study_lifestyle

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
studypetals
flowerais

I think a big part of what makes procrastination so common is that we underestimate how hard it is to “just get out your books and study.”

I always see tips for not procrastinating, and maybe they are really helpful to people with good self-discipline but I read them and feel worse about myself bc for some reason I had a preconceived idea that I just couldn’t do those things…maybe seeing all those tips and tricks made me believe that studying was an easy task, only suitable for people with the newest stationery, most aesthetic study spaces or prettiest notebooks.

I thought studying was just something i couldn’t do well, like my brain wasn’t built for that. I felt like I was destined to always procrastinate and be a failure.

A big part of getting over procrastination was realizing that studying is one of the most difficult things to do as a student. for procrastinators, it takes a huge amount of effort to stop scrolling through social media and get out books. personally there is a huge fear and anxiety associated with “studying” and it makes my stomach churn and heart race just thinking about it. to get out from the safe space of distractions to facing our fears is immensely difficult.

if you want to study, it takes a LOT of effort to turn off your phone, get out your books & pens and do questions that make you feel dread and anxiety and inadequacy.

it takes a great deal of effort to confront the habitual thoughts in your brain that say “you’re stupid” or “what’s the point” or “this is too hard” or “i’ll never understand this” or “this essay will never be perfect so why even try.” 

it’s immensely difficult to fight your inner perfectionism, denial, avoidance, making excuses, or feelings of inadequacy as they are deeply ingrained defense mechanisms all created to avoid studying.

for some people like me these voices are even louder because they’ve procrastinated so much that there’s an overwhelmingly huge pile of studying they need to catch up on.

People regard studying as some sort of common thing that “anyone knows how to do.” but it’s actually a difficult skill that needs to be learned and practiced, like learning a musical instrument. you wouldn’t give up on that if you weren’t good after 2 days, why feel the same about studying?

but like any difficult task it is 100% possible and it will be worth it, you might even enjoy studying after a while. I promise that it will be freaking uncomfortable and stressful and terrifying at first to face your fear of studying. you might feel sick and every inch of you wants to procrastinate. But try to force yourself to study on a routine for maybe 3 weeks and it will get easier I promise. I’m trying to do that right now and you should too, I believe in you.

studypetals

it took me 3 years to really get over the fear of studying, but i did it and ended up being so, so proud of myself for overcoming it. this is a great message that i wish i heard a long time ago.

dusknotes

Ways to Learn/Study Languages

lovelybluepanda

  • Use a grammar book.
  • Play Duolingo.
  • Play Memrise.
  • Ask questions on HiNative.
  • Sing Disney songs. (or any other kind of song)
  • Talk to natives.
  • Read.
  • Watch movies.
  • Change the settings of your phone/social media.
  • Read books.
  • Read articles in your target language for your homework/projects.
  • Keep a diary.
  • Make flashcards.
  • Make mind maps.
  • Use mnemonics.
  • Pretend to talk on the phone with someone in your target language.
  • Make sentences with what you have around.
  • Name everything around you when you’re bored.
  • Sticky notes everywhere.
  • Fake it till you make it. 
  • Make mistakes.
  • Read comments from youtube. (slang words everywhere~)
  • Learn poems.
  • Translate texts.
  • Read dictionaries. (Yes, read, not memorize)
  • Play games.
  • Think daily at least 10 minutes in your target language.
  • Solve grammar exercises online.
  • Read grammar explanations.
  • Read on Matador articles related to your target language.
  • Read vocab lists on tumblr.
  • Watch youtube channels with natives.
  • Copy-cat what you hear.
  • Learn by heart different songs.
  • Challenge yourself with more difficult tasks.
  • Use apps.
  • Play taboo alone.
  • Write a story with your new vocab.
  • Translate from your target language to your native and the other way around.
  • Make a summary for what you read. (in your target language)
  • Find a language partner/pen pal.
  • Join a group with learners.
  • Talk on skype.
  • Read fanfiction.
  • Listen to podcasts.
  • Play Closemaster/WordBrewery/BabaDum.
  • Teach someone else.
  • Try online tests. (e.g. What disney princess are you?) [yes, i gave a real link to that; now i go to find out what Disney princess i am in French]
nerdastically
girl-havoced: “ I believe in free education, one that’s available to everyone; no matter their race, gender, age, wealth, etc… This masterpost was created for every knowledge hungry individual out there. I hope it will serve you well. Enjoy! FREE...
girl-havoced

