february 1, 2022 - a new start

hello friends! it’s been a while. i wasn’t planning on taking a long hiatus, but i’ve decided to come back now. how are you all doing? i hope you’ve all been safe and well~ i survived my first year of grad school, and i’m now almost halfway through my second year. in addition to work, this is the main reason why i was gone. it takes up most of my time, but i’m gradually learning how to manage my time better. grad school has been a tough journey, but i’m doing my best to hang in there!

thank you all so much for being here and continuing to support me. i know i’ve lost a few of you while i was away, but i’m grateful for those of you who have stayed. i’m happy and proud to be part of such an amazing community!

on another note, happy lunar new year to those who celebrate! i got a haircut yesterday, and today i ate homemade 年糕 (nian gao) and braised shiitake mushrooms with my family. i wish you all the best in the new year, and i hope you can achieve your goals with bravery and strength like a tiger! remember to take good care of yourself, too! 🐯💕✨

studygram: gloomium

cd | Happy Friday!! 🍓 congratulations for making it through the week. 🥳 the firsts are always the toughest — first day, first week, first-everything, really, so if you feel like you underperformed this week, tell yourself it’s okay. You’ll do better next week 😊 first ones are for adjustments and silly mistakes anyway.

Things are going to get busier next week so I enjoyed all the rest that I could take this week. I’m planning to do some studying tonight but not too much. Can’t wait to watch netflix and maybe play some games 🥳

01.30.2022

Aaaaaaaaa!!! Guess who got that internship! I’m super excited, and surprised they got back that fast. I’m very excited for this, though I know it’s going to a difficult workload this semester now. I need to wrap up at least one of the research projects I’m doing or else I’m going to be so overworked this semester. I have a bad habit of taking on more than I can feasibly do, but I have been getting better at not falling behind in assignments, and several of my other commitments are dying down.

Also, I’m nearly finished w/ setting up my desk! I’ve got a few more final touches and decorations to put up, but I’m very happy with where it’s at right now.

Tea of the day: TAZO Zen green tea w/ honey

10.23.21 | I wonder if there’s a word for the passing of days feeling both fast & interminable at the same time. I’m sure there must be. It’s honestly how I’ve been feeling for the past couple of weeks. While I was able to accomplish a lot of things on my to do lists, every single task just took so much longer than I thought it would. That could either be a testament to how poorly I manage my time, or how unrealistic I am with my daily goals. 

Featured above are two of my current reads: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, & The Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Poems by Oscar Wilde. I’m getting through them slowly as I can only spare an hour or less on reading these days. But no matter how little or how much I read, it always helps to make me feel somewhat saner.

studying for top 2021 drugs 🥲 i am in pain but at least my desk is cute

notion template by dobochobo on youtube/insta!

october 31, 2019 - birthday, version 2

happy halloween! and happy birthday to me~ 🎃🎉✨

i turned 22 today! *blasts a certain taylor swift song* my 21st year of existence had its ups and downs, but now it’s time to start a new chapter of my life, and i’m bringing you all along with me. let’s make year 22 amazing and full of good vibes, love, and happiness!

studygram: gloomium

hello hallie! this message is SO cute i’m so so happy you remembered playing it?? i hope that your senior year is going well & that you aren’t too stressed :) HOLY im so happy right now OMFG thank u so much for sending this message you’ve literally made my day!!

here’s the link to cruddy! hope you enjoy playing :) let me know if you need a hint while you’re playing heh to get the good ending ;)

A friend once asked me how I manage to do my tasks so efficiently. I wrote a 500-word essay in 20 minutes. I finished my math homework and studied for a quiz in the half hour before morning assembly. I sleep at 9 pm on most nights. But how can I possibly achieve that?

I’ve seen people, even good students, check their phone every minute or two as they’re studying. I’ve seen students “study” for six hours straight, meaning taking down some notes then watching a YouTube video then reading their textbook then opening Instagram… you know what I mean.

My advice is to commit to whatever you’re doing. Not too long ago, another friend asked me, “Jo, do you ever get distracted at home?” to which I replied, “Distracted by what?” They told me about how they always have the urge to check their phones, talk to their friends, or get some food.  I can’t say I never get distracted, but it very rarely happens to me because I focus on what I’m doing–and only what I’m doing. Here’s how:

1. During the time I allocate for working, I turn my phone to airplane mode (with WiFi switched off, of course). No messages or notifications will distract me from what I’m currently doing. Recently, though, I’ve left my phone on in case there’s anything important. There might an RMUN photoshoot tomorrow, or a Physics quiz, or a music showcase. I know myself well enough to know that I have the discipline to do nothing more than glance at the notification. However, if this isn’t true for you, then I suggest you keep your phone on airplane mode.

2. When I allocate time for relaxing, that’s all I do. No homework. No textbooks. No opening emails as they come. Just me and a good book or Photoshop or the piano or something. That way, I can satiate my thirst to relax within the half hour or so and not crave more when I start working

As for music, it’s been proven that music makes you less productive when trying to recall and absorb information (studying, in other words). Music only makes you happier when you’re doing things but not more productive.

