Just perfection! 😍

Call It What You Want. Midnight Eastern.

This is great!

How to Never Fall Behind in Classes

Alternatively titled: How to Use Your Planner or How Organization and Discipline Will Get You Better Grades

This is my full guide on how to use your planner effectively and make sure that you are never missing deadlines or falling behind in classwork and homework. This is definitely more about the university level and works best with a dated planner, rather than a bullet journal. Let’s get started! 

Get all of your syllabi together and write down dates. Go through one class at a time and mark down all of your major tests and assignment due dates. I recommend putting these dates into the monthly and weekly views, and perhaps coming up with a symbol or other indicator that tells you they are of utmost importance. 

Make a weekly schedule of when to complete readings and do a weekly review of notes. Instead of trying to randomly decide when to do these things, assign a date for each task for each class. If you have a tutorial on Tuesday, do the assigned readings for it every Wednesday. I recommend scheduling one to two weekly tasks per day, and to leave a few days open, whether it be weekends or days when you have a lot of classes.

Make a master list of assignments. I find that sometimes, even having due dates in the calendar view isn’t enough, and they can still sneak up on you. The master list will be a good place to double check if you have any deadlines approaching easily. 

In the week or so before a due date, create a checklist of smaller tasks needed to complete the assignment. Set individual due dates for each smaller task by working backwards from the due date. Smaller tasks may include finding sources, making an outline, writing a rough draft, and editing and adding references to create a final copy. Write the smaller tasks into your daily to-do list. 

You can also do this with studying for tests, but the checklist would look slightly different. You could either sort by study method (first do flashcards, then do essay outlines, etc.) or sort by the topics you need to study. 

Stick to the schedule you have made. Obviously, if something comes up and you need to move your to-do list around, do so! But if you aren’t doing anything and you see readings on your list of daily tasks.. do them. Having the plan set out like this makes it easier for you to remain disciplined. 

Why use this method? 

By creating a schedule for repeated weekly tasks like completing readings, you make sure that you can’t repeatedly push off smaller tasks until you are weeks behind. I don’t think it is very reliable to just will yourself to do readings, or to keep up with them without tracking it. 

By writing down all of your due dates, you will never be shocked to find out something is due the night before. You will know and you will be prepared. 

By creating smaller checklists of tasks to complete before a major test or assignment, you will never find yourself in a situation where you have an essay due in a few days and haven’t even started. You will be following a timeline and making sure you don’t have to rush.

I know this system may seem rigorous, but planning is the only way you can keep on top of your workload in university! Falling behind is a lot harder if you are organized and disciplined, and being on top of your workload will help you a lot when it comes to exam times… no cramming and all-nighters if you have been consistent all semester! 

Good Morning!

Remember to smile, you could make someones day without even nokwing it! 

God bless you and have a bautiful day. 

NY , kind of my dream, someday i know i´m gonna go there and experience the beauty of the caos that represents that city. 

I used to have a lot of trouble still do with procrastination and I realized that, in my new studyblr days, I didn’t know how to utilize my studyblr to help me and it was just another way for me to procrastinate and feel productive. If you can relate to this, you could probably benefit from this little dose of studyblr realness.

Don’t use your studyblr just for aesthetics: studyspo is great for inspiration and motivation, and it’s probably what drew you to the studyblr community, but it shouldn’t be what makes you stay. You won’t be able to take anything worthwhile from your blog if all you reblog is photos of beautiful notes. Mix it up with masterposts and printables and photos of “non-aesthetic” notes.

Don’t use methods that don’t work for you: if you absolutely cannot understand mindmaps but absolutely love the way they look, resist the urge to make them. You’ll only end up confusing yourself and wasting time. Only use note taking and studying methods that make sense to you. 90 percent of the time they’ll be things that you used before you made a studyblr. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t experiment with different styles and methods, but only stick to what works for you.

