remember what you read.

How to read Shakespeare.

Effective reading and note-taking.

How to take notes while reading.

Note taking tips.

170 free textbooks.

1000 free textbooks.

5. Get your studying and organization game on

Time Management

Get your school life in order with organization.

Reach your goals.

Goals worksheet.

Finding information on the internet.

Using sources.

Get a hold on mind mapping.

How do you learn best?

Sound without music (Such as cafes).

Make flashcards.

6. Stress and anxiety management because school is stressful

Coping strategies.

Stress reduction tips.

Stress relief for students.

Managing test anxiety.

Dealing with test anxiety.

Self help: Keeping calm.

Introverts in college.

Coping and calming down. N.1

Coping and calming down. N.2

Do nothing for two minutes. 

7. Go get ´em tests

Study skills for test taking.

Study tips for finals.

Multiple choice exams guide.

The seven days study plan.

15 steps to success.

How to prepare for a test.

Checklist for essay tests.

8. Classroom participation - because teachers love that shit

Active listening.

Classroom discussions.

Presenting projects in the classroom.

Preparation before class.

Participating tips.

9. Software and pages for us nerdy kids

Openoffice and Libreoffice.

Dropnote.

Google docs.

EverNote.

Prezi (Fore presentations.)

Calculator.

Grade calculator.

Grammar check.

Staying focused for Mac, Chrome and Firefox.

Plagiarism check.

Best apps for students masterpost.

Homework help.

10. Yo! Take some time to care ´bout yo´self

100 000 stars.

Workout masterpost.

Movie masterpost of masterposts.

Self-help masterpost.

8Tracks.

Learn and do yoga.

Voulenteer. 

Learn to play guitar.

The thoughts room.

bullet journal pages from march to may with cursive headers, i have a tutorial on how to improve your cursive, it’s on my YouTube channel @studywithinspo

I used to have a lot of trouble still do with procrastination and I realized that, in my new studyblr days, I didn’t know how to utilize my studyblr to help me and it was just another way for me to procrastinate and feel productive. If you can relate to this, you could probably benefit from this little dose of studyblr realness.

Don’t use your studyblr just for aesthetics: studyspo is great for inspiration and motivation, and it’s probably what drew you to the studyblr community, but it shouldn’t be what makes you stay. You won’t be able to take anything worthwhile from your blog if all you reblog is photos of beautiful notes. Mix it up with masterposts and printables and photos of “non-aesthetic” notes.

Don’t use methods that don’t work for you: if you absolutely cannot understand mindmaps but absolutely love the way they look, resist the urge to make them. You’ll only end up confusing yourself and wasting time. Only use note taking and studying methods that make sense to you. 90 percent of the time they’ll be things that you used before you made a studyblr. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t experiment with different styles and methods, but only stick to what works for you.

Discipline over motivation: imho, the study community  overstates the importance and effectiveness of motivation. Don’t get me wrong, motivation makes studying more enjoyable when you have it, but more often than not you don’t. In the end, motivation isn’t what makes you study every night, or stick with self studying a language. You have to discipline yourself to study when you don’t want to, or work when you’re tired. My old French teacher used to say “Don’t fall into the trap of waiting motiviation, and just do it” and I feel like that’s super important with this. (1, 2, 3)

Talking about studying isn’t studying: sort of related to number 3, don’t let your studyblr be another way to put off work. It’s all to easy to think “I’m blogging about studying; in being productive,” but it’s a dangerous thing to do. Studyspo is great, but don’t let scrolling through your feed become another method of procrastination.

Take photos after you study: or during, but not before. I used to spend so long taking pictures of my notes, that I wouldn’t have time to study them. I still take too long photographing my notes to take picture, so I’ve started using a pomorodo timer. After 25 minutes, I’ll use my five minute break to take photos. It’s increases my productivity so much, and I’m not sure how I ever functioned without that system.