By this, I don’t only mean which ones are most urgent, but which ones you can’t accomplish anywhere other than at home. For example, let’s say you have these three tasks: a) research about structural unemployment; b) write a poem with the theme of death; c) answer some questions about quantum physics; d) do a problem set about implicit functions; and e) memorize a set of chemical reactions. This is how I would do them:

Write the poem on the way to school. Maybe this is just because I like poetry. And because I can’t write when other people are around. I’d probably get a first draft done by the time I get home.

Do the research about structural unemployment. My school’s WiFi is terrible.

Answer the quantum physics questions. The new information is still fresh in my brain and doing the homework will help me revise, easing the process of spaced repetition.

Memorize the chemical reactions before I go to bed. Studying before you sleep is supposed to improve your memory, and since my memory is terrible, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Do the implicit functions problem set as soon as I get to school the next morning. Math is undoubtedly my best subject, and it’s very refreshing to do math at 6:45 AM in the morning.

If you saw the pattern, I assigned each task a time slot when I would be most productive. I also did them from easiest to most difficult to the easiest again. Because everyone works differently, I suggest you find out which types of tasks are the most difficult (memorizing, in my case) and which types of tasks require a certain environment (e.g. requiring WiFi for doing research).

I guess that’s pretty much self-explanatory. I like to nap right after I get home from school if I’m feeling especially tired. As for breaks, I prefer to take them between tasks instead of every 25 minutes because of my high study inertia.

Commit to what you’re doing

Delegate and prioritize

Give yourself shorter deadlines

Take breaks!

- ̗̀ june 22nd  ̖́-

i’m kind of extra when it comes to headers  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

so it’s 4am and you’ve had three cups of coffee but you’ve only written two sentences. you look at the prompt and find it has ceased to make sense. “how the fuck am i gonna turn this into a 17-page paper” you ask. 

never fear! your friendly neighborhood college fuckup is here with an answer. buckle down and get another cup of coffee; you’re in this for the long haul. (literally. this post got long because i’m apparently incapable of writing short posts, but i also pulled a 3.9 cGPA using this method so i’d say it’s worth the read.)

first, a cheat: email your professor and ask if you can use subheaders. subheaders eliminate the need for smooth transitions between portions of your argument and also create a ton of white space, which can help you reach page count. 

second, a tip: don’t be afraid to meet with your prof. this essay probably isn’t a take-home exam; it’s likely that your prof set this paper to give you a chance to learn and write about something you enjoy. shoot your prof an email saying “hey, this is what i’m thinking, this is what i’m struggling with, can i meet with you to talk it out?” 9 times out of 10, your prof will say yes. if they say no, talk to another prof in the same discipline. otherwise talk to your uni writing center or a friend of yours. worse come to worst, shoot me a message.

what you’re gonna do now is outline the fuck out of your paper to procrastinate actually writing it. 

step 1: take apart the prompt. it’ll be asking for a few different things; mark these things with different cues: brackets, underlining, different colored pens, whatever. this structures your response.

if you don’t know your thesis yet, that’s fine! let it develop naturally as you conduct your research and plan your argument. you can change it as you go - that’s the point of researching the topic. no one will know what your first draft thesis was.

step 2: look at the dismembered prompt. write bullets with brief explanations for how you’ll attack each part of the prompt. these can be detailed or as vague as “look up that one reading and use it as a counter argument.” then figure out the best way to organize the bullets. if nothing makes sense, that’s fine too. you can write each chunk of your argument and structure it later.

these bullets make good subheaders. js.

step 3: under each bullet from step 2, list out what info and evidence you need for that aspect of your argument. don’t worry about details yet; focus on structure. write these bullets as though you’re talking to a friend about what your argument is and why is works. let it be stupid. let it be simple. say shit like “freud was a bitch and i can prove it.” 

step 4: now that you have a rough draft of your outline, go back and fill in the details. remember, you’re still outlining! you’re basically redoing step 3 with the bullets you made in step 3. this is the part where i take the most time and put in the most effort.

i tend to reach page/word count easily if my outline is half the length the paper needs to be, so i keep outlining until i reach that point. this ratio might be different for you. if you can figure out your ratio, it can tell you if you need to look for more info or if you’re good to go.

make a note of what you’re citing but don’t worry about actual citations. i like using gdocs because you can easily paste a link to your source in a comment. this way, the sources don’t clutter up your doc or artificially inflate your page or word count.

be silly! be stupid! use swear words and memes and internet lingo. you’re just outlining right now; you don’t need to sound smart and professional. you should be focusing on what you want to say, not how to say it.

by the end of this process, my outline is basically my paper in bulletpoint format, without any fancy jargon or quotes or cited evidence, and usually not in complete sentences. i’ve essentially tricked myself into writing my paper by saying “i’m just outlining, it doesn’t really matter.” it’s also less daunting to write the rest of the paper when you know you already have 9 pages done instead of 0.

step 5: write the damn thing! open a fresh doc for your paper and view it side-by-side with your outline. now you get to make your bullets sound pretentious and academic. insert quotes and other evidence. turn “freud was a bitch” into “freud knowingly perpetuated several falsehoods for the sake of his personal gain, thereby undoing decades of progress in the field of psychology.” 

don’t worry about citations right now, though! do what you did in your outline and insert the citations as comments at the points where they need to be. creating citations will interrupt your flow.

step 6: once your paper is done, go back and add citations! this can take up to an hour depending on how many sources you have, so budget your time appropriately.