Discipline over motivation: imho, the study community  overstates the importance and effectiveness of motivation. Don’t get me wrong, motivation makes studying more enjoyable when you have it, but more often than not you don’t. In the end, motivation isn’t what makes you study every night, or stick with self studying a language. You have to discipline yourself to study when you don’t want to, or work when you’re tired. My old French teacher used to say “Don’t fall into the trap of waiting motiviation, and just do it” and I feel like that’s super important with this. (1, 2, 3)

Talking about studying isn’t studying: sort of related to number 3, don’t let your studyblr be another way to put off work. It’s all to easy to think “I’m blogging about studying; in being productive,” but it’s a dangerous thing to do. Studyspo is great, but don’t let scrolling through your feed become another method of procrastination.

Take photos after you study: or during, but not before. I used to spend so long taking pictures of my notes, that I wouldn’t have time to study them. I still take too long photographing my notes to take picture, so I’ve started using a pomorodo timer. After 25 minutes, I’ll use my five minute break to take photos. It’s increases my productivity so much, and I’m not sure how I ever functioned without that system.

Just get it done (and prioritize): honestly, sometime you just have to forget about trying to make your notes look pretty and just go for functionality over looks. Just let go of any studyblr ideals and do what you need to do. If you don’t have time to bullet journal and get your work finished, use an electronic calendar or don’t spend so long on your journal. Most importantly, be real with yourself. At the end of the day, you know yourself best, and you know what you need to do.

Good luck on your studyblr journeys lovelies, hope this helped!

xx

Debunking the Triangle Myth

It’s very hard to find ways to keep up with all your college work and still keep a balanced life. Many people say that when you get into college, you need to choose from two vertices of the first triangle while sacrificing the third one. Well, I need to tell you that that’s completely not true!

If you plan and organize your life, you will be able to manage your sleep schedule, your studying sessions and your night-outs without sacrificing one of them.

The first thing you need to do is being realistic. Instead of sleeping 9 hours a day, perhaps you will need to cut back to seven hours a day, which will probably provide enough energy throughout the day without letting your feel the burnout. On the other hand, you need to ration the time you spend with your friends and family. The best way to do so is scheduling a fixed schedule to be with them and dedicate yourself 100% during that time. It’s not how much time you have available that matters. What matters is what you do with the time you have available. Cutting back on fundamental aspects of your life will really hurt your grades – and if it doesn’t hurt your grades right away, it will hurt your body and state of mind sooner than you think. Sleepless nights have a mark on your body. On the other hand, depriving yourself of time spent with your loved ones can hurt and destroy relationships and in the end of the day, you’ll find out that those grades aren’t as worth as much as that.

Another thing I recommend is finding some sort of physical activity that helps you manage energy levels. Even running 10 minutes a day will do wonders for your physical and mental health, letting you cope with high stress levels and the feeling of burnout. Try to unplug from your college activities, listen to some music and concentrate on your body rather than on your brain.

You also need to prioritize. Choosing tons of classes just to feel productive is a waste of time. Having a heavily crowded schedule just for the sake of it will result in lower grades and a lower ability to focus on those classes. Pick classes that you think you can personally enjoy but can also help you on your chosen career path. Try to keep both of those aspects in mind when you’re picking subjects for the next semester, or else risking signing up for classes that are just filling you with stress and won’t even matter when you get your diploma.

Find a way to get help. You are not alone in this path and many of your classmates are probably feeling the same way. Try to get together and find a way to share some tasks or somehow trade notes and materials to help each other. If you can attend a lecture for any reason, don’t hesitate to ask for the class notes and assignments. If one of your classmates skips a lecture because they are sick, don’t hold back and hand them those notes. Finding a reading group is great to divide huge books into manageable chunks and distribute them between the members, so you have less reading to do and are able to summarize your part in a better way and then share your summary with your colleagues.