I believe in free education, one that’s available to everyone; no matter their race, gender, age, wealth, etc… This masterpost was created for every knowledge hungry individual out there. I hope it will serve you well. Enjoy!

FREE ONLINE COURSES (here are listed websites that provide huge variety of courses)

IDEAS, INSPIRATION & NEWS (websites which deliver educational content meant to entertain you and stimulate your brain)

DIY & HOW-TO’S (Don’t know how to do that? Want to learn how to do it yourself? Here are some great websites.)

FREE TEXTBOOKS & E-BOOKS

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES & JOURNALS

LEARN:

1. LANGUAGES

2. COMPUTER SCIENCE & PROGRAMMING

3. YOGA & MEDITATION

4. PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMMAKING

5. DRAWING & PAINTING

6. INSTRUMENTS & MUSIC THEORY

7. OTHER UNCATEGORIZED SKILLS

Please feel free to add more learning focused websites. 

*There are a lot more learning websites out there, but I picked the ones that are, as far as I’m aware, completely free and in my opinion the best/ most useful.

Source: girl-havoced
alanmrco-blog

How should I study?

polygloticalme

This is probably the most asked question. And I will be totally honest now and give you some advice on how you should and how you shouldn’t study.

The ideal way of self studying a language

doesn’t exist. Or at least I haven’t found it. But there is no method which will give you a 100% success. You know that everybody is different and everybody learns different. I have made my self study plan (here) for Korean. In my opinion, it works awesome for me, and I think that I’ve created this one with common sense. But in this post I don’t want to go deeper in “which plan should I follow”. I’d like to focus on the methods you might use to achieve your goals.

Let’s divide it into 4 (and optional 5) sections: Vocab, grammar, listening speaking (and eventually signs).

Vocab

Learning vocab is the foundation of your language. You can’t build a house only by a plan. You must also have the bricks. But I have some common “mistakes” people make. Here comes my list of what to avoid:

  • Long study sessions once a week
  • Reading the word 500x to think you might learn it this way
  • Letting the learnt words on the side
  • Not saying the words out loud
  • Never writing words out
  • Making vocab studying monotone
  • Learning the unuseful vocab you’ll probably never need

Those are so important points. In several books I’ve seen that the brain learns faster if it repeatedly does something. Also if you don’t use the things you’ve learnt after a certain time again, you might forget it again.

Try those things instead:

  • Study sessions over the whole week
  • Reading, writing and listening to the word
  • Make a record of the words you want to learn and listen to it
  • Once in a while repeat also your “good” words
  • Say words out loud which are complicated
  • Make studying fun (Use flashcards, post its, make it comfortable, make yourself a tea)
  • Learn vocab which is very frequent or which you will need specifically for your needs

Grammar

Grammar is a rather hard discipline. Also here common mistakes:

  • Learning the rules by heart and thinking “that’s it”
  • Only practicing the sentences in your book
  • Not making sentences on your own
  • Making grammar boring
  • Letting it be only because you’ve understood it once
  • Giving up on it just because it seems hard

Replace it by this:

Try to decode it before actually read the explanation.

