Hiya! Wrapping Up Another Horrible Week But At This Point Im Pretty Used To It. Uni Is Beautiful/horrible.

please realize that it gets better. realize that one day you will go to sleep fully content. that one day you will be comfortable enough to smile and not second guess it. sure, you won’t have all the answers. no one ever does. but it will be better. everything will be better and your heart will feel lighter. you’ll believe it when they say i love you and you’ll look at a sunset and instead of wishing on the pink clouds you will close your eyes and say ‘thank u’. it gets better. it always does.

“he covered his face with his toga”

Fun is something we all need more of when the going gets hard, especially when the notes are long and the subject is hard! Here’s a few tips to help you become more interested in your work & keep on going.

Interactive Study Tools!

Written Kitten: get a kitten/puppy/bunny pic every 100 words

Quizlet: play fun games with your flashcards

Memrise: add custom mnemonics to your vocab terms

Clozemaster: pretend your language learning is a video game

GoConqr: go and make those online mindmaps

Khan Academy: make your learning totally interactive

Online Resources: a masterpost from youtube to history!

Snacks!

101 Study Snacks: (mostly) healthy, fun & easy snacks

Study Foods: a fun & healthy guide to what you should eat

Feed Yo’ Brain: sweet, savoury, or a drink? all covered!

5 Recipes That Make Life Easier: simple & necessary

5 Cheap, Tasty, & Healthy Snacks

Buzzfeed Tasty: simple & delicious video recipes

Playlists!

Study Playlists Masterpost: everything you ever need

Study Playlist Masterpost: aaaand some more! in categories!

Soundtracks for Study: to help you get through that study sesh 

& shoutouts to my favourite playlists:

calm down & work

rose redux

mildliners playlists

study nonstop

Study Sounds: not quite playlists, but calm and great for studying

Coffitivity: pretend you’re studying in a coffee shop

Noisli: study in nature rather than your room

Organization!

How to Stay Organized: oodles of helpful tips!

Organization: advice both physical and digital

Organization Methods: a bunch of different strategies

The Organization Guide for Lazy Students

Staying Organized in College: a seven step guide

How to Keep Binders Organized For School

Study Breaks!

Study Break Ideas: bet you hadn’t thought of doing yoga

Energizing Study Break Ideas & What To Avoid

Online Pomodoro Timer: work, break, repeat: all timed

Study Breaks: ideas for those 5 minutes of downtime

Studying 101: The Pomodoro Technique

Non-Studying Things To Do During Your Free Period

Doodles!

How To Illustrate Your Notes: perfect for visual learners

Guide to Pretty Notes: spice up your dull note-taking habits

Fundamentals of Visual Notetaking

Doodle Ideas: an adorable guide from studypetals!

Tumblr’s Bullet Journal Explore Page: for ultimate doodliness

There you have it! Try mixing up all these different strategies for maximum fun while studying.

If you have a way of making studying fun that wasn’t included, please please reply & let everyone know!!

listen, the studyblr community can be a wonderful place - but there’s this emphasis on absolute perfection that really doesn’t help a lot of students dealing with other issues on top of their studies. here are five unconventional study tips that might not fit the studyblr aesthetic but have helped me get straight as whilst learning to live with mental health and family problems too!

1. don’t study whilst commuting

i walk to school, so posts about studying on the bus just aren’t helpful - i don’t have the option to do that! even if i’m taking the train somewhere, the last thing on my mind is studying. i’m thinking about my bed and how early it is and whether or not my coffee is cool enough to drink without burning myself yet. not all of us can start working the second we’re awake, and that’s okay!

instead: record your lessons and listen to them as you travel!

even if you’re not paying attention, you’ll remember more than you think! this is especially useful for languages - i recorded myself reading a few essays and listened to them as i walked, which made noticing grammatical errors so much easier!

2. don’t rewrite all your notes

i love the studyblr aesthetic as much as anyone, but i honestly don’t have the time to write out pages and pages of notes in the hope of gaining a few followers. of course it’s nice to have pretty-looking notes, but when you have a huge list of tasks to do, it can become a way of procrastinating work that’s actually needed for a grade.

instead: organise your class notes!

check the material you’ll study before the lesson! if you’re into the brush lettering aesthetic, write out or print titles off ahead of class so you can stick them on your page without having to waste valuable lesson time drawing them. plus, knowing what you’re going to study before you actually come to it means you can prepare a list of questions to ask the teacher and improve your understanding of the subject! this way, you’ll have organised, clear notes from the beginning, so you won’t have to copy anything out at home.