Schedule some “me-time”. Don’t look at your personal space as a failure towards your productivity goals. Try to incorporate at least half-an-hour with yourself in your busy schedule, and stick to it religiously. I always read a novel from 10 p.m to 10.30. Even if I reach that hour without finishing all the tasks for college that I had set out for myself to accomplish, I will just close my laptop, put away my notes and I will just allow myself to be relaxed for that half an hour.

scenes from the past couple months | oxford, united kingdom

To celebrate coming back to uni and getting 100 followers (one. hundred. :O ), it’s #optomstudies here with my first ever study tips post! Here’s a step-by-step guide on sleeping and waking up early! Follow me for weekly study tips!

I decided to make this my first topic because this year I’m unfortunately going to have 8am lectures, meaning I’ll need to wake up at 5:30am to get there from my house! And on top of that night time clinic will last until 9:30pm we’re told, meaning I’m going to be getting home at like 11:30pm :( So I’m resetting my body clock to prepare for it :)

The sunrise from this morning’s run :) #nofilter

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Turn off your devices an hour before sleep. The blue light from your computer and mobile can really disrupt the natural melatonin levels that control your sleep cycle, so I always try to end the day with some sort of reading, whether that be for leisure or some summary notes at the end of the day.

Don’t drink any tea or coffee before you sleep. Better to finish the night off with some warm milk and honey (thank you kuroshitsuji) or something similarly soothing. 

Write down a list of what you want to achieve by waking up early. Seeing or even remembering the list can stop you from crawling back to the warmth of your bed, especially in the middle of winter. When the morning you isn’t able to think clearly, let the motivated you make the decisions! And I wouldn’t recommend making a list of what you achieved today to feel accomplished because how’s that going to help you when you’re going to be asleep and unconscious anyway?

Pick out the clothes you want to wear for tomorrow, and make sure they match the weather! Like with the tasks you want to achieve, it’s not a good idea to let the morning you fumble with clothes and what matches well. Definitely do include a jacket or hoodie that you can slip off once the day gets warmer!

Keep your bed reserved for sleeping. Put your smartphone on the other side of the room so that you aren’t tempted to go and check up on your messages on social media. This will reduce the chance that you start a conversation with some night owl friend that ends up continuing past midnight.

Make sure your room is pitch black. This is so that light doesn’t end up disrupting your sleep cycle and so that you condition your body into thinking that it’s time for sleep.

Clear your mind. Whether you achieve this by meditating or otherwise, don’t think about anything, lest you stay up tossing and turning. This includes both exciting events tomorrow and sad events from today. 

Get either 7.5 or 9 hours of sleep. This is because the brain has sleep cycles that are approximately 90 minutes long, so sleeping past will immediately pull you into the next sleep phase. When you wake up in the middle of deep sleep, you end up feeling groggy and tired throughout the whole next morning.

THE NEXT DAY

Reset your sleep cycle by waking at the same time each day. We all have those nights where we absolutely need to finish something by tomorrow (because the professors all conspired with each other and decided to give us double the homework for each subject due the next day :P) but try to keep it constant when you wake. So if you miss the point where you would’ve slept 7.5 hours, go for 6, since you still have a complete sleeping period, and usually that extra hour or so is enough to get the work finished. So don’t think about sleeping in for afternoon classes, because you’ll just feel worse for wear the next time you have morning classes. 

Go cold turkey. Willpower is like a muscle, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets, and I can see no greater struggle than waking up early, jks. I have tried the gradual method of waking up at 7:30, 7:15, 7:00, etc. but I found the best way is to just so straight to your target wake up time. The first day you feel tired in the middle of the day, but it’s easier than adjusting to a new sleep cycle each morning for a week (or longer if you miss a day). 

Wake up with a full blast of natural light. If your bed is next to a window like mine, then pull up the blinds to let as much natural light in as possible to stop the production of melatonin. 