  • Try to learn the sense behind the grammar.
  • Use what you’ve learnt and build your own sentences. You’ve got problems? Means that there are some points you should work on.
  • Grammar isn’t boring (okay sometimes) but you can make it fun if you use also like with vocab stuff you like. And also: If you always connect studying grammar with something what makes you happy, for example always make a smoothie if you study grammar, than it will also have an input on your studies. More about that in the next post)
  • Keep going and master the challenge
  • Sometimes it’s also good to take a break and try the next day. It might be that you’ve overworked yourself

Listening

And here again the top mistakes:

  • Not focusing on listening
  • Or listening to very fast music and complaining how stupid you are
  • Listening to “non real language”
  • Not listen at all

If I say that a language must be spoken, it also means that there are people which listen. And that means that you also have to study the other side of the language. So many people neglate this part. This was also my mistake in Japanese. But I have some good replacements:

  • Watch TV soaps or dramas (the most natural language)
  • Start from the very first day
  • Don’t get mad. It’s hard to understand things, but you will get better
  • Celebrate if you’re right
  • Take notes if you’ve heard something interesting

Listening will get your best friend. It doesn’t only improve your ear but also your writing. Because if you know how the pronounciation changes, you’ll also know how to write better.

Speaking

It’s hard to speak sometimes, but in this section you can also make mistakes by not even doing anything:

  • Being speechless
  • Not speaking from the beginning
  • Not learning the pronounciation properly
  • Not trying to get faster

It really depends on the person how fast the progress is in pronounciation, but if you don’t work from the very first day on it, it will get hard for you. Replace those methods by this:

  • Speak whenever you can
  • Talk to yourself
  • Try to find someone who might correct you
  • Learn the pronounciation properly
  • Try to get faster from time to time
  • Fluency comes where axienty goes (wow I should copyright that)
  • But don’t try to be perfect

Progress is made by many many little steps taken to get to a higher obstacle. Work smart and make those steps.

Optional: Signs

The probably hardest part for any Japanese/Chinese learner: the signs. I’ve seen and I’ve done even more mistakes. Use that and learn from me:

  • Writing a kanji over and over again
  • Thinking you might get along without signs
  • Buying course books which tell you how to learn “2000 kanjis in 2 months” or so
  • Not thinking when learning
  • Learning only one reading style
  • Learn a kanji and don’t repeat it

Okay guys. When I say that, please take me serious. You can’t learn 2000 kanjis in 10 days IF you don’t have a super brain. And I think it’s okay. Not everybody is talented, but there are other ways. And one way isn’t writing it 50 times per hour. Of course you have to write it, but not so many a day that you might get sick of them. And only because you’ve learnt one kanji, doesn’t mean that it will last for your whole life in your brain. Replace by:

  • Combine different methods 
  • Repeat signs
  • Buy if you are 100% sure you NEED that and if you’re not so sure about it, think while on work “Is it worth it that I am working for it now?”
  • Use what you’ve learnt. The feeling is so rewarding
  • Also here: Make it funny.


To self study a language it is best to develope his own style. But with some methods it will take you certainly much longer than with others. Try it out and see what works.

alanmrco-blog
studeebean

image

Okay before anything else, I would like to clarify that these tips help me. These are techniques that work for me. If they don’t work for you or they’re not your style, then don’t fret! (That doesn’t in any way imply that you can’t get your life together.) If you find that these tips aren’t for you, don’t force yourself to follow them! These are just gentle suggestions that you may or may not try out! I hope you guys enjoy!

What’s this post about?

Sometimes we just reach that point in our daily living where we’re so overwhelmed by almost everything that we don’t really know where to start or what to do. In this post, I just wanna give some suggestions that might help you sort out the things you need to do! There’ll also be some handy links at the end of the post!

1. Tie your hair and put on a new shirt.

You will feel much much much better after fixing up your hair and putting on something fresh. No, it won’t clear the skies or feed all of Africa, but it will set an “I can accomplish a lot” mood. You’ll be at your most productive state if you just feel good in general. And if not good, at least fresh. Wash your face, comb your hair, brush your teeth, drink water, etc. TAKE A SHOWER. Wash away the stress and scrub the burdens off your shoulder. You’ll feel really motivated to get down to work, believe me.

