#studyblr ask

📕 What book has had the biggest impact on your life, and why?

📖Do you prefer physical books or e-books? Why?

💛How do you organize your bookshelves? By genre, author, color, or in a completely unique way?

🔖What quote from a book resonated with you deeply?

🤎Are you a one-book-at-a-time reader, or do you read multiple books simultaneously?

📝What fictional world would you love to visit and explore if given the chance?

💚Which book character do you relate to the most, and why?

📙What’s your favorite genre to read, and do you have any recommendations within that genre?

📑Hardcover, paperback, ebook, or audiobook? Which format do you prefer?

🤍Do you have any reading goals for this year? How are you progressing so far?

💙 What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation, and why?

📚Do you have a go-to reading spot or do you read everywhere?

❤️Who is your all-time favorite author, and what makes their writing so special to you?

🧾What is the most memorable book ending you’ve ever read? Did it leave you satisfied or wanting more?

💜What book did you initially not enjoy but ended up loving? What changed your perspective?

📗If you could have a conversation with any author, living or deceased, who would it be and what would you ask them?

🖤 Are there any book series that you’ve been meaning to start but haven’t gotten around to yet? Which ones are they?

📔Do you have any bookish rituals or habits that you follow before, during, or after reading a book?

🧡Is there a particular book cover that you find absolutely stunning? Share a picture or describe it!

-Mari from @contre-qui

Thank you for the ask Mari ✨

motivation: what was your favourite subject when you were little?

English and arts and craft! Mostly because I did so well in them tbh, but also because I had great teachers.

results: what is your favourite subject now?

Have a lovely day, and good luck with your studies!

hello!!

6. career goals?

I am currently studying for the LSAT and GRE/GMAT. I will be applying to dual JD/MBA programs this fall for next year. I hope to go into law or business. If I go into the later, I’ll be working with my best friend Lia and I’m so excited.

15. class that you’ve always wanted to take but never had the chance?

Hi! Unfortunately I haven’t used it in a long time cause it was really time consuming. I still use the 10 minutes method to track everything, but through a Korean planner I bought on Amazon.

So right now I’m using the bullet journal to plan daily activities and to write down my goals and how to achieve step by step, then I use the Korean planner to track the time I spent on studying Uni staff and languages.

Hope it’s clear ✨

You can actually create a tons of spread:

- fav songs in your TL spread

- wishlist of shows and dramas you’d like to watch in your TL

- spread about your main goal and how to achieve it diving it into small chunks of workload

- resources you’d like to look for on the net before purchasing them

oooooo this is an interesting one !

1. hair tied up in a messy bun; fogged up glasses; half-sipped coffee; desk scattered with sheets and books and pens and markers; the sun setting lazily outside your window; working towards the end of an assignment/paper and then finally arriving to the moment when you close all the tabs and books and heave a sigh of relief as you finish your tasks.

2. rusty silver rings; tattered book;, sitting by the ocean on dark rocks; reciting poetry to the waves

3. cascading gold necklaces on mocha brown skin; sun beams voicing off collarbones; dark hair falling on her shoulders; sitting by the window, sipping a cold brew and watching the sunset.

4. a warm monsoon evening; sitting in the thick humid air surrounded by monsteras, pothos, palms and ivy; sipping an iced coffee and chatting away with a beloved friend; olive and beige filmsy clothes draped over you

5. a dark sweater; black goth doc martens; walking on the wet gravel; studying in the warm corner of the city library; hearing the train tattle by; finishing up work and assignments; hair tied up.

hi! god that’s so true — i’m on my first week of the school year and having all the syllabi thrown at you in one sitting can get really overwhelming 😬  

i’ve spent some time over the past few months reading up on success strategies for college though (i recommend Cal Newport’s books and Make Time by James Knapp and John Zeratsky), and here are my best tips + how i apply them into my own life!

Prepping for a new school year 101

Sort out your priorities. You need to get clear on your “essential few”. This one sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s crazy how much trivial stuff students try to fit on their plate. List 3-5 of the most important aspects of your life (say, for me, it could be Academics, Blogging, then Cheer) and arrange them in order of importance. Set goals for each of these areas. Then, keep this list somewhere you can see it often so it can guide you in your decisions throughout the school year!

Build routines. Now, balancing all of those priorities is not easy, and you might overlook another very important thing: taking care of yourself. The best way to mitigate that is by building habits that keep you happy and less stressed (exactly what this is is up to you — I just journal and read). You’re more likely to stick to these habits if you integrate them into morning and evening routines! Design one for your semester and feel free to edit along the way; the important thing is that you’re carving that time out for yourself to take a breather from academics.

Devise a system for seeing deadlines at a glance. I personally use Notion, my FAVORITE tool that I think every single student should give a shot to track my courses, assignments, and topics. This is so important. You can review this every week or so to stay on top of your requirements, and it’s yet another guiding post that can show you how you need to manage your time to turn in quality work...without having to cram the night before. Here’s a screenshot of mine in Notion:

Set up distraction barriers. You need laser focus to make the most out of your courses, lectures, and readings. That means turning off your phone when it’s not needed, or using an app like Forest, or installing a tool like SelfControl or Freedom on your computer to block distracting sites. If you’d like, you can even set specific windows of time that are social media free. For me, that’s often 9AM-12PM, or anytime I just want to focus and do some deep work. Oh, and organize your study space! Clean desk, clear mind.

Allot time to rest and reflect on your goals/systems. Take back your rest days! This ties in with the “build routines” step — a weekly or biweekly review can help you gain clarity on what habits are working for you or what you need to change. This could also be a good time to decide on the next steps towards achieving your goal for the sem/AY: list down the topics to study, what needs to get done, what you need to revise. I do this every Sunday — no academics, no social media, no work, just a few hours to myself and my goals.

Thank you for the ask!! 😊😊

Coffee: what inspired you to pursue your current degree?