#productiveowl

Modern art history exam tomorrow! Revising everything before the test and feeling pretty confident 🤞

pages from my journal for general paper!

08.04.17

my new bujo + august spreads (✿◠‿◠)

I’m back from vacation! School starts next week and I am not ready at all, but I’m excited to use all my new school supplies, including my new bujo! I’m going to be a junior this year aaaah (also idk why the words are blurry, click on the pictures and they're clear)

*the art printout on my weekly spread is by Maxwell Tilse [tumblr post] and the one on my monthly spread is by Kelsey at amidstsilence.tumblr.com [check her blog out!]

13/1/17!

Hey! Anya here, and I’m going to share with you a few things I’ve learned over the years that I hope will help make studying with dissociation just a little easier. Disclaimer - I’m not a mental health professional - I’m just someone who suffers from frequent dissociation, who’s sharing what works for her. Please don’t take my advice in the place of genuine medical help, and if you find yourself suffering from chronic dissociation that is impacting your life, please see a mental health professional.  

1. GET YOURSELF COMFORTABLE. I find that my dissociation gets worse when I’m stressed or uncomfortable, so I tend to sit in my bed, or just generally in my room while I work. If that doesn’t suit you, find somewhere else that makes you feel equally comfortable and safe - that could be outside, a coffee shop, your living room - anywhere that suits you.

Another thing that might help is listening to ambient noise or calming music - here’s a list of some good ones:

here’s a website that allows you to create your own ambient noise or choose from hundreds of premade ones

this one has different sliders allowing you to mix your own noise and is super easy to use

this one also works in a very similar way

2. MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT SLEEPY.

While I’ve found that my dissociation is worse when I’m stressed, I find it’s also worse when I’m tired - and generally studying tends to be harder when we’re feeling a little run-down anyway, so try to check at what points during the day you find yourself most awake - this could be early in the morning, or later on in the afternoon - really, it varies from person to person - and schedule your studying during those times. 

If you’re unable to do that due to things like school, work or other obligations, try and find ways to keep yourself awake and alert when you’re feeling a little tired - here are a couple of things that have worked for me:

this software adjusts the colour of your computer’s display so you don’t hurt your eyes (and tire yourself out from looking at a bright screen)

get a small desk lamp - this one is super cute!

take frequent breaks - use a pomodoro timer like this one!

3. SNACK. Every so often, go down to the kitchen and make a cup of tea or get a small snack - something like nuts or fruit. Busying yourself with eating or making the cup of tea tends to help dissociation - and when you eat or drink your snack, notice the flavours and textures - focus on how it tastes and how it feels in your mouth.

My favourite snacks are:

bananas and peanut butter

nuts (almonds or cashews are super nice!)

some dark chocolate

apples or pears

4. DATE AND TIME. Often when I dissociate I have trouble remembering the time or the date, so if you don’t already it’s a good idea to date your notes, and maybe have a clock near you. That way, you can always check the top of the page or the clock when you need to. 5. WORKOUT I’m not saying do all of your studying on a treadmill, or do pushups while you read, but breaking every so often and doing short bursts of exercise will really help ground you. Yoga’s especially nice for this - it’s pretty low impact, so it won’t tire you out, but it gives you the grounding and energy you need. Here’s a nice 5-minute yoga routine

6. TAKE BREAKS WHEN YOU NEED TO. There is no need to force yourself to “power through” anything that will make your dissociation worse. Your mental health absolutely comes first, and if you notice yourself starting to dissociate, take a small break - for however long it takes - and just ground yourself. Different people have different grounding methods that work for them, but what I tend to do is to either just stand up and press my feet into the floor, or I lie on the floor with the soles of my feet on the ground and I breathe, letting myself feel my back and feet pressing into the ground. Once you’re done, if you feel like you’re ready to, go back and start to study again. Don’t feel bad if you have to do this often - it’s nothing to be ashamed of. 

Here are a few more grounding exercises

First weekly spread of the year! Last year my journal was more utilitarian but @journalsanctuary‘s bujo gave me inspiration :)

physics notes & jams for september!!! ヽ(○´∀`)ﾉ♪ i love discovering new music that i can just play for days LOL

who needs vsepr theory when u have an organic chemistry model set ᕕ༼✿•̀︿•́༽ᕗ!!!! LMAO who am i kidding i made serotonin out of the set after leaving it untouched for more than a month after getting it as a birthday present and i guess you could say i was very happy afterwards