2. Clean your room.

Now that your freshening up has (hopefully) motivated you to get some stuff done, straighten up your room or study/work space. Your environment has a direct effect on your productivity according to several studies and articles like this one. If you work in an organized and clean area, your productivity levels will surely go up! Really take the time to go through your old belongings. Put everything in its proper place. Get rid of old clothes that you don’t wear anymore (honey, if you haven’t worn it in 6 months, you’re never gonna wear it). Make sure also that you maintain it (easier said than done, I know). Cleaning your room will also help you gradually get into a working mood, so it’ll be easier for you to start working on other tasks.

TIP: Play some fun and peppy music while you’re cleaning your room for an extra mood boost.

3. Write out everything in your mind.

Sit down and get comfy. Pull out any piece of paper, can be anything from an old receipt to your favorite stationery pad. Now write. Write down…

  • everything you have to do urgently, in the near future, in the far future.
    > e.g. finish an assignment, set up an appointment with the dentist, get into college/find a job
  • anything that’s bothering you or lingering in your mind
    > e.g. how your crush just followed you back on twitter, how scary it is to send an email to adults
  • things that you absolutely cannot forget
    > e.g. return that library book, friend’s bday is coming up soon (gotta get a gift!), there’s an important test coming up
  • thoughts, feelings, opinions, irrelevant things
    > e.g. school’s tiring you out, politics are driving you nuts, the stray cat on your road seems kinda hungry today

JUST WRITE THEM ALL. In my opinion, it’s better to have your thoughts all laid out visible on paper rather than having them swimming in and out of your mind. Once they’re on paper, you can let your mind rest a bit from holding in so much information. Don’t write your thoughts in any particular order. Just write your ideas as they pop into your head. It may seem unsystematic for some of you, but just wait until the next point!

4. Organize your mind.

Now get a clean sheet of paper and organize your thoughts—tasks, dates, ideas/opinions, misc.

Tasks: Hopefully you’ve heard of the Eisenhower Box. If not, do not fear, for I will explain it!

image
image

So make this nifty table on your new sheet of paper, and organize your tasks accordingly! But first, expand. If you have quite abstract tasks like “get into college” break these tasks into smaller tasks like “review for entrance exams” or “fill out application,” and then classify those tasks into the table.

  • after categorizing your tasks, make a to-do list! (There are many ways to make a to-do list. What I usually do is start with the easy/fun tasks first then list the more challenging/time-consuming ones last. However, this is up to you! Explore what works for you.)

Dates: Have you considered investing on those really big wall calendars? You should!! Get a big wall calendar and hang it up in your room so you can see it every morning and every night. Fill in the dates with appointments, test days, deadlines, birthdays, and anything else! Having a calendar will help you visualize how much time you have left before a certain event. If you can’t get a calendar, other alternatives include a planner, your phone calendar, and/or an online calendar (like Google calendar).

Ideas/Opinions: I’d recommend using a journal (traditional or digital) to keep a record of your thoughts! It’s very good to clear your mind of these if you wanna delegate more of your thinking powers on another task. You can also talk to other people! Maybe you’ve been really bothered by something happening in your life that you really wanna let out. Look for trustworthy companions that you can confide in. After a long hearty talk, you’ll be ready to conquer the day once again!

Misc: Anything else that hasn’t been covered in the previous categories can be written here. It’ll be for you to decide how to proceed with these notes.

Other Resources: Check out these other links/masterposts for more tips on how to get your life together! (highly recommended links are italicized)

Self/Life:

Study:

And of course, don’t push yourself. If you need to take a break, go! Sleep. Reenergize your body. This period won’t last forever, and one day you’ll find yourself laughing at this actually short amount of time where you were stressing over the world’s end. Trust me.

studynostalgic

super helpful

skulstudy
ennui-for-me

Well. Here’s a big’un. I finally had time to work on printables so I decided to make a new version of the exam pack printable. Hopefully this helps with exam season.