Just get it done (and prioritize): honestly, sometime you just have to forget about trying to make your notes look pretty and just go for functionality over looks. Just let go of any studyblr ideals and do what you need to do. If you don’t have time to bullet journal and get your work finished, use an electronic calendar or don’t spend so long on your journal. Most importantly, be real with yourself. At the end of the day, you know yourself best, and you know what you need to do.

Good luck on your studyblr journeys lovelies, hope this helped!

(here are some study tips straight from my psych notes)

1. interest: the brain prioritizes by meaning, value, and relevance so u remember things better if ur interested

find a study partner

do extra practice or research

teach it to someone else (this works so well!)

2. intent: be actively paying attention. very little learning actually takes place without attention

use a concentration check sheet (every time u get distracted, put a check on ur sheet. this is supposed to program ur mind to pay attention)

while u read, talk back to the author

ask questions during lectures (this is scary ik!! but do it!)

3. basic background: make connections to what u already know

preview and skim the material before u read it. or google it!

write out a list of vocab words before a lecture and leave some spaces between them to fill in during the lecture

read ahead of lectures

watch crashcourse tbh

4. selectivity: start by studying whats important

look for bolded words, graphics, pictures, chapter review questions in ur readings

listen for verbal clues like emphasis and repetition during lectures

make urself a study guide as u read and write down questions for urself to answer later as review (kinda like cornell notes)

5. meaningful organization: u can learn/rmr better if u group ideas into diff categories

apply vocab words to ur life

make flashcards and sort them (try not to have more than seven items in one category!)

use mnemonics

6. recitation: saying ideas aloud in ur own words strengthens synaptic connections! when u say something aloud u r forcing urself to pay attention

after u read, ask urself questions

talk abt what u learned w/ classmates outside of class

again, teach someone else

7. visualization: ur brain’s quickest and longest-lasting response is to images

convert info into a chart or graph

draw it out

make a mental video of a process

look at picture/video examples

8. association: memory is increased when facts are consciously associated w something u already know. memory = making neural connections

ask urself: is this something i already know?

9. consolidation: give ur brain some time to establish a neural pathway

make a list of what u remember from class

review notes at the end of the day, every day

stop after reading each prg to write a question in ur notes

make ur own practice quiz

10. distributed practice: we all know cramming doesnt work but we do it anyway! but yeah short and frequent study sections work better

make a daily/weekly study schedule

create a time budget/time tracker (track everything ur doing for a week and see how u can be more efficient w/ the time u waste)

divide the reading/vocab by the number of days before an exam and do a little bit each day (u can use sticky notes to divide ur reading)

other tips:

stop stressing! this sounds stupid and it isnt going to be easy, but anxiety causes u to lose focus. try ur best to think positively. sleep a lot. minimize ur caffeine intake. take a walk maybe

when u need to remember something, look upward or close ur eyes (when ur eyes are open ur using visual parts of ur brain that u might not need to be using)

find a rival! (like the person right above u in class rank) secretly compete w/ them (envy can improve mental persistence bc it makes u focus more intensely) but dont overdo it! 

walking and sleeping build memory storage in ur brain

eat flavonoids! (grapes, berries, tea leaves, cocoa beans make neurons in the brain more capable of forming new memories + increase blood flow to the brain)

How to deal with procrastination

One of the biggest problems for students is procrastination! It takes different forms for everyone but ultimately it stops us all at some point. Since there are several reasons for procrastinating, I’ve put together the five main types and a few ideas on how to deal with it. 

