How to study productively from home

(add your own tips below)

1) still wake up at your usual time and follow your usual routine as closely as you can, if you would have had classes complete work for those subjects 

2) eat healthy! use this time as an opportunity to put time into making new meals and eating clean and energising food will make you feel more fresh even if you haven’t been outside

3) get dressed, as tempting as it is to sit in bed and wear pyjamas getting dressed will trick your brain into having more of a productive day than a lazy one

4) create a study corner, if you don't usually work from home create a place to do specifically that and decorate it! maybe add some post cards or photos or dried flowers, anything that encourages you to work there

5) make a new playlist, having new music to listen to will encourage you to sit down and work so you can listen to it 

6) remember to phone friends and family, don’t isolate yourself! other people are scared or bored and want the contact too

a few days in paris. buying too many books, pretty postcards and bookmarks.

Sonal Nathwani on Instagram / Society6

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15. Memory page

Learning a language can be a pain in the ass. I know, I’ve been there. Don’t get me started on the grammar and all its exceptions either. However, the more experienced I got with the languages, I got the hang on what works best for me. So here they are.

1. Learn vocabulary first. The first thing I did with English and Dutch was to learn as many words as possible. I didn’t bother on how I had to write them. I simply focused on how I had to pronounce them I tried to remember them. If you think about it, that’s exactly how babies learn how to speak. They start with simple words and then start to add on. 

2. EXPOSURE. This is what will make the difference. For English, I listened to an unhealthy amount of music. And I watch all Friends episodes subtitled in Spanish so I could slowly pick up what was going on. This way I even learned new phrases. Like how to pick someone up with a “how you doin’?” and a wink. 

3. Learn some basic sentence structure. I try not to go full on the grammar but introducing it bit by bit as I familiarize with language. And I play around with the sentences. I try asking for different things and I translate the sentences I use the most so I practice with those first. 

4. Befriend a native. THIS THO. When I was learning Dutch and English I became best friends with a Dutch girl in my class and a guy that speaks English like a native. We had this thing when I made a grammar mistake I had to give them 25 cents and that 25 cents quickly piled up so I picked up my pace and I actually learned to speak proper Dutch and English in a matter of 6 to 8 months. I’m not kidding, those 25 cents were the best 25 cents I’ve ever spent because no teacher would have helped me as fast as these 2 did. Now, 8 years later, we’re still besties. 

5. Study of grammar. I studied grammar properly after I was more familiarized with the language so I could definitely perfect it. And I think this was actually an advantage because most of the rules and structure of grammar suddenly came like second nature to me. There were, of course, some things that I wasn’t applying correctly, but it was actually very easy to fix them from then on. But think about it, you don’t teach a baby grammar first thing. So why would you do too? 

In a nutshell, start by familiarizing yourself with the language you want to speak. Learn a lot of words, get a lot of exposure so you can get a feel of the pronunciation and culture of speaking. Befriend a native, and make it interesting so you can learn and practice. And then try to truly understand the grammar. Do you have any other tips? Feel free to share!

• clean ya room (just do it). also, check those pinterest boards you save for “one day” and actually go through them and draw some inspiration, even if you just end up rearranging the books on your bookshelf or putting some flowers from your garden in a mason jar on your desk. this is your home, make it feel like it is.

• do your laundry (also, don’t forget your bed sheets). if you’re in the mood, look at next week’s weather forecast and think about what you’re going to wear. go through your drawers, check the back of your closet. that hat you bought some time ago and forgot about because you didn’t dare to wear it? well… new week, new you, right? 

• call a friend/family member you haven’t talked to in a while, tell them you miss them. tell them you love them. remember and appreciate that they are a part of your life even if it doesn’t feel like it all the time.

• draw, paint, journal, write or make some music. something you know you love doing but “never find the time”. sunday is “finding-the-time day”. if you’re not feeling creative, read a book or watch your favorite show. or watch a new show. a scary show. a funny show. laugh as loud as you want. listen to music. listen to your favorite songs, or listen to new songs. even a new genre if you dare. turn the volume all the way up. take a second to consciously feel the music. you can always get up and dance. or sing. or both.

• the great, but still really effective classic: take a bath or a really long shower. if you have this special face or hair mask you’re saving up for a special occasion: congrats, you’re the special occasion today. use it. also, body lotion. we all know you’re going to be running late during the week and skip it one too many times. make yourself feel like the goddess you are. 

