props to stem people wtf! i can bullshit my way through any english essay because literally u just have to say stuff. but for stem paper u have to say stuff AND it has to be true. wack.
Send me to Mars with party supplies before next august 5th
Ominous positivity
Taken from Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, daughter of the Tiger Mother
Preliminary Steps 1. Choose classes that interest you. That way studying doesn’t feel like slave labor. If you don’t want to learn, then I can’t help you. 2. Make some friends. See steps 12, 13, 23, 24. General Principles 3. Study less, but study better. 4. Avoid Autopilot Brain at all costs. 5. Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 6. Write it down. 7. Suck it up, buckle down, get it done. Plan of Attack Phase I: Class 8. Show up. Everything will make a lot more sense that way, and you will save yourself a lot of time in the long run. 9. Take notes by hand. I don’t know the science behind it, but doing anything by hand is a way of carving it into your memory. Also, if you get bored you will doodle, which is still a thousand times better than ending up on stumbleupon or something. Phase II: Study Time 10. Get out of the library. The sheer fact of being in a library doesn’t fill you with knowledge. Eight hours of Facebooking in the library is still eight hours of Facebooking. Also, people who bring food and blankets to the library and just stay there during finals week start to smell weird. Go home and bathe. You can quiz yourself while you wash your hair. 11. Do a little every day, but don’t let it be your whole day. “This afternoon, I will read a chapter of something and do half a problem set. Then, I will watch an episode of South Park and go to the gym” ALWAYS BEATS “Starting right now, I am going to read as much as I possibly can…oh wow, now it’s midnight, I’m on page five, and my room reeks of ramen and dysfunction.” 12. Give yourself incentive. There’s nothing worse than a gaping abyss of study time. If you know you’re going out in six hours, you’re more likely to get something done. 13. Allow friends to confiscate your phone when they catch you playing Angry Birds. Oh and if you think you need a break, you probably don’t. Phase III: Assignments 14. Stop highlighting. Underlining is supposed to keep you focused, but it’s actually a one-way ticket to Autopilot Brain. You zone out, look down, and suddenly you have five pages of neon green that you don’t remember reading. Write notes in the margins instead. 15. Do all your own work. You get nothing out of copying a problem set. It’s also shady. 16. Read as much as you can. No way around it. Stop trying to cheat with Sparknotes. 17. Be a smart reader, not a robot (lol). Ask yourself: What is the author trying to prove? What is the logical progression of the argument? You can usually answer these questions by reading the introduction and conclusion of every chapter. Then, pick any two examples/anecdotes and commit them to memory (write them down). They will help you reconstruct the author’s argument later on. 18. Don’t read everything, but understand everything that you read. Better to have a deep understanding of a limited amount of material, than to have a vague understanding of an entire course. Once again: Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 19. Bullet points. For essays, summarizing, everything. Phase IV: Reading Period (Review Week) 20. Once again: do not move into the library. Eat, sleep, and bathe. 21. If you don’t understand it, it will definitely be on the exam. Solution: textbooks; the internet. 22. Do all the practice problems. This one is totally tiger mom. 23. People are often contemptuous of rote learning. Newsflash: even at great intellectual bastions like Harvard, you will be required to memorize formulas, names and dates. To memorize effectively: stop reading your list over and over again. It doesn’t work. Say it out loud, write it down. Remember how you made friends? Have them quiz you, then return the favor. 24. Again with the friends: ask them to listen while you explain a difficult concept to them. This forces you to articulate your understanding. Remember, vague is bad. 25. Go for the big picture. Try to figure out where a specific concept fits into the course as a whole. This will help you tap into Big Themes – every class has Big Themes – which will streamline what you need to know. You can learn a million facts, but until you understand how they fit together, you’re missing the point. Phase V: Exam Day 26. Crush exam. Get A.
hello guys 🌻 so, i just finished my A-levels *cheers* and basically i have not the slightest idea what to do with my free time but i’m determined to stay productive, hence this is the reason for this masterpost. hope you all enjoy it too!!
stuff to do after exams
GET THAT SLEEP YOU MISSED OUT ON FOR AGES
treat yourself!!!
get into a bath and chill
play your fave songs
get back to watching that series you stopped watching before exams
meet up with your friends and do something fun [and try to avoid talking about exams as much as you can]
get back to doing that hobby you loved doing
plan a trip [even if it’s just in your own country, have fun and act like a tourist!]
organise a sleepover with your friends + play some board games [be safe if you’re drinking please!!]
check out local events, there is bound to be something you like [for example, we have a nature festival soon here + i’m rly excited to go!!!]