You’ve got poor work/productivity habits. You leave things until the last minute since you “work better under pressure”. You probably think you’ll do something after you’ve finished something else, and then never do. You get distracted whenever you’re trying to study and will sit waiting to feel motivated but it never comes. For this I’d suggest:

create a productivity inspiring workspace - find somewhere that you can set up a study space, whether it is an actual office or just a desk. Organise everything that you will need. I have a selection of pens and my few notebooks on the top so I can easily access them. Remove anything that might cause you to be distracted and doesn’t need to be in your immediate reach. If you’re got space, put up some motivational pictures. This could be my motivational printables, some quotes or your own pictures. Plants are also proven to boost productivity, so might be worth putting a small one nearby!

create an action list rather than to-dos - write down a few manageable tasks that you need to do and be specific on the steps you should take. Writing the actions they require will help you see what you should be doing to complete something, instead of just the overall task. If you’re able to break it down, you can take actionable steps rather than mentally having to think of each point.

focus on 20-30 minute periods - generally, we lose focus after a while so taking regular breaks can help give you chance to relax and refocus. Apps like Forest allow you to set a timer and will give you off your phone at the same time. Obviously, if you’re being productive, don’t suddenly cut that off because it is “time for a break”. Here are some other free alternatives.

remove distractions as best you can - I’m always distracted by social media so I will use Forest on my phone or time-lapse myself so I can’t use my phone. With my MacBook, I have two accounts. One for university and one for everything else. I am not logged into any social media on my uni account so I can’t just check it for a minute then end up wasting 20 minutes :’-)

find an accountability partner - pick someone who you can rely on to check on you regularly and see how your tasks are coming along. You can send them your to-do list and then every few hours you can update them with your progress. You won’t want to let them down. Alternatively, you can study with a friend! Tumblr/Instagram is basically my partner!

use the two-minute rule - if something takes less than two minutes, do it. Don’t make an excuse, just do it. Tasks that are longer you can either delegate or defer. Here is a simple visualisation of what I mean.

record your progress - doing a simple “don’t break the chain” in your planner is a great way to see how productive you’re being and therefore get you more motivated to keep it up! The ‘100 days of productivity’ challenge might be worth doing!

You’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Everything seems to be mounting up and nothing seems doable. You don’t know where or how to start. For this I’d suggest:

ask for help - if you’re feeling like this, it is likely you need some help in some form or another. See if a family member, friend, classmate or teacher (or Google) can help or give you a starting point. Emailing your teacher is a great option if you’re a little nervous about speaking to them in person. Plus you won’t forget what they told you because you’ll have a response.

remind yourself that getting started is the first step - you don’t need to finish a task in a matter of minutes. Start doing something small. Maybe organise what you need, highlight the important bits of your assessment, or draft an essay plan. The secret to getting ahead is getting started!

divide and conquer - figure out what is the overall task that you need to do and split it into manageable parts. For instance, with an essay, the aim is to write it! Divide it into planning out what you want to write, any references you need, summarising a final draft and then writing each paragraph. By dividing bigger tasks into actionable parts you can reduce the obstacles and get through each part in a more timely manner.

reward yourself - create a system to celebrate completing a selection of tasks. By rewarding your progress you’ll build an incentive to work and reinforce productivity (great for your self-discipline!).

learn to forgive yourself - if you have an off day, that is okay! When the stress of your education is getting too much, it is necessary to have time out.  Remember to come back to it later and try again.

don’t over schedule - if you’re feeling pressure from the amount of work and then the added pressure of trying to stick to a time limit, you’re just going to go crazy. Set yourself flexible times to get something done instead of being heavily structured. Give yourself time for a break and the ability to change tasks.

stick with one task - it can be so tempting to multitask but try not to. Try to keep the focus on the what you’re doing until it is done. If you struggle with that, you could write down anything useful that you randomly think about for another task, use a break-time to think about that other task or alternate between subjects/tasks every few hours.