• sit in silence for a few moments. listen to your breath. listen to your heartbeat. for the love of god PLEASE listen to your thoughts for once in your life. don’t make them feel like they are wrong. or bothersome. they too just want to be heard once in a while. what are they trying to tell you? what could be soothing for them? be compassionate to yourself. it’s okay. you are okay. you are okay.

• think about things you can be grateful for next week. even if you feel like your life sucks atm, think about the small things you take for granted in a different way. for example: “next week, i will have access to clean water. CLEAN. WATER. 844 million people don’t have that.” or “next week, my legs will take me wherever i want to go. not everybody has two fully functioning legs, so i’m lucky in that way.” you’re allowed to feel bad about your life, but you’re also allowed to feel good about things. 

• if you’ve stayed home most of the week, go out. go for a walk. go swimming. go to a party or dinner with friends. even if you feel like you don’t need to see the outside world, chances are you’ll feel great after you do. if you feel like you’ve been running around all week, maybe you’d like to stay home today. put on your ugliest sweater, comfiest leggings, and fluffiest socks and curl up under a thousand blankets. you a sloth today and it’s okay. 

• eat. i mean honestly: eat THE THING. i don’t care if you’re on a diet. if there’s something you’ve been craving all week that has turned you into the veiny-neck-dude meme just trying to resist it: EAT IT. you deserve it. not because you worked out or ate salads or did well in school, but just because you’re a human and you love to eat and life is short and you should be allowed to eat yummy things. it’s okay. you won’t gain 5 pounds or lose your brain cells no matter how unhealthy it is, i promise.

• plan plan plan yo week. it doesn’t matter if you use a planner, bullet journal, the calendar on your phone or the notes app: write everything down you have going on next week. appointments. events. coffee-dates. when are you going to the gym? what are you going to eat? (meal prep if necessary) also, create reminders on your phone for everything. “i won’t forget it!” is a sweet thought, but oh honey you will. schedule reminders for every event. let your phone remind you that you need to buy toilet paper when the store is nearby. schedule daily reminders for your medications. (once you’ve done this it honestly feels like you just cleaned out 38GB of your brain, you simply don’t have to worry about that anymore, space for more important info, like your new favorite pun to annoy everyone with)

The ABCDE Method: Accomplish Tasks more Efficiently

//11.26.18//

Hi guys! I know I keep coming in here and saying I’ll do the 100 days of productivity or I’m going to post on here or I’m going to post my own content and not reblog. That’s bullshit. I’m not going to do or say that this time, nope. This time I’m going to actually hold myself accountable.

How you ask? I’m going to start small. I’ve been slacking so much this year whether it’s because senioritis has truly kicked in or I’m overwhelmed or my mental state isn’t very good, I’m going to do better. It takes time and it’s hard; it requires patience. Throughout high school so far I’ve been able to just say do better and then I was even slightly better; that’s not happening this year however. So I’m going to start small…

I’m going to tell myself to do 1 or 2 productive things each day for 30 DAYS. Not 100. Whether it’s working out for 10-30 minutes, cleaning, basically anything I’ve put on a to do list, or even getting 8hours of sleep on a school night; I have to do at least 1 thing. Maybe I’ll post about it everyday or 1 a week or at the end, but I’ll be keeping track. I’m going to do this buy drawing a little chart (maybe on printer paper, a poster, notebook, whatever) and write the 1 thing I did that day; it’ll go up on a wall in my room; and I’ll post a picture of it at the end of the month.

This little challenge of mine will be somewhere between a month or month and a half.

//01.01.19//

I’d first like to begin by wishing you all a happy new year! I hope the past year was one filled with happiness and wonderful memories; and if it wasn’t (like mine), then I hope you take next year to learn from your past and grow and live your best life in the year to come.

If you remember my last test post/look for it, then you’ll see that I gave myself a miniature challenge to do at least one productive thing/something that would be beneficial for my mental health.

Here are some of the things I did in that month:

- visited one of the universities I am applying to

- had a long overdue sleepover with my very best friend in the entire world

- got a real christmas tree this year

- my anxiety/mental health was especially bad this month, but towards the end of the challenge I was able to come out of my mental breakdown and am slowly bringing my grades up

- celebrated my brother’s first birthday

- had a sleepover with two of my close friends (our friendship really grew over the course of the last year and I’m so grateful for that)

- watched some Rupaul’s drag race

- was sick for 3 days

- went to Michelle Obama’s book tour AND MET MICHELLE OBAMA (she is a literal goddess)

- played my flute at my last winter concert of high school

- spent a few days not doing any work and instead relaxing by watching netflix and reading to have a bit of a me day