Set an alarm that you know will wake you up. Whether it be a song you like or a super annoying alarm bell, choose something that you can associate with waking up in the morning. For me, I always use BoA’s song Who Are You, because the music video reminds me of a new day, and it has a lovely and soft piano intro :)

Wake up the first time your alarm rings. Although you want to sleep a little longer in order to feel more refreshed, hitting the snooze button is actually detrimental as this explanation from Maimonides Medical Centre explains:

According to Dr. Yizhak Kupfer, Assistant Director of Critical Care and Pulmonary Medicine, using an alarm clock often wakes a person up in the middle of their sleep cycle and cuts rapid eye movement (REM) sleep short. “Over the course of a night, a person goes through five shifting stages of sleep,“ explains Dr. Kupfer. “The brain constantly goes through these stages, emitting different brain waves that reflect if a person is experiencing lighter or deeper periods of sleep.” People who are reliant on their snooze button can diminish the positive effect of a good night’s rest because they are constantly drifting back to sleep only to be abruptly woken up a few minutes later. This causes a shortened, disrupted sleep cycle right before a person starts their day. 

Jump out of bed immediately. Don’t lie in bed thinking; you’ll just drift off again. 

Have a glass of cold water, but don’t just down a whole bottle in one go, because your kidneys are remarkably good at preventing our electrolyte balance from being thrown out of homeostasis, so downing a heap of water will just make them overwork to reduce the water levels. Just see this ELI5 from reddit, though probably with a pinch of salt, considering all the differing opinions. Best to keep that glass of water next to you as you work and drink a few sips at a time while you are working. 

If you drink an excess of water, you have diluted the careful balance of electrolytes. Your kidneys will rapidly dump that water to ensure these electrolyte concentrations are not diluted. 

Put on your clothes quickly! This one comes from personal experience. In the past just to avoid that chilly feel from clothes when winter comes along, I would get out of bed and get my clothes and stuff them under my blanket and take a quick snooze while they got warm. But that usually just ended with me getting my clothes wrinkled rather than actually doing much in terms of warming them up >_< Plus, now I find that doing it quickly is like a burst of energy to get you going for exercise. 

Finish what you were going to do. Remember that list we wrote last night? Do it now and feel great about doing at least one thing extra this morning. 

Don’t have a cup of coffee (yet)! On waking, our bodies stop the production of melatonin and start the production of cortisol to get you going. Cortisol isn’t just for stress, it also starts gluconeogenesis to increase your blood glucose levels (which is important for your brain function) and increases your metabolism. Drinking coffee will disrupt this natural waking hormone, and it also reduces blood flow to the frontal cortex which is responsible for higher order thinking and cognition, explained in this article: 

Caffeine increases energy metabolism throughout the brain but decreases at the same time cerebral blood flow, inducing a relative brain hypoperfusion.

What this means is that although there is more sugar available, oxygen supply decreases. If you do drink coffee, it’s recommended to drink it around 9:00 or so, after the natural cortisol kicks in. I say it’s better to stick to exercise, which is proven to benefit your health in almost every way. 

Exercise. There’s no need for me to explain that this is the best way to feel energized and refreshed for the rest of the day and to get your heart pumping! The morning air is dewy and hasn’t yet been tampered by the smell of car fumes and other pollution, so breath in :) Play some music with beats that will get you moving (this morning’s run brought to you by f(x)’s Rude Love). I snapped a picture as I left the house just before the sun started to rise :)

Enjoy the benefits of a job well done. Give yourself a pat on the back, because it’s tiring to get up at 6am or earlier! You’ve got your study space all to yourself, enjoy it with a cup of orange juice, and some peace and quiet. Get to work/uni/school nice and early, ready to learn something new and feel proud that you aren’t one of those groggy students with their heads glued to the table! 

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading my first study tips post, I intend to publish more and better posts in the future too! Follow me, as I’ll be doing the 100 days of productivity challenge starting March! (this coming week!)