You’re a perfectionist. You either don’t want to start something out of fear you won’t get it right or you can get stuck on the small details. There is a pressure to achieve the unachievable. For this I’d suggest:

focus on getting started, instead of finishing - it is easy to get overwhelmed thinking about what something is supposed to be like finished if you’re a perfectionist. Take things one step at a time. It’s also useful to remember the sooner you start, the more time you’ll have to perfect it at the end!

make drafts - if you’re overwhelmed, take half an hour to map out your plan of attack. Drafts can take many forms: summaries, scaffolds/outlines, essay plans, post-it notes, etc. I find it much easier to get on with work if I have a bit of a plan.

remember that your perfectionist tendencies aren’t actually improving your work or productivity but hindering you - you’re continually setting yourself unrealistic objects and (like me) probably feel let down by yourself if you don’t reach them. Be realistic and focus on getting it done!

accept mistakes - you’ve written something wrong, don’t panic! Cross it out with a single line and move on. Things happen and you have to accept it. You can’t rip up the page every time you do something wrong, even if it is so tempting.

put things in perspective - is what you’re beating yourself up about right now going to mean anything in a week, a month, a year? Be honest if it isn’t, is it really worth putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.

praise yourself through the process - try not to criticise yourself but recognise your progress.

don’t compare yourself - this is very hard not to do but remember we are all different. Just because “you’re not as good” or don’t understand something as easily as others, it doesn’t mean you’re any less! Everyone was a beginner once and we all learn at different paces. Work to your strengths!

You want to do something else. You find whatever you’re doing boring. You want it to be over with but don’t want to get started. The ultimate catch 22, right? For this I’d suggest:

remember that putting it off isn’t going to make it go away - if you leave it too long you’ll end up getting more stressed about it. Best to get it over with.

make a plan from the get-go - once you know something is coming up (e.g. a test, an assessment, etc) make notes on it! That could be questions, annotations, potential topics, citations, etc. By making the effort to spend time reading through, you’ll save your future self some stress. Especially if it’s a topic you have forgotten. That way your notes act as a reminder so you can get started.

set a finish time with a reward - tell yourself that if you finish something by a certain time and then you can do something else. Use your self-discipline to not go back on this. Set a realistic time and try to get it complete before. If you can think that you’re doing something fun once it is completed, you’ll be more motivated to get it done.

make a structure - for note-taking, it can be overwhelming looking at a textbook and thinking what you’re going to write out. Make a note-taking layout/colour code that works for you and that subject. Mine is here - it just gives me an idea of how I’d lay everything instead of going in with no action plan.

try to make it fun - this could be using YouTube to learn or starting a study group. Use different methods for memorising information such as flashcards, mindmaps or study guides (like question/answer).

make the effort to refocus - if you’re finding something boring and you’re unfocused, walk away for 5 minutes, get a drink and come back. If you’re really struggling, change topics for a while. Find a point where you can finish and start doing something else that is productive.

listen to some music - generally, music without lyrics are best for focusing. Spotify has a great playlist for studying called ‘focus’. However, I find my regular music good for getting me a little more motivated and awake. I also like writing essays to music because I weirdly sort of type in the same rhythm. Funny study hack I’ve found that works for me haha!

write your thoughts down - Another thing I’ve been trying is externalising my thoughts. If I get distracted by something or have a “gosh, I need to remember that” moment, I will write it down. By getting it out my brain and onto a bit of paper, I no longer have to think about it and can continue. 

You have no motivation. Often we feel that motivation is the only thing you need to get on with something, but this isn’t totally true. You need a mix of motivation and discipline. As the saying goes: “motivation may get you started, but discipline keeps you going”. To build your motivation, I’d suggest:

have a mass organise - usually when I’m feeling unmotivated, I’ll clear out my desk and sort out my computer. This involves throwing out stationery that doesn’t work or scrap paper. I usually make piles of spare stationery and will re-organise my desk drawers. For my computer, I will pull out all my files to my desktop then start working through them. I’ll delete duplicates, rename files properly, and put them in the right place.

find some new stationery - weirdly buying stationery is one of those things that instantly makes you want to be productive. Head to the shops and spend a little something on a new pen, highlighter or notebook!