Includes:

  • IFTTT - Write down rewards for accomplishing important tasks! Motivate yourself!
  • Exam Schedule - Keep track of all the deets for up to 18 exams! (dear lord, I hope you never have to suffer such a fate…but in case you do, I added a couple rows, just for you). Check off your exams as you take them.
  • Monthly Calendar - Keep track of important exam dates. Plan up to 6 months in advance, like the extremely prepared student you are/aspire to be. Comes w/ legend if you like color coding ‘n stuff . :D
  • Major Topics - Keep track of topics covered on your exam(s).
  • Scoreboard + Graph - Keep track of your exam scores as you take your exams. Visualize your progress. There are enough graphs to record exam scores in 6 subjects.
  • D-Day Calendar - Figure out your study schedule in the context of how many days you have left until your exam. Each page has 36 days.
  • Weekly Calendar - Keep on top of your study schedule; you can plan out your days or just write about your study plan for the week. Also serves as daily planner.
  • Self-Evaluation - See how you did on certain topics on an exam. Helpful when you’re reviewing past exams or mock exam results.

Click HERE to download the printable (PDF).

For suggestions on how to use the printable, click HERE.

Good luck on your studies, everyone!!

Postscript: Unfortunately, this printable isn’t available for editing. Because of this, I’m opening up my ask box for feedback regarding some small edits you might like me to make on this printable. This means that at a later date, I will aggregate your feedback and try to make an even newer (possibly better) version of this printable! So all’s well that ends well.

paperandcaffeine
intellectys: “Since it’s the beginning of the school year and so many of us are going to university for the first time, I thought a masterpost on handling homesickness might be helpful, since I’m sure I’m going to need it! Before you go“Tips ” • Get...
intellectys

Since it’s the beginning of the school year and so many of us are going to university for the first time, I thought a masterpost on handling homesickness might be helpful, since I’m sure I’m going to need it!

Before you go

Tips

  1. Get excited about going! Research fun things to do and think positively about moving. Make a list of all the things you want to when you get there, and other upsides of going away.
  2. Meet other people who will be there. If you already know a friend going, great! If not, try talking to your roommate or people in your college’s Facebook group so there’s someone familiar.
  3. Take bits & bobs from home with you. Mementos are a great way to connect your old home to your new one!
  4. Connect with your family & friends on social media. Having a way to keep them updated & see what you’re doing without fixating on constantly texting them keeps you just connected enough.

Links

  1. ‘Inoculating’ Yourself Against Homesickness
  2. 8 Ways to Prevent Homesickness at University
  3. Separation Anxiety: On Feeling Homesick

While you’re there

Tips

  1. Try and get out of your room. Your life won’t get any easier without friends, and you won’t make any friends from staying cooped up inside! Take part in some extracurriculars to give yourself a reason to get out.
  2. Remember you’re not alone. It might feel that way, but everyone else is away from home, too. Talk to some new friends or your uni’s counselling service and stay positive.
  3. Get to know your new city! Make your surroundings more familiar by volunteering, going sightseeing, or exploring with friends. Make the most of all the new opportunities that are available!

Links

  1. Save The Student
  2. 10 Tips for Managing Homesickness
  3. Feeling Homesick? Try These Tips
  4. 26 Ways to Reduce Homesickness

Staying in touch

Tips

  1. Don’t overdo it. The best way to make yourself feel more homesick is by reminding yourself of home, so get to the point that you’re spending more time with your new friends than on the phone with your parents.
  2. Ask for a care package! Get your parents to send a package once you’ve been there a while to give you a taste of home you can anticipate.
  3. Try scheduling regular calls. Putting calls on a calendar forces you to strike a better balance, and also gives you something to look forward to. 
  4. Ask your family to not communicate quite as much. Morning texts from mum can be a constant reminder from where you aren’t, so even though your parents are anxious for you, try asking them to leave you be a little more so you can settle in. 

