#studying tip

In the past years I have been trying to implement small things, that could help improve my life with little effort. I don't think I have found the superme way to win at life, but these are a few things that did highly improve my days :

Keeping a daily gratitude list

I implemented this habit into my bullet journal almost two years ago. I had been seeing a lot of people doing it, and at the beginning I wasn't so sure about this. I decided to give it a try anyway, and i haven't stopped ever since. I will admit there are days in which I have to select just a few things, because everything wouldn't fit. Other days I have to really think to find something to be grateful for. This exercise is so good for this exact reason, it forces you to find at least one good thing in each day. It's litteraly a way to force yourself to see something positive in each day, and let me tell you, it's such a simple thing that has a huge impact on the long run. Even if you aren't sure about it I would reccomend to give it a try for one month, it takes one minute of your time each day, and you'll see if it could be a good habit for you.

Keeping a daily journal

I used to have a weird relationship with journaling, I might end up doing a separate post on it, but then around a year ago I finally managed to make an habit out of it. I try to journal everyday for at least five minutes. I feel like it's a great outlet, but it doesn't have to be necessarily about what one is feeling. In the past I had developed a bad relationship with the sort of journal I was keeping, partially because I felt a sort of awkwardness linked to it, but also because I associated it with many bad feelings. So anytime I would pick it up it would trigger my anxiety, and other bad feelinngs. This was until I started all over again, and I developped a new habit by using journaling prompts for self reflection, and self discovery. This made me associate my journal with better feelings, and it is now a great way not only to keep memories, or to process things that happen in my life, but also for self discovery, and ranting about anything, and keeping memories. To anyone who wants to start a journaling habit, I highly reccomend to start using prompts found online. I find that following a list of prompts is a good way to stay motivated as the habit is setting. Also I would try to associate this activity to a specific moment in the day, like right before working/studying in the morning, or at the very end of your day.

Reading first thing in the morning

This is the latest habit I have added to my daily routine, and I am enthusiastic about it. I love it so much. What I do is after waking up, I get out of bed, I prepare myself a hot mug of tea and I read for 30 minutes to an hour. This new habit prevents me from using my phone right after waking up, it makes me way more motivate to get up in the morning, and I get so much more reading done that I normally did. It's a great way to get my brain working in the morning, and if I could go back in time I would start doing this sooner. There's no other thing I would reccomend this much, I love this.

Tracking my habits

Again, this is something that you see quite often online on bullet journals, and so on. It's a very simple thing that just helps you to be more mindful about what you want to do on a weekly/monthly basis. I find that having a habit tracker spread in my bullet journal, makes me more motivated to actually do those habits, and it's nice to see at the end of the month how I did with it.

Keeping a huge glass of water right in front of me anything I sit at my desk

Hey Guys!! I made my first printables for us studyblrs.

To download, please go to the link. I put it on the website so that my broke student ass maybe generate some coins from Ad revenue, not that it’s likely but… The printable however, is completely free.

https://www.thereviewzz.com/blog/college-binder-printables-subjects-checklist

Here’s how you can use it:

I know how hectic a midterm/final/exam week can be. There is so much to study with very little time. Also, we students tend to go overboard/underestimate about the things we should study. A very common mistake I see all throughout my academic life was people studying what they shouldn’t. We sometimes study on what we already know and ignore the things we have a hard time to understand. And sometimes, people overestimate how well they know the subject they studied. Another very common mistake is skipping classes and thus having no idea on what to study: Maybe the teacher basically left out some of the subjects that were initially in the syllabus, or said that the subject won’t be included in the exam.

What we need in the exam week/weeks are not to spend time on researching what to study. What we need is a roadmap that will lead us to success with minimal steps. Now comes the checklist that we will be using throughout the semester to achieve our goals. Stop worrying, because I prepared a printable for you to follow. The checklist’s aim is to clarify what you should be working on.

This checklist I made is for using before the exams. How it should be used is as followed:

When to fill the form: Preferably in the first week of classes. Teachers, professors will give you a syllabus for the course that you’ll take. According to your syllabus, you list all the subjects in the subject column, the dates of the subjects and their importance. After this, you will revise the form –preferably- every week to make sure you are on the right track with the subjects. Don’t worry if you didn’t fill in the form first week, just do it as soon as possible.

Course: Name the course you are taking and its teacher. Write down its credits. Write down the class hours.

Material: List all the materials you will use in the course, including the additional material that is already in the syllabus.

Subjects: List the subjects that you will study on the course. Don’t just list as you go through the class. List everything beforehand. Look at the textbook and write down the subjects chapters. Write down the date/the week that you will learn the subject.

The importance: you will decide the importance of the subjects. If your professor says there will be a question on the exam about the subject, also check Q mark on the form. If you have no idea of the importance of the subjects, due to missed classes or another reason, ask your friends, professors, Ta’s or people who took this course before.

Additional subjects: List every reading, powerpoint, hand-outs etc. İn this part of the form.

Subtracted subjects: List every subject that your teacher stated you’re not responsible for.

Exam Content: Write every subject you are responsible for every test/exam/midterm/final. If you have the dates, write down the dates for these exams.

Notes: Feel free to use this space for additional details you deem important. You can do this when you revise the checklist.

How to revise: As said above, you should revise the checklist every week. This step will give you accuracy as some teachers tend to not follow the syllabus and add other course materials. But I know that most of us don’t do what we should do in time, and instead wait for the last minute. Don’t do that. At the very least, you should update this checklist every other week.

Revise Checklist: Mark the check for every time you revise the checklist and update it. Give yourself a pat on the shoulder. You deserved this.

Don’t worry. All of this looks like it takes too much time, but after the initial listing, this will only take 10 minutes. Every week, just ten minutes. I am sure we have some 10 minutes in our pockets that we can use for this. Just sit back, relax and do what you need to do.

Don’t forget. It takes time. The stuff that seems so big is actually made up of small things. Take one step at a time. Congratulate yourself for doing it. Make this fun. Buy a nice binder, color it, use stickers etc. I don’t care. Just don’t make it a chore. Try to like it.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing for failing.”

Benjamin Franklin

You are preparing for success. You got this.

Also, if you use the printable and post it, please tag me! I wanna see it being used by people haha.