3. don’t buy expensive stationery

i know everyone seems to have those tombow brush pens and leuchtturm journals. as someone who can’t afford them, trust me when i say i get how it feels. but spending money on expensive products (especially ones you don’t know how to use) is just counterproductive - your grades won’t magically go up if you start shopping at muji.

instead: try budget alternatives!

would you buy a £90 contour kit if you’d never used foundation before? the same goes for stationery! substitute for cheaper products from your local stationery stores whilst you get a feel for what’s helpful for you, not what anyone else has. for example, i tried so many types of pens before realising that my writing’s nicest with gel pens, so now i let myself get more expensive ones - but i didn’t waste more than £5 figuring this out because i’m #cheap. this list of popular studyblr dupes is constantly being added to if you really need to try something, but stressing about your stationery is not going to help you in the slightest.

4. don’t worry too much about being organised

look, we’d all like to be organised, but i’m an adult who’s lived with depression since i was thirteen, and i know it’s not always possible to have that pinterest-ready study den. sometimes your homework will be done on a bed that’s not been made in weeks of it’s going to be done at all, and that’s okay.

instead: do what you can.

had a bad day? stick on some guns n roses and do the work later. too exhausted to function? just finish that last maths problem and go to bed. it’s okay to not have a picture perfect lifestyle - most of the people who post those photos don’t have it either. just do what you have to do to get through the week.

5. don’t ignore your mental health

there’s such a weird culture of perfectionism here and it’s so damaging! of course no one has to post about their personal lives on their studyblrs - but please don’t let that lead you to believe it’s not important. this mentality of “everything is fine and i must be perfect” isn’t healthy.

instead: talk about how you feel!

it doesn’t have to be on your studyblr, but if you’re feeling suffocated by pressure to achieve, or you think you’re depressed, or you’re just going through a tough time and need to vent, talk to someone! bottling things up is not a healthy way to live life - believe me, i’ve tried it. it doesn’t work. there are so many young people here and we need to stop acting like our studies are all we can ever be.

i’m not trying to “call out” anyone who finds the minimalist note taking and study devotion helpful - everyone here is different, and i’m glad it works for you! but not all of us can do that, so this is for the people who can’t.

19.01.01 kinda distracting but cute study buddy 

042420

As most people are working and studying from home right now, I wanted to share some concrete, implementable ways you can help yourself feel better. Though I believe productivity and quantity of work done (or lack thereof) doesn’t/shouldn’t translate into your self-worth and how you view yourself, when you get work done, you actually do feel better in your own body. 

By the way, it’s the first time I’m formatting a tips/guide post like this, so I apologize that I couldn’t be more concise.

I’ve spoken to a licensed professional counsellor as well as to some professionals who have been working from home for a long time, and some of the advice above is from them. I’m also sharing from my own experience as someone who used to be very productive and an (ex-)overachiever, and still attach a lot of my self-worth to grades and other tangible accomplishments. I hope these slides can help you. In case it’s hard to read, I’ve included it (reworded) in text form if you’d like to read more. 

Keep reading

huge masterpost

just a collection of all the reblogs and posts i have and enjoy on study tips, life hacks, and everything on my studyblr. this is always being updated, so tune in for more! (most are not mine, i mainly just want to save these for later use, so credit goes to the studyblr! if you’re a creator and you’re reading this, i really enjoy your content, and obviously that’s why i like quick access to your great posts!) 

