let’s be honest… we’ve all been there. sitting at your desk, staring at the assignment, knowing you should start but instead watching youtube or scrolling for “study motivation.” and then the guilt hits, and suddenly you feel like the worst person alive.

first thing: procrastinating doesn’t mean you’re lazy. it usually means you’re overwhelmed. the task feels too big, or you’re scared of messing up, or you’re just tired and your brain wants comfort. so let’s fix it without all the self-hate, because guilt doesn’t get the work done.

1. forgive yourself and start fresh

beating yourself up wastes energy you could use to actually start. tell yourself: “okay, i didn’t start earlier. that’s fine. i’m starting now.” give yourself permission to reset instead of spiraling.

2. make the first step tiny

this is my favorite trick. break the task into something so small it feels impossible to fail. like:

open the document

write the title

read one page of notes

that’s it. usually once you start, momentum kicks in.

3. use the two-minute rule

if something takes less than two minutes, do it right now. open your laptop, clear your desk, fill your water. starting often feels harder than the actual work.

4. make your environment inviting

sometimes procrastination is just avoidance because your setup feels like a punishment. clean your desk a little, light a candle, make a playlist you love. make the vibe cozy so working feels less like torture.

5. give yourself breaks on purpose

don’t aim for a 5-hour marathon. try 25 minutes of work and then a short break. it tricks your brain into thinking “this isn’t so bad” instead of “we’re stuck here forever.”

6. stop waiting to feel motivated

motivation doesn’t come before action. action comes first. start messy, start small, start scared. just start.

12.08.25, tuesday

it’s one week to prelims. 7 days.

tried to make more chem practical notes but felt sleepy halfway so i’m taking a nap. let’s hope this nap doesn’t turn into a full nights sleep (it’s currently 10.15pm)

———

⏱️ : 2h 11min (i will do more after the nap)

☕️ : iced americano from the sch canteen

an overview || august 4 to august 10

🧃handed in a practice writing in french according to my teacher it was good?? 🧃considering becoming a tutor for funsies once the season's over 🧃have a philosophy and french assessment next week uh oh 🧃did my english presentation on culture and ethnicity in the great gatsby 🧃did some practice exams in french 🧃had my student council elections 🧃my mum went on holidays that's not very study related but oh well 🧃finished reading 'ella minnow pea' it's quite good 🧃borrowed another book from the school library ('the familiars') 🧃won my game on friday!! lost on saturday though 🧃started a new journal!! it's very small and lovely 🧃went to the wrong game on saturday oops 🧃returned my library books from the holidays

tracking &. habits

key — ✦ complete || ✧ not done

1.5L water 🌧️ ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦ 30 mins exercise 🧦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦ training and games 🏑✦✧✦✦

19/04🍥

Things I did today

studied DNA replication and RNA transcription

3 hrs biology

1,5 hrs math

45mins chemistry

1hr reading

decorated my phone case

went out for a walk

Took a practice math test today and got a B on both, but made a lot of mistakes

French teachers, please help with these chaos of questions!!!!

Qu'est-ce que?

Qu'est-ce qui?

Qui est-ce?

Qui est-ce qui?

Qui est-ce que?

My poor head! Its crazy!

→ You can replace "qu'est-ce que" with "quoi" as the subject (more informal form)

- Qu'est-ce qu'il se passe ?/ Il se passe quoi ? - Qu'est-ce qui est rouge ?/C'est quoi qui est rouge ? - Qu'est-ce qui t'intéresse ?/C'est quoi qui t'intéresse ? • Qui est-ce ? This is correct as it is, it's used when asking about someone's identity - (Knock on the door) Qui est-ce ? — Who is it? - (Showing someone in a photo) Qui est-ce ? — Who is he/sher? • Qui est-ce qui... ? This is used to ask "Who..." where "who" is the subject - Qui est-ce qui a fait ça ? — Who did this? - Qui est-ce qui chante ? — Who is singing? - Qui est-ce qui cuisine ? — Who is cooking? → You can replace "qui est-ce qui" with "qui" as the subject (more informal form) - Qui est-ce qui a fait ça ?/Qui a fait ça ? - Qui est-ce qui chante ?/Qui chante ? - Qui est-ce qui cuisine ?/Qui cuisine ? • Qui est-ce que... ? This is used to ask "Who..." with a direct object - Qui est-ce que tu as vu ? — Who did you see? - Qui est-ce que tu cherches ? — Who are you looking for? - Qui est-ce que tu écoutes ? — Who are you listening to? → You can replace "qui est-ce que" with "qui" as a direct object (more informal form) - Qui est-ce que tu as vu ?/T'as vu qui ? - Qui est-ce que tu cherches ?/Tu cherches qui ? - Qui est-ce que tu écoutes ?/Tu écoutes qui ?

