#beating procrastination

hey lovelies! ✨

can we just acknowledge how hard it is to focus on studying when the sun is shining, everyone's posting beach pics, and your brain is basically melting from the heat? summer studying feels almost criminal sometimes (like, isn't this when we're supposed to be recharging?), but even if you're taking summer classes, prepping for fall semester, or studying for standardized tests, i've got some helpful tips to help you stay on track without missing out on summer magic.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ why summer motivation hits different ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

let's be honest about why summer studying feels so much harder:

your body literally craves sunlight and outdoor time

everyone else seems to be living their best vacation life

the heat makes focusing genuinely more difficult

your brain is trained to associate summer with freedom

seasonal rhythms are real, and summer is naturally more active and social

knowing this isn't just you being "lazy" is the first step! your brain isn't broken, it's just responding to both biological and social cues that say "put down the textbook and go outside!"

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ create a summer-friendly study schedule ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

the key is working with summer energy, not against it:

𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴: use the hottest part of the day (usually 12-3pm) when you'd be inside anyway for your deepest focus work

𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤: if possible, wake up earlier and study when it's cooler and quieter, bonus points for studying outside with birds chirping!

𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴: aim for 45-minute focused blocks instead of marathon 3-hour sessions (your summer brain will thank you)

𝘵𝘩𝘦 2:1 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰: for every hour of studying, give yourself 30 minutes of true summer enjoyment as a reward

𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺: designate one day each week as completely study-free to recharge

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ summer-proof your study environment ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

your environment makes all the difference:

𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴: study near a fan or air conditioning with a cold drink nearby

𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘴: find a shaded patio, park bench, or beach setup where you can enjoy nature while studying

𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤: bring summer into your study space with fresh flowers, lemon water, and natural light

𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: try different iced coffee spots to keep your environment fresh and interesting

𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: face away from windows showing beautiful weather when you need deep focus

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ motivation hacks that actually work ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

when your motivation is hiding under a beach umbrella:

𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴: everything's more fun with friends! find a study buddy and make it social

𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴: "tropical tuesday" or "fruity friday" with matching snacks and music

𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴: ice cream after finishing a chapter, swimming after completing practice problems

𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴: create a summer-themed progress tracker (fill in a popsicle for each completed study session)

𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘴: find summer study ambience videos that make you feel less alone

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ summer-specific study methods ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

adapt your approach to match the season:

𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴: listen to recorded lectures or educational podcasts while walking outside

𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘴: 25 minutes of study, 5 minutes of dangling feet in water (or any summer treat)

𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯: apply a layer of understanding before exposing yourself to exam questions

𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘴: spread out colorful mind maps on a blanket instead of linear notes

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ be gentle with yourself ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

most importantly, release the guilt:

summer studying doesn't have to be all-or-nothing

progress > perfection (especially during summer)

your brain literally works differently in hot weather

memories matter too, make sure you're creating some

rest is productive, it's preparing you for future focus

remember that balance looks different in each season. summer might be when you study a little less but live a little more, and that's completely okay. your worth isn't tied to your productivity, especially when the sun is shining and calling your name.

xoxo, mindy 🤍

16 days to exam.

Recently I found myself procrastinating a whole lot less and doing more things earlier on, which reflected in more time, so I thought I’d share 5 tips I followed.

1. Find what times work better for you and you will work better. Take some days and work at different times of the day and find when you’re focus and capacity for learning are best. For example, I found out I work better when I wake up early - meaning that I don’t study very early but I do get up early cause my day feels longer than what would’ve if I went to bed later -, between 4pm and 8pm and between 9pm and 11pm.

­ Kaizen: A Japanese Technique For Overcoming Laziness

“In Japanese culture there exists the practice of Kaizen, which includes the idea of the “one-minute principle” for self-improvement. At the heart of this method is the idea that a person should practice doing something for a single minute, every day at the same time.”

hey lovelies! ✨

i use google drive to organize mostly everything, and the truth is, my google drive used to be an absolute disaster zone, we're talking hundreds of "untitled document" files and random screenshots saved who knows when. but after one particularly stressful finals week where i lost a paper for three hours, i completely overhauled my system. here's exactly how i organize everything now!

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ the folder structure that changed everything ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

first things first, i use a simple top-level organization system:

📁 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴: all school-related files

📁 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭: journals, goal tracking, finances, etc.

📁 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦: blog drafts, design projects, photos

📁 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘦: completed classes and old projects

📁 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴: templates, reference materials, guides

the key is keeping your top level super simple, i used to have 20+ folders here and it was overwhelming! now i can find anything within seconds because i know exactly which category it falls under.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ my academic folder system ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

this is the most detailed section of my drive! inside my academics folder:

📁 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳

📁 class 1

📁 class 2

📁 class 3

📁 class 4

📄 semester schedule

📄 assignment tracker

inside each class folder:

📁 notes

📁 assignments

📁 readings

📁 projects

📄 syllabus

i color-code each class folder to match my physical notebooks and planner tabs, this visual consistency helps my brain switch between subjects more easily!

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ file naming conventions that save me ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

the absolute game-changer was developing a consistent naming system:

for class notes: DATE_CLASS_TOPIC example: 06.10_psych101_memory_systems

for assignments: CLASS_ASSIGNMENT_STATUS example: econ202_midterm_essay_final

for group projects: CLASS_PROJECT_MYPART_VERSION example: marketing300_campaign_research_v2

this might seem excessive, but it means i never have to open files to figure out what they are! plus, sorting by name automatically puts everything in chronological order.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ my favorite google drive hacks ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

these little tricks make everything run even smoother:

𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: i star current project files so they always appear at the top of my drive

𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨: right-click folders to give them colors that match your physical organization system

𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘺: i keep a "templates" folder with pre-formatted docs for essays, lab reports, notes, etc.

𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴: i set important folders to be available offline (has saved me during wifi emergencies!)

𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴: using "type:pdf" or "after:2023-09-01" in the search bar to filter results

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ maintenance routines ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

even the best system falls apart without regular maintenance! here's my schedule:

𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘱 (15 min): every friday afternoon, i sort any stray files into their proper folders and rename anything with default names

𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘵 (30 min): halfway through each semester, i check that everything is where it should be and create any new folders needed

𝘦𝘯𝘥-𝘰𝘧-𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 (1 hour): i move completed classes to my archive folder and set up the next semester's structure

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ sharing & collaboration settings ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

as someone who works on lots of group projects, getting these settings right is crucial:

𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴: i create specific shared folders for each group project rather than sharing individual files

𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴: i'm careful about giving "edit" vs "comment" access depending on the project

𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: i always disable "anyone with the link can edit" to avoid accidental changes

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ my best google drive tips ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

create a "quick access" document with links to your most-used files

use google drive's "workspaces" feature to group project files temporarily

download the desktop app to easily drag and drop files

set up automatic google photos backup for screenshots and images

use keyboard shortcuts (shift + n for new folder is my favorite!)

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ final thoughts ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

remember that the perfect organization system is one that works for your brain! mine has evolved over years of trial and error, and i still tweak it each semester. the key is consistency, whatever system you choose, stick with it long enough to make it habit.

xoxo, mindy 🤍

22 days to exam.

That's me guys!!!