#sabrinas masterposts

*click for better quality* (transcript under the cut)

My other masterposts: • extensions pt.1  • study sounds • dealing with failure • how to gain traction • how to study when you’re struggling

☁️ 10 tips on studying when your motivation’s nowhere to be found

i got an ask about this yesterday and decided to turn my reply into a post because having trouble focusing when you’re super unmotivated is really common, so i thought more people might find this helpful :) buckle up kiddos, this is gonna be a long one!

1. i want you to remember that this is a universal experience.

every student out there struggles like hell sometimes, and that’s completely normal; you’re not a machine and that means you can’t possibly churn out work 24/7 without burning out. so try not to beat yourself up too much okay, you’re doing great!

2. take a deep breath and identify the reason you’re feeling like this

are you burnt out because of stress or overworking yourself? are you overwhelmed by the amount of tasks on your plate? is there a particular assignment or exam scaring you to the point where you don’t want to start studying? these are all normal reasons for lack of motivation and knowing the why will help you figure out the how - you gotta know the problem to solve it.

3. i know you feel like you’re months behind, but start small

small achievements accumulate. repeat this sentence to yourself daily, write it on a sticky note and keep it on the wall above your desk (it’s exactly what i did). break up daunting tasks into smaller ones; got a billion formulae to know by heart? memorise 3 every day (you’ll have memorised more than 20 by the end of the week!). got a long chapter to study? divide it into smaller chunks and just focus on 1-3 pages a day. slow and steady, you can do it

✨ how to deal with failure: a brief guide for the completely done and utterly fed up student ✨

first of all, recognise - and i don’t mean just read, internalise it - that failing is okay. you’re not dumb, you’re not unworthy of taking the class, you might’ve not even necessarily had the wrong approach; you did, however, in any case, have bad luck. and that can be changed. it absolutely can be changed and you do have the time to adjust your studying so you can make up for the misstep. it’s gon be okay buttercup <3

1. vent to a friend/sb you’re close with

i personally attacked my bestie, talked to a few other ppl, and it helped get some of the frustration out. it’s also important you learn to speak to yourself how you would to a friend - you certainly wouldn’t tell them they’re a failure and won’t come back from this, would you? what you actively tell yourself shapes your subconscious thoughts.

2. catch up on the self care you’ve neglected when studying

get a long shower to wash the exam off, eat your meals slowly, get enough sleep (!), clean your room (unburden The Chair™ - srsly, do your laundry - and vacuum, change your bedsheets perhaps?)

3. make a study plan for the retake

be sure to make it realistic and flexible so you don’t end up inducing more stress (helpful posts: 1 2 3 4 (not mine)), try to finish all the topics at least 3 days before the exam so you can spend the last days refreshing your knowledge and preparing mentally instead of cramming.

4. reflect (critically) on your studying so far

is there anything you can do to get more out of your time? quality over quantity is super important when it comes to revision; try implementing more active recall into your study sessions (some posts you can consult on this topic: 1 2 3 (not mine), what is active recall?) and spacing them out more; try to avoid cramming as it increases your stress levels and isn’t as affective with committing information to memory. also, if you asses you could use some help, reach out! ask a friend, get in touch with your professor, seek advice online… getting help = showing readiness for improvement = mature and very welcome!

5. schedule self-care time

when you’re making your study plan, remember to also think of your mental and physical health ● you can space out little acts of self care throughout the week (i.e. take a bubble bath every sunday, schedule a weekly video call with your best friend, allot time to spend with your s/o, do a quick workout every day,…) ● or have a ‘mental health day’ for a whole day each week (i.e. on saturdays, only do things you enjoy - spend the day reading/drawing/binging netflix/baking/…); i personally like to space my self care throughout the week and go for a walk with my best friend every two weeks or so. i’m not kidding, schedule your ‘me’ time into your planner. write. it. down.

6. sleep

i’ve mentioned it already but it’s so important it deserves it’s own bullet point - remember to also take good care of your brain. it is, after all, the organ working the hardest here. a whole day of studying, doing chores, talking to people, etc. has your synapses firing away like crazy, so sleeping is vital for them to recover and come back stronger the next day. give them time to cool down, process the information you’ve gathered throughout the day and store it somewhere you can access it later. seriously. an important note here: there isn’t a single amount of sleep that is optimal for everyone - some people work best on 6 hours of sleep, some can’t go on less than 9. dedicate yourself to figuring out what works best for you and learn to plan your wake up time. ● option no. 1: get into the habit of going to sleep and waking up every. day. at. the. same. time. - a good routine is even more vital in these times when time doesn’t even matter bc we literally don’t go anywhere ever. ● option no. 2: if your uni/work schedule doesn’t allow you to establish a daily routine, try using sleepyti.me to calculate when you should wake up to feel most refreshed :)

TAGS. tags, tags, tags! the tumblr algorithm runs solely on tags, meaning likes don’t do anything when it comes to boosting posts - make sure to use most common tags and check the spelling! some popular tags in the studyblr community are #studyblr #studying #onmydesk and #studyspo. i would also higly recommend using bloggers’ tags! a lot of people track a tag, meaning your posts will show up on their dash even if they don’t follow you. you can usually find their tracking tag in the blog description or on their about/faq page :) (i, for example, track #bulletnotestudies). additionally, keep in mind that only the first 20 tags count, after that you’re just screaming into the void