• To sum up: - Qu'est-ce que... → What... (direct object) - Qu'est-ce qui... → What... (subject) - Qui est-ce ? → Who is it? - Qui est-ce qui... → Who... (subject) - Qui est-ce que... → Who... (direct object)

1. It's so important that you do a first read thru of the text as fast as possible. Stick to annotations and brief summarizing notes/outlines. Our brain is constantly making connections even when we're sleeping, so even if you don't understand something at first, getting stuck on it is a waste of your present time AND sleep time. Some things will click while you're doing chores because your brain is still working in the background! But it can't happen if there is nothing to click. Try to expose yourself to all the material as early as possible. [If you're studying math, skip the derivations and proofs in the first read thru and just do the example problems and focus on the underlying assumptions. Depending on the class/exam objective, you might not even be tested on the proof]

2. The breaks. Even if you know you can study 4 hours straight - don't. I used to do this especially when I was anxious, but it just burned me out. Even as quickly as the next day! If you're doing your first pom of the day and you feel really fresh to the point that you feel like you can skip that first break - dont.. it will pile up!

3. The water and the sugar!! This might sound really obvious, but studying burns up so many resources. On days I don't study, I might be okay with 60-70 oz of water, but on days I do, it's normal for me to hit 100 oz. I also ate way more food in general and ate more sugar too, and I think that's pretty normal.

4. Flashcards and practice problems > annotations > having nice notes. It kills me to say it, but the last exam I took (and passed!), I relied on my very disorganized notes/screenshots on my tablet. I didn't have time to organize and transfer them nicely onto paper in order even though every perfectionist cell in my body wanted to soo badly. Making your own textbook can be helpful but I seriously just didn't have the time. Focus on what will actually get you that pass score!

5. Find the note-taking app you like BEFORE your study period or exam season and practice using it! The last thing you want is to fight the syncing mechanism as you're trying to study. I like to use Flexil because of the split screen feature, the linked screenshots, and the cross-platform sync. If you are studying math, either learn latex over the summer/off period so you can use it in Obsidian/Anki or commit to manually written flashcards and notes the whole way. Dont try to switch halfway through because that will be a waste of your time. I personally think writing out the math is faster than typing it out in Latex, but it's your poison (they're both poison). (And if you study any type of math, I 10000% recommend using a tablet)

6. Unless you are studying for fun, orient everything around the class/exam objectives. Unfortunately, you're not gonna have time to be curious. If you don't think something will be tested, quickly cut it out and move on.

pull an all-nighter with me!

6:00pm mood: ★★★★☆ 🎧 - man on the moon, R.E.M. ☕️ - iced coffee

i've settled in at the library with my comfiest hoodie, chargers for every single device i own, and a water bottle full of iced coffee. here goes nothing!

7:00pm mood: ★★★☆☆ 🎧 - maria, blondie ☕️ - water with electrolytes

my nanochem homework isn't taking any longer than it usually does, but i have so many other things on my list that it's stressing me out to not have anything checked off yet.

8:00pm mood: ★★★★★ 🎧 - if it wasn't for the nights, abba 🥨 - soft pretzel

moving on from nanochem to history, but not without a quick snack break.

9:00pm mood: ★★★★☆ 🎧 - zanzibar, billy joel ☕️ - latte

i've finished my homework for tomorrow's classes, so i'm switching to some more administrative tasks - first a training module on confocal microscopy, and then i'll start grading lab reports for the intro chem class i TA. docking one point off my mood because my airpods ran out of battery.

10:00pm mood: ★★★★★ 🎧 - big deal, lucy dacus ☕️ - water

done with the microscopy training module - took a while, but nice to get something done that wasn't too mentally draining. onwards to lab report grading!

11:00pm mood: ★★★★★ 🎧 - mrs. robinson, simon and garfunkel 🥨 - granola bar

still feeling surprisingly alert given it's now officially past my bedtime. or maybe that's just the caffeine? either way, i hope my intro students can't see the what time i graded their assignments, since this is going to take me a while.

12:00pm mood: ★★★☆☆ 🎧 - all that jazz, chicago ☕️ - water

about 75% of the way through my grading, but also rapidly getting sleepier.

1:00am mood: ★★★★☆ 🎧 - good looking, suki waterhouse ☕️ - hot chocolate

late night chemistry cram session ft. ginger ale, coffee and strawberries 🍓 (finals ver.)

04.03.2025

💚 26.01.2025 // I studied English and Japanese today, a full language day! I also cleaned my whole appartment and did some cooking :)

I focused on English and Japanese grammar with some (a lot of) vocabulary.

📖 Call me by your name - André Aciman