GO TO THE BEACH AYYY
download some new apps yay!!!
do new things! [read new books, watch new tv shows, find a new hobby, do anything]
spend time with your family and friends
exercise maybe idk!!! find a new workout you like + try to stick to it
meditate
try finding a job [check my job tag for tips + resources]
try out new restaurants + coffeeshops + so many other things!!
volunteer omg!!
help out around the house
visit relatives you didn’t have the chance to visit during exams
cute june quote!!
academics + learning
start a bullet journal?
plan, plan, plan!!
learn a new language
learn how to cook + make fun snacks
learn photography [or a new hobby in general tbh]
find an online course on something you don’t have to study for school
watch some documentaries
check your school syllabuses for books you should read before starting the next school year
prepare for uni
take some summer classes
review some of your notes from time to time if they’re useful for the next school year
where to get motivation
motivation masterpost
motivation tag
my study instagram [which i really should update soon]
study inspiration
how to study in summer
staying on track during the summer
+ my masterposts
notes, studying, and self-study resources
self-study resources
supplies
igcse resources
literature masterpost
organisation
aesthetically pleasing notes
annotating
studying a foreign language
really great apps
math
college + uni
motivation
biology
space!!!!
chemistry
physics
summary writing
the discursive/argumentative essay
the narrative essay + the descriptive essay
the ultimate english masterpost!!
stress relief
what i’ve learnt throughout my years of being a student
how to stay productive during holidays
bullet journals
melodic studying
philosophy
stay sated whilst you’re motivated
shakespeare
+ more
hope this helped you guys, enjoy your summer!!
- helena xx
image credit (x)
FIX YOUR SLEEPING SCHEDULE (1-2 months)
Try to wake up earlier every day. Like 5 - 10 min earlier than the day before. Until you wake up any time before 8am or so…
If you struggle with waking up & snooze button is you bff:
Put your alarm clock as far away from the bed as possible.
Drink a glass of water right after you wake up.
Pour another glass of water on yourself right after you wake up.
Prepare some coffee the night before, leave it by your bedside, drink it after you wake up.
Have your blinds/curtains open, so that it’s bright after you wake up.
Try to go to bed 5-10 min earlier than the night before.
Track how many hours of sleep you’re getting. Aim to get at least 7h per day or 49h per week.
Increase your sleeping hours incrementally. Aim to get at least 1h of sleep more than the previous week. For example, if this week you slept for 41hrs, aim to get an extra hour of sleep next week, so it’s 42h.Once you get enough hours of sleep and wake up early-ish.
Try to keep your sleeping schedule consistent. It is really important to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Even if it’s weekend. Or even if that means, you getting less than 7hrs of sleep that day. I’d say waking up at the same time everyday is the most important step, which will help you the most with fixing your sleeping schedule.
START EATING HEALTHY (1-2 months)
This step really depends from person to person, but firstly I suggest you take some blood tests to see if you have any deficiencies, etc. Especially, if you struggle with cravings.
Try intermittent fasting, if you struggle with binge eating or overeating. As it will help you to learn to listen to your body better: when it’s hungry, when it’s full, etc. It’s really simple, there are many methods of Intermittent fasting, but I’d suggest 16/8 for the beginners. (Google it for more info)
DRINK ALL THE WATER. Again, if you’re not drinking enough water, try to level up your water game incrementally. Download some water tracking app on your phone to help you. Drinking water will make you more energetic, increase your metabolism, and decrease you appetite (among many more benefits).
Track what you eating. I would really suggest tracking your meals for around a month. Because, most of the time people have no idea that what they’re eating is unhealthy. Again, download an app to your phone for that.
Make your own meals once in a while. Not only this will save you money, but it’ll help you to see what’s really going into your body.
Eat less meat and more veggies/fruits. Go to your local market and buy some veggies/fruits, you have never tried before. I’m sure you’ll find your new favs. Eat/buy less meat. Not only it’s good for the environment, but it is good for you, too. Get a veggie burger instead of the beef one, etc.
Cut dairy. Find your new favourite milk substitute. Advice: Oat milk is really good with the tea and oatmeal/porridge; hazelnut milk is amazing on it’s own; cashew milk goes well with cereals.
Learn more about nutrition in general. It will help you to make better food choices and it will make eating healthy much easier in general, because once you understand all the chemistry behind the food and what it does to your body, you kinda don’t want to make yourself feel worse. Here are some free resources: - Human nutrition course from Alison.com - Crash course Metabolism&Nutrition: Part 1 and Part 2 - The Health Nerd’s YouTube Playlist about nutrition - What I’ve Learnt YouTube Playlist - Human nutrition course from Alison.com - Crash course Metabolism&Nutrition: Part 1 and Part 2 - The Health Nerd’s YouTube Playlist about nutrition - What I’ve Learnt YouTube Playlist
GET PHYSICALLY FIT (2-6 months)
Define your goals. Do you want to lose weight, do you want to get stronger, gain weight, be able to climb stairs without losing breath, run 5k?