FORMAT PROPERLY  when posting photos, use the photo and not text type of post; it does have an effect on the display on some of the tumblr themes and can be a factor of whether or not your posts will get reblogged. continuing on the same tangent, make sure all your photos are the same size! in the mobile app and on the dash, the photos get cropped to fit the post margins anyway, but if you go to someone’s blog, they will show in the size you used - meaning your pretty moodboard will look all wonky if you didn’t crop all the photos to the same size. and if you can, post your photo posts through the website on a computer, rather than from your phone/tablet; the mobile version converts photo posts into text, meaning the format will get all jumbled if you use two or more photos.  pay attention to your descriptions and text posts too. if you’re writing a long one, separate it into paragraphs, so it’s easier to read. similarly, remember that most people use the mobile app, so super long posts will clog up their dash and they’ll most likely end up scrolling really fast to just get to the end of the post quickly (insert a ‘read more’ to avoid this)

EDITING you don’t need fancy stationery or technology to make ‘sucessful’ posts, but if you have the means and a little time, editing can get you very far. here’s a post by @myhoneststudyblr​ in which she kindly takes you through her process step by step. also, here’s how i edit my photos.

figure out an OPTIMAL POSTING TIME  when are your followers most active? for me, it’s around 10-11am and 1-2:30pm my time. also reblog your own posts at diff times to make sure you reach all timezones (i usually schedule reblogs right after i’ve published my post)

TRIAL AND ERROR  your posts won’t just one day start getting thousands of notes, slow and steady, most importantly: focus on making content you enjoy - if you like the process and like what you’re putting out, it’ll show and notes will start trickling in as well! something @study-with-jana​ once told me that’s really stuck with me: “Not all your posts are going to be successful but every once in a while there’s going to be one that is, so just keep trying. You’ll also get better at taking pictures the more you do it so just keep posting and don’t mind how many notes you get that much.”

and for the sake of everyone’s good mood and comfort in the community, please do not turn to reposting others’ content in an effort to gain notes. it’s highly disrespectful towards the actual author and demotivates them. a lot. recognise that making your own content takes a lot of time, planning, and overall effort. this is a community and that means that we support content creators in turn for the posts they share with us for free. reblog their posts!

hi anon! well firstly i just wanna remind u that ‘pretty’ is 100% subjective when it comes to these things, and i have to say that i especially notice it in regards to bullet journaling - i always feel like everyone’s spreads look miles better than mine, but people seem to like my bujo posts just fine :) so what i’m trying to say is, don’t focus on how pretty your journal is, focus on the process - do what feels good, let your creativity run wild, try new things etc. i assure you you’ll start liking your spreads more and more as you go and get a hang of it :)

here’s just a couple tips you might find helpful:

discover what medium you like best - what type of pens? gel/ballpoint? maybe markers or crayons? do you enjoy adding printed photos or stickers? it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the options you see on studyblr, but remember that you don’t need fancy stationery to make ‘pretty’ spreads :) i usually just go for a black gel pen, a pastel marker for my accent color, sometimes i add some washi tape, but that’s it - i prefer a pretty minimalistic look to my spreads

draw inspiration from others’ bujos - ofc this doesn’t mean copy them completely (unless they say it’s alright if you do, most will if you ask them beforehand!), but you can find layout ideas and handwriting styles etc. by going through the #bujo or #bullet journal tag here on tumblr, you can also go on youtube (amanda rach lee is my fave bujo youtuber, her videos are lovely if you’re just starting out, as she does explain her process well) or instagram (again, amanda posts lots of doodle tutorials that you might like there). you can also see all bullet journal posts i’ve reblogged by searching ‘bujo’ on my blog. 

when you first start out, i think the most important thing is to play around with different spreads and layouts so you can find what works best for you. do you prefer vertical or horizontal weekly layouts? do you enjoy making playlist spreads? maybe quote pages or memory collages? remember that your bujo can be anything you want! a practical life planner with a hint of art, an artistic outlet with zero functionality, do what you want and what you want only. don’t think you have to make a certain spread just bc loads of other people are making them in their own journals. i, for instance, have come to realise i have absolutely zero use for a year at a glance spread. it does look lovely, though :)

most importantly: try not to hold yourself to a too high standard. i know. it’s not easy, but toning down on perfectionism will free you and allow you to focus on journaling for the fun of it, l'art pour l'art and all that :) additionally, you can use a pencil to sketch your spread before going in with a pen, just so you can easily fix any spacing mistakes you might make 

Lastly, you might also find this post by @journalsanctuary​ helpful

and here’s a list of some studyblrs who post their bujo spreads frequently if you want to check their work out (i find their bujos inspirational myself, so): @jeonchemstudy @study-van @museeofmoon @starrystvdy *these clearly aren’t all of my faves, just a couple i can name off the top of my head atm* + @merostudies​ who hasn’t posted in a while, but their spreads are drop dead gorgeous and @saltwaterstudies who doesn’t post as frequently, but i love his spreads all the same :)