ap course help:

that ap life: friendly advice, having been there and done that - @hollohat

ap english lit: is so lit and so are you - @hollohat 

ap calculus: finding the limits of expressions and not of endurance - @hollohat 

math (it needs its own section):

maths shortcuts - @trigonometrv

math: study and exam tips - @studymelody

tumblr math resources: masterpost - @apricot-studies

public speaking:

tips for writing speeches and talks - @stu-tea

public speaking - @universi-tea 

general studying tips / tricks:

websites for school / studying - @spud-studies 

study habits: in and out of school - @firereine 

masterpost on essay help - @studyblrjess

tips for timed essays? (anon response) - @fuckstudy 

work smarter, not harder: study tips psychology taught me - @wherefunsurvives

an honest study guide - @prodessostudies

study less, study smart - @marias-studyblr

rare study tips - @studybllog

tips on getting shit done a few days before the exam - @morgai-study 

how to deal with a concept you do not understand - @berkeleyandbiscuits

how to get stuff done - @minimaliststudy 

3 study methods you should use more often - @eintsein 

self-learning:

how to learn a new language - @studiyng 

life hacks / self-care tips: 

how to get your life together - @studeebean 

fitness and health for the busy student - @abby-studies-art 

how to have a good morning - @sstudys 

5 easy productivity tips - @hufflepuffwannabe

a real ass guide to life - @sprintingstudies

dealing with the worst case scenarios - @lilypotterr 

self-care masterpost - @castillos-co

time management plan masterpost - @universtudy

foods to eat (for different occasions) - @eintsein 

life cleansing tips - @sleepbby 

what to do when you really don’t want to study - @tae-studies 

back to school:

mental preparation for school - @whenstudyblooms

high school in review (so far!) + some tips - @scholarish 

your guide to having the best first day of class - @universi-tea 

before school checklist - @ladyhannahjane 

bts (back to school) series - @studyessie 

the road to good grades - @sherlockian-studies

how to prepare for the new school year - @nightystudying

note-taking:

how to take notes - @elkstudies 

study organization: notebooks - @studiousbees

test-taking: 

act masterpost - @printerpress 

how to get a 30+ on the act - @collegerefs 

stress management techniques for reducing test anxiety - @study-studymore-studyhard

college / university: 

college applications - @universi-tea

adapting to uni studying - @optomstudies

law school 101 - @deepfriedjupiter

advice for university freshman - @juniorincollege

college comparison and application checklists - @science-is-golden 

a masterpost for applying to college - @science-is-golden

legit anything else:

big subject masterpost!! - @chemlstry 

have a blank notebook but don’t know what to use it for? here’s some ideas! - @pridebulletjournal

summer productivity - @anateamy

4 tips for getting ahead after falling behind - @passwithclassandaniceass 

dealing with lazy group members - @optomstudies 

planning your month - @chloestudiess

12.13.17 

`hello !! so because its like finals week currently, I thought I’d share some posts + links that are actually saving me. 

grade saving !! guide to revising 

taking notes from that ap wh textbook (or any class)

writing an essay + how to plan + write 

replacing commonly used words in writing !!  

sleeping guide bc you need it !! 

a literal guide for finals survival 

pretty infographic on surviving finals

a ton of study tips for exams pls read 

how to memorize diagrams !!!!!!

an entire!! post with study tip links !! 

ap study info !! for like every ap class! 

getting through exam day + tips 

`hope these help you out! you can do this!! good luck !! 

FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT you are allowed to feel proud of yourself for things that might seem silly to other people, like getting better at a video game or putting together a nice outfit for the next morning or finishing a book. You deserve to feel proud for your accomplishment.

my favorite random study tools

1. quizlet games. the gravity game on quizlet literally saved my german grade lol

2. white boards. i do all my math practice on these and it makes it not only easier to do the practice but way more fun!

3. youtube. youtube really pulls through when you don’t fully understand a concept based on how your teacher explained it. there are probably thousands of videos explaining any topic you can think of- odds are one of them will help you out!

4. ted talks. this isn’t exactly a study tool, but there are tons of ted talks that explain ways you can study/retain information. i highly recommend them!

5. act like you already have your dream job. do you want to be a journalist? act like you’re reporting on a major story when you’re writing an english essay. apply the same logic to any class/job. it makes studying more fun!!

6. podcasts. find a podcast on a topic for your class and give it a listen. they’re great because you can listen to them any time- when you’re walking to class, in the shower, while you’re doing other studying… just having it on will help you subconsciously absorb the information!

7. diy study guides. did your teacher not make a study guide for a test? make your own! go through all your notes for the unit and put all the important information into one document. this way you’ll have a one stop shop when you go to study for the test!

thanks for reading! x