Remember - you’re half-way through. Being physically fit has a lot to do with what you put into your body. So, if you fulfilled the previous step of eating healthy - you are half way through!
Make a plan. A Reasonable plan. Be honest with yourself.
Start small. Like, 5 min exercise in the morning. Or doing 10 sit ups per day. Don’t do anything overwhelming, like running 5k everyday if you haven’t run for the past 5 years.
Make sure that you kinda like what you’re doing. If you absolutely hate running - don’t do it. Hate doing sit ups in the morning? Try some yoga instead.
Explore until you find what you like. You don’t have to go to gym to get fit, especially if you hate it. Find a type of exercise, which you actually like. Maybe it’s dancing or hiking, taking your dog for a walk. Sign up for several trial lessons of various sport clubs. Ditch ‘em if you have them until you find something that you love. Stick with that.
Do the small changes in your everyday life. Stairs>Escalator, Walk>Drive, Do some squats while brushing your teeth, switch from regular desk to standing desk, etc… Find ways to incorporate being active into your everyday life
Track your effort instead of your progress. You cannot really control your progress that much (especially if your goal was to lose weight). However, you can always control your effort. So track it instead. This will leave you more motivated. As you will be able to see that you can do more and more everyday. Whereas, if you tracked your progress, you may not always get the result you hoped for, which might demotivate you and make you upset, wanting to quit.
BEAT DEPRESSION
Do the previous 3 steps and you’re half way through.
See a therapist/doctor. Depression is an illness, requiring medical treatment. So, get it. Remember: there is absolutely no fucking shame in having a mental illness.
Get some extra support. Talk to your friends or family. Or maybe someone on the internet.
Write it out. If you don’t want to talk - write down your thoughts. It can be just as helpful. It’ll help you to understand yourself better, see problems in your thinking, etc.
Distract yourself from yourself. Get someone/something to take care of, so that you can, for a moment, stop thinking about yourself and focus on something else. E.g, get a plant, or a dog, or a fish.
Self-care day. Dedicate at least one day per week for self-care. Take yourself out, either to a museum or some fancy cafe, do some stuff you like, whatever your hobbies are, do some physical self care: bath, face mask, manicure, etc., listen to some nice music, watch a film…..
STOP PROCRASTINATION
Celebrate your victories instead of mourning over your loses.So the only thing you’ve done today was write one sentence for your 20 page essay? Amazing! Buy yourself a candy for that!! I mean, you could’ve done nothing, but you didn’t - you wrote that one sentence and that’s worth celebrating.
Do it for only 2 minutes. If there’s an important thing you’ve been putting off for a while, tell yourself that you will only spend 2 minutes on doing it. If after 2 minutes you don’t want to do it anymore, great, stop it. However, after 2min. you actually might want to do more. No pressure either way.
Track your productivity. Track how much time you’ve been productive that day. Try to increase that time by a little bit every day.
Always forgive yourself. So, it’s been a week and you’ve done nothing? Don’t sweat it. Let it go. Blaming yourself will bring you absolutely nothing. Nothing good will come out of your negativity on yourself. So stop it. Forgive yourself and start again. And again, if you need to. Never stop trying. Always pick yourself after you fall. Beating procrastination and increasing your discipline is a skill. And all skills can be build on. There is nothing in you stopping you from changing. Remember that.
LEARN HOW TO DO TAXES (1h - 1 day)
Go to google.com.
Type in: “How to do taxes *the name of the country you’re living in*”
Read the results.
GET MENTALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO MAKE PHONE CALLS
Remember that just as with beating procrastination, making phone calls is a skill. And, again, skills can be learnt.
Get a new SIM card.
Top it up.
Dial some random numbers and pretend to be a salesman, selling whatever you like.. E.g., trying to sell broadband, cable tv, trying to get people to donate for some charity… Or whatever really… Me and some friends used to pretend we’re selling kittens or wood logs. Alternatively, you can pretend that you dialed a wrong person and talk about whatever, e.g. “Hey, Jess!! You wont believe what I saw today!! *start telling a made-up story*…”
If you get uncomfortable - just drop the call. No consequences whatsoever.
Repeat until you build up your game and your phone-call anxiety starts to diminish.
SLAY THOSE BITCHES Congratulations, now you’re ready to take over the world! Got get ‘em!!
1.11.15 // Currently waiting for my classmate to arive at my place so that we can FINALLY finish our assignment. I’m seriously debating whether I should just start, because I’ve been waiting for about an hour now and she lives like 5mins away from me :( If anybody feels like talking about dystopian literature, hit me up, I could really need the distraction/preparation.
Waddup my name is Charlie, im 21, and i never fucking learned how to study.
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