Kakpok - Skinny Noodle

This post by Second Year Studying got me inspired to make a printable that you can stick to your wall to remind you of what to do when you are stressed /feeling anxious about studying. (I do recommend you to read the post more than once)

I didn’t try it yet, because I am not on exam season but I am sure that this will help me when I am feeling overwhelmed.

my masterlist of 'how to life’ tips

Cleaning & Tidying

Make your bed in the morning. It takes seconds, and it’s worth it.

Reset to zero each morning. 

Use the UFYH 20/10 system for clearing your shit. 

Get a reed diffuser and stick it on your windowsill. 

Have a ‘drop-zone’ box where you dump anything and everything. At the beginning/end of the day, clear it out and put that shit away.

Roll your clothes, don’t fold them - or fold them vertically.

Automate your chores. Have a cleaning schedule and assign 15mins daily to do whatever cleaning tasks are set for that day. Set a timer and do it - once the timer is up, finish the task you’re on and leave it for the day. 

Fold your clothes straight out of the tumble dryer (if you use one), whilst they’re still warm. This minimises creases and eliminates the need for ironing. 

Clean your footwear regularly and you’ll feel like a champ. 

Organisation & Productivity

Learn from Eisenhower’s Importance/Urgency matrix. 

Try out the two-minute rule and the Pomodoro technique.

Use. A. Planner. (Or Google Calendar, if that’s more your thing.)

Try bullet journalling.

Keep a notebook/journal/commonplace book to dump your brain contents in on the regular. 

Set morning alarms at two-minute intervals rather than five, and stick your alarm on the other side of the room. It’s brutal, but it works. 

Set three main goals each day, with one of them being your #1 priority. Don’t overload your to-do list or you’ll hit overload paralysis and procrastinate. 

If you’re in a slump, however, don’t be afraid to put things like “shower” on your to do list - that may be a big enough goal in itself, and that’s okay. 

Have a physical inbox - a tray, a folder, whatever. If you get a piece of paper, stick it in there and sort through it at the end of the week.

Consider utilising the GTD System, or a variation of it.

Try timeboxing. 

Have a morning routine, and guard that quiet time ferociously. 

Save interesting-looking shit to instapaper. Have a set time where you read through the stuff you saved to instapaper and save the shit that you like from instapaper to evernote (or bookmark it properly). 

During your working hours, put on your footwear, even if you’re sat on your bed. (Why?)

Have a folder for all your important documents and letters, organised by topic (e.g. medical, bank, university, work, identification). At the front of this folder, have a sheet of paper with all the key information written on it, such as your GP’s details, your passport details, driving licence details, bank account number, insurance number(s), and so on. 

Try using StayFocusd and RescueTime (or similar apps/extensions). (I promise, you’ll find that you’re not as busy as you think you are.)

Schedule working time and down time alike, in the balance that works for you. 

Money

Have. A. God. Damn. Budget. 

Use a money tracker like toshl, mint, or splitwise. Enter all expenses asap! (You will forget, otherwise.)

Have a ‘money date’ each week, where you sort through your finances from the past seven days and then add it to a spreadsheet. This will help you identify your spending patterns and whether your budget is actually working or not. 

Pack your own frickin’ lunch like a grown-up and stop buying so many takeaway coffees. Keep snacks in your bag. 

Go to your bank and take out £100 in £1 coins (or w/e your currency is). That shit will come in useful for all kinds of things and you’ll never be short on change for the bus or the laundry. 

Food & Cooking

Know how to cook the basics: a starch, a protein, a vegetable, and a sauce.

Simple, one-pot meals (“a grain, a green, and a bean”) are a godsend. 

Dried porcini mushrooms make a fantastic stock to cook with. 

Batch cook and freeze. Make your own ‘microwave meals’. 

Buy dried goods to save money - rice and beans are a pittance. (Remember to soak dried beans first, though!) 

Consider Meatless Mondays; it’s healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly.

Learn which fruits and vegetables are cheapest at your store, and build a standard weekly menu around those. (Also remember that frozen vegetables are cheap and healthy.) 

Learn seasoning combinations. Different seasoning, even with the exact same ingredients, can make a dish seem completely new. 