Links

  1. 50 College Care Package Ideas
  2. Best Apps for Free Video Chats
  3. The Best Way for Adult Children & Parents to Communicate

aplusfeminist

general study tips

bionctes

this is just a quick list of study habits that work for me, as a straight a’s student

1. even if it’s not in your teacher’s presentation written on a slide, if you hear your teacher mention a fact, WRITE IT DOWN. you might need it later for a test.

2. when you’re rewriting your notes/compiling a study guide, pretend you’re making it for someone else. include everything, even if you think you know it. (unless you’re low on time, in which case, just write what you don’t know)

3. when you’re trying to learn a new concept, pretend you’re teaching it to someone else. this is a form of active learning, and the act of breaking the concept down into steps that you can teach will improve your understanding of the concept. (for the longest time, i actually didn’t even know this was an actual study technique, because i’ve always done it subconsciously!)

4. don’t over color your notes!! if you really need a key for all the colors, then you’re using way too many. try to stick with 2-3 pens/pencils. for me, i write most of my notes in black ink or pencil and i write the important concepts i might need to find quickly later (such as vocabulary) in red or blue pen.

5. have your water bottle next to you (so you remember to stay hydrated; this makes focusing easier as well), as well as any other things you might need during a study session so you don’t have to keep getting up to get stuff (which is pretty distracting for me as i’m easily sidetracked).

6. make it a habit to write lists of everything you need to do by the end of the weekend (or the end of that day, depending on how much work you have). this’ll help you familiarize yourself with your tasks so you have a clear plan of what needs to get done.

7. (not really necessary, just something i like to do!) learn to eat with your non-dominant hand so you can eat and take notes and turn pages w/out ripping them instead of scrolling through social media. keep in mind that sometimes, meal times are for taking your mind off school so unless you’re really pressed for time, it’s not a huge deal if you spend this time w/passive reading, texting friends, etc.

8. when you’re assigned a research project, COME UP WITH A THESIS FIRST so you know what to research. try to get all your research done within the first two days or so, to have more time to plan out how you’re going to structure it. then get your draft done (something is better than nothing) so you can revise at your own pace instead of rushing at the last minute.

9. prioritize your homework!! as someone who spends hours fencing and even misses school for fencing tournaments, is part of symphonic band, and on the robotics team (build season is suuuuuper busy), i can’t express how important this is!! if you have math first period, get that done first, whereas if you have math last period, you can do it at lunch and spend your time working on something that’s due in the morning. don’t do this all the time, but if you need to, know which teachers are more strict with due dates so if you really do need an extension, you’ll be asking the least strict teacher and will have much better chances of getting said extension.

10. if you study at home like me, change into new clothes (comfy clothes, but not pajamas) before cracking open your textbooks. it’ll help make you feel more refreshed and ready to start your homework, but not confined to uncomfortable uniforms from school. tie up your hair, if it’s long. try to study at a table/desk rather than in bed (for sleeping not studying) or on the floor (bad for your posture).

11. check out this post for productive things you can do when you aren’t studying, but still want to be productive!

hope these helped some of you!!

xoxo, sal

nightlystudying
mujistudies: “ A compilation of chrome extensions and iOS + Android apps (some are paid and some are free) °☆.。.:*・°☆ | For your computer | • fliqlo • momentum • lanes • clarity • embark • minimal clock • infinity • currently • polar clock •...
mujistudies

A compilation of chrome extensions and iOS + Android apps (some are paid and some are free)  °☆.。.:*・°☆

| For your computer |

| For your note taking |

| For your to-do lists | 

| For your planners + calendars |

| For your timing + focus | 

| For your presentations |

| For your storage | 

| For your mindmaps + diagrams | 

| For your tests + flashcards | 

| For your writings | 

| For your health |

| For your inner peace  |