film yourself - studying generally doesn’t give us any instant gratification which can make it feel like a drag. By filming yourself working you can get a little video at the end which shows your progress. I love watching time-lapses of myself because you see all the work you did super quickly. It also means I’m not touching my phone!

set yourself some goals - write down a few things you want to achieve, in the short or long term. Put it somewhere that you’ll be reminded about it! By externalising your goals, you’re more likely to make the effort to achieve it.

check/make a studygram and studyblr - this is one of most motivating this I’ve done. Having social media dedicated to studying has helped not only improve my work ethic but my whole attitude towards education. Getting involved in the community is a great motivator. Here is a post on how to set up a studyblr.

I hope this post gives you just a few ideas on how to tackle procrastination! If you’ve got any tips you’d like to share, please message me! x

How I Use OneNote for University

Hey, all! I thought I’d share how I use OneNote, for any students who might want to use it for school organization. I have used this since the beginning of my university career and have found a method that works for me, after nearly three years.

I provide templates for what I use as .one files that can be imported into OneNote, and you’re free to use & modify them however you wish. 

Semester Calendar Template: Download

Customized Syllabus Template: Download

Cornell Outline Template: Download + Outline inspired by How to Use Cornell Cornell Note-Taking Method on OneNote by @strive-for-da-best​

As a student with learning disabilities, I found that using a computer, rather than writing everything out, is the best method for me to learn. I type up notes in class so as to not worry about keeping up with a professor, handwriting, or neatness. OneNote is my favourite note-taking application for this, because it’s essentially an upgraded version of Word that’s free and syncs automatically across devices. When my computer crashed, I was still able to access my notes online.

OneNote isn’t all typing. You can use it on a tablet or use a drawing tablet, in my case, to handwrite notes for a more natural feel. A very efficient way of taking notes is to import the lectures slides in OneNote and to write directly on them. I found that very useful in math-heavy courses, such as statistics and chemistry. The equation tool, while nifty, isn’t efficient.

By no means whatsoever is this the only way to use OneNote! In fact, I’d recommend you find a way that works for you, because while this may be highly organized, it takes a bit of set-up time and is tailored specifically to my needs. You can use my example as inspiration, but play around with it! The beauty of OneNote is that it can be used in a variety of different ways.

For all of those who want to learn a language but don’t know where to start, need extra help as you learn it, or if you’re just bored. These are the resources I’ve gathered over the last few months (feel free to add to it!)

General sites with grammar/sounds/pronunciation for a wide variety of languages

My Languages

BBC Language

How to Learn Any Language

Effective Language Learning

Conjuguemos

The Polyglot Project

Linguanaut

More specific sites, targeted at one language

German here and here

Spanish here and here

French here here and here

Italian here and here

Japanese here 

Chinese here and here

Korean here and here

Vietnamese here

For all ya’ll auditory learners

an online radio/tv

spanish site w/ web series and programs

     -also, foreign language mixes on 8tracks

some german ones

a few spanish ones

some french mixes

some italian mixes

some russian mixes

some mandarin mixes

some japanese mixes

Interactive language-exchanging sites where you can make friends and meet natives wOWie

livemocha

interpals

polyglotclub

sharedtalk

couchsurfing

memrise

babbel

duolingo

Tips, advice, and motivation to give you that extra push

5 Tips to Get You Started

a blog on language-hacking tips

have some motivational videos that provide language courses (Speak from Day 1 and Pimsleur Approach)

6 ways to roll your r

another language blog

For those interested in linguistics, here are 15 interesting articles on the field

for funsies!!!

i’ve found quite a few resources for irish gaelic, a really beautiful but complex language that you can challenge yourself to learn

linguistic facts about the language and some study tips

here’s an online radio

pronunciation and a youtube channel

Irish Language Today

want to learn a language that doesn’t exist???? there are tutorials here here and here on how to write gallifreyan and a tutorial here on how to write the numbers