Don’t buy shit for a one-off recipe, especially if you won’t use it all. If you really want to try out a recipe, see if a friend would be interested in making it with you, then pool for the expenses. 

Make your own goddamned pasta sauce. Jamie Oliver has a decent recipe here, but the beauty of tomato sauce is that you can totally wing it and adapt the fuck out of it. 

Misc

Have a stock email-writing format. 

Want to start running, but find it boring? Try Zombies, Run!. 

Keep a goddamn first aid kit and learn how to use it. 

Know your OTC pain relief. 

Update your CV regularly. 

Keep a selection of stamps and standard envelopes for unexpected posting needs. (It happens more regularly than you would think!) 

Some final words of advice:

Organisation is not a goal in itself, it is a tool. Don’t get caught up in the illusion of productivity and get distracted from the actual task at hand. 

Routines and habits will help you. Trust in them.

You have the potential to be an organised and productive person, just as much as anybody else. It just takes practice. 

So today I started a habit tracker. Personally, bullet journaling is a bit too large of a task for my current schedule, however, I liked the idea of this spread. So, I made a stand-alone habit tracker.

What I’m tracking: 🍎Clean eating- based on overall food consumption 🗑Clean room- I live in a dorm so this is a daily reminder to tidy up 📚Reading- trying to read at least one chapter of a book daily for pleasure 💕Lotion- moisturizing is important #treatyoself 💧Water- 100% bandwagoning… I hate drinking water and I see it as a chore, but we’re trying 🎨Art- doing one creative thing a day 😴Nap- either pulling an all-dayer or only taking 1 nap (an hour or less) 💪🏻Fit- working out 📓Log- logging food and journaling 😊Mood- how you feelin’? ✏️School- doing productive school things 🌜Make bed- obvious 💡Learn- trying to learn something outside of class (today I watched a TED talk on YouTube) 🌷Plants- remembering to water my plants 👯Social- staying in touch with friends even when you’re busy ➕-trying to impact someone positively every day

YOU’VE BEEN VISITED BY EXAM JONGIN 

REBLOG THIS POST AND YOU WILL PASS ALL YOUR EXAMS

So I made another collection! This round of inspirational quotes goes to the philosophers. Like the other times, I hope you enjoy these inspirational quotes and find them inspiring too!

Plato

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”

“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”

“The good is the beautiful.”

Lao Tzu

“From caring comes courage.”

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”

“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

Aristotle

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.”

Socrates

“Be as you wish to seem.”

“It is not living that matters, but living rightly.”

“Let him that would move the world first move himself.”

Epictetus

“No great thing is created suddenly.”

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”

“It takes more than just a good looking body. You’ve got to have the heart and soul to go with it.”

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

“Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.”

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”

“Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but wish for them as they are, and you will find them.”

“It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.”

“Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.”

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

“The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.”

“You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.”

Soren Kierkegaard

“Be that self which one truly is.”

“Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living.”

“The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived.”

“Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are.”

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”

Hypatia

“Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.”

“Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”

Confucius

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Albert Camus

“To be happy we must not be too concerned with others.”

“Basically, at the very bottom of life, which seduces us all, there is only absurdity, and more absurdity. And maybe that’s what gives us our joy for living, because the only thing that can defeat absurdity is lucidity.”

“I know of only one duty, and that is to love.”

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

“You cannot create experience. You must undergo it.”

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”

You are beautiful :))

Bullet Journal Spread Ideas

New Year

New Year’s Resolutions How to actually achieve those resolutions Highlights of 2016 Things to look forward to in 2017 Reflection of 2016 How you can make 2017 better Things you did in 2016 that you shouldn’t in 2017 Favorite pictures of 2016 Memorable quotes from 2016 Achievements in 2016 Favorites of 2016 (e.g. music, movies, books, art, food, new activities) New things to try in 2017 (e.g. hobbies, food, places to travel) Upcoming releases in 2017 (e.g. music, movies, books) How you want the world to change in 2017 Important dates in 2016 People you met in 2016

Mind/Emotion

Stress-relieving activities Curiosity page (questions you want the answers to) What if? Page Happiness page Things to do when sad (or any negative emotion) Sleep tracker Mood log Dream log Gratitude list Self care activities Un-do list (stop doing) Unexplainable emotions page (e.g. that feeling when…)

Academic

Grade tracker Vocabulary Achievements list Plan for the school year Revision schedule and progress Things to self study

Life/Experiences

Long term goals Short term goals (e.g. this week/month) Travel log Bucket list Reflections (daily/monthly/yearly) Places you wish to visit Friend lists + about them

Money/Finance

Spendings tracker Savings tracker Financial goals Wishlist

Inspirational Stuff

Brain dump Favorite quotes Recipes Pieces of writing (e.g. news articles, poetry, etc.) Favorite words Story ideas OC ideas

Art/Journaling

DIY and project ideas Handwriting experiments Color swatches/palettes Bullet journal page ideas Doodle page Testing stationery/washi tapes Six word stories A sentence a day Blog post ideas

Entertainment

Playlists (e.g. playlist of the week, song of the day) To read To watch Already read Watched Hobbies to try Favorites list (e.g. movies, albums, songs, books)

Senses

General observations (e.g. people, places, things) Overheard conversations Music/melodies you heard Things you see Different textures/things you touched Things you tasted (could be food, drinks, or inedible things) Interesting/foreign smells

hello! the studyblr community is constantly growing, so i thought i’d make a post to help new studyblrs get started. i hope this helps you!! (header inspired by rifle paper co.)

- ̗̀ general information ̖́-

studyblr = study + tumblr! the studyblr community is incredibly supportive, and there are so many valuable resources and kind people out there to help you. anyone can be a studyblr. you don’t need expensive stationery to be productive and successful! here are some useful links and chrome extensions:

what’s a bullet journal? by @studypetals

calligraphy and hand lettering

momentum (a studyblr favorite!)

xkit (a tumblr lifesaver pls download xkit omg)

lanes (new tab w pomodoro timer)

plan & my study life (organizes ur daily tasks!)

mendeley (research lifesaver!)

lagom (super cute tab page)

gistnote (highlight on ur computer!)

- ̗̀ setting up your studyblr ̖́-

create a unique url. many people incorporate their name or interests into their urls somehow. for example, my url is studyplants because i love all kinds of flowers and plants. @studyquill​‘s studyblr url generator may give you some inspiration! feel free to check out my saved urls page as well :)

find a theme. your theme will help you stand out! a clean and organized theme will help you and others find useful posts. i’ve included some of my favorite theme makers and specific themes to give you some ideas:

acuite​  [ calypso / clio / thalia ]

sorrism [ helium / breezeblocks /  kindred ]

felinum [ bakovia / shortcake / mediocre ]

- ̗̀  original content  ̖́-

the introduction post. this should be your first studyblr post! it’s never too late to introduce yourself. be sure to include your name (if you’re comfortable with that!) and whether you’re a high school, college student, etc. you can also talk about your interests and what you hope to accomplish by making a studyblr. finally, mention some of your favorite studyblrs! you can look at other people’s studyblr introductions here. 

studyblr photos. you can photograph anything, from your notes to your workspace to the contents of your pencil case. keep in mind that most studyblr photos are edited. you definitely don’t have to do that, but if you do, here are my secrets for editing photos. some people use the vsco app, but i just edit from my iphone 5. 

step 1: change the cast!! you’ll find this under the color settings. basically you just need to give your photo a slight blue tint. trust me, it makes a huge difference!

step 2: adjust the lighting! i like to play around with exposure, brightness, black point, and contrast until i find a good balance

masterposts. if you’re not comfortable posting photos but you have tips you want to share, i’d recommend making a masterpost! you can include useful links and your own advice. making a cool header image (like the one on this post hehe) can make your masterpost stand out. my all-time favorite resource for this is canva. it has TONS of free templates and fonts. you can read all about it here. 

- ̗̀  final thoughts  ̖́-

i really hope this helps you! if you have any intros or studyblr posts you want to share with me, i track #studyplants. this is ironic because i’m actually pretty shy, but i’d definitely suggest putting yourself out there and trying to make new friends! you can start by tagging lots of studyblrs in your original posts or by messaging some of your favorite bloggers. good luck!

-adi  ♡