MY WEEKLY STUDY TIPS

WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN BEFORE UNIVERSITY STUDY TIPS SERIES

0 Choosing a Degree , 1 Administration , 2 Getting to Class

3 Studying , 4 Extra-Curriculars , 5 Exams , 6 Social Life

7 Part Time Work , 8 Four Secrets Uni Tells You

new!! 9 Best Study Spots on Campus new!!

new!! 10 Saving Money 1 (Food, Transport, Entertainment) new!!

coming soon!! 10 Saving Money 2 (Textbooks, Tax, Scholarships)

SEE ALSO

Study Spaces Masterpost , Studying and your Visual System

Catching Up with Your Studies , Dealing with Bad Results

Sleeping and Waking Up Early , Google Keep

My 2017 Planner and Bullet Journal , Study Space , 2017 goals

+ my cute stationery + washi collection + my spreads!

✨ tidy room, tidy mind ✨

instagram: itslia

https://instagram.com/p/BOfJoRLAQ5H/

22/11/16 // Today: • we’ve met our new History teacher 🤓 • I’ve got yesterday’s test results(not bad) • I’ve started watching The Middle (freaking love it)

>Love ya

5|17|2016

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope that you’re all doing well! I’ve had a better week than those preceding last week and I think that’s really good. Summer is coming and I’m so excited. What are everyone’s summer plans? I’d love to hear! Tag me in them!

This is a picture of last week’s spread. As much as I love the two-page-a-week spreads, I feel like I’m wasting paper and I haven’t been filling the paper as much as I’d like. I just don’t have that much going on at the moment (but that’s good). So for the last couple weeks of school I’ll just be using one page a week and then over the summer I’ll switch to something even more compact (possibly just a really cramped monthly spread). I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

~ Emily

Bullet Journaling: a masterpost.

Bullet Journal Things ♡ inspiration/ideas:

⁃ constellation chart ⁃ cute quotes/doodles ⁃ stress management pages ⁃ use brown paper bags ripped out for doodles ⁃ cut out things from magazines/paper bags ⁃ order stickers ⁃ washi tape EVERYTHING ⁃ order black pens ⁃ use markers ⁃ work on cursive ⁃ idea/random thought pages ⁃ picture pages ⁃ books to read ⁃ movies/shows to watch ⁃ daily reminders ⁃ habit trackers ⁃ thoughtful pages (philosophy, science, book reviews, etc.) ⁃ bookmarks ⁃ websites ⁃ start a blog/continue studyblr ⁃ songs/albums to hear ⁃ messy/creative spreads ⁃ pastels (esp. pink) ⁃ doodle banners/headers/fillers ⁃ rant pages ⁃ order a watercolour palette ⁃ advice/how-to pages (how to become a morning person) ⁃ travel pages ⁃ dream journal pages ⁃ use song lyrics ⁃ poetry pages ⁃ astronomy ⁃ yearly spread ⁃ new years resolution ⁃ mini monthly calendars ⁃ birthdays ⁃ spending chart ⁃ receipt pockets ⁃ health pages ⁃ decor/interior decorating/dream house pages ⁃ coffee tracker ⁃ water tracker ⁃ lipstick kisses ⁃ sticky notes ⁃ handwriting samples ⁃ paint swatches ⁃ wish lists (swell water bottle, more notebooks, black pens, phone adapter, etc.) ⁃ passwords ⁃ gift ideas ⁃ shopping lists ⁃ recipes ⁃ trip ideas ⁃ self care ⁃ ticket stubs ⁃ dried/pressed flower petals ⁃ weather ⁃ paintings (The Swing) ⁃ colour schemes ⁃ words (darling, daydreaming, celestial, astral, entropic, enigmatic, paradoxical, etc.) ⁃ themes lists (The Swing, coffeehouse, forest, ocean, London, yellow, space, inferno, candide, the odyssey, etc.) ⁃ construction paper ⁃ get pictures developed ⁃ order more picture corners ⁃ dictionary pages ⁃ buy scrapbook pages Things to put in your journal: http://studywithinspo.tumblr.com/post/153622119945/112416-pretty-in-pink-in-a-thanksgiving http://lostlxmb.tumblr.com/post/153478048392/nov-21-2016-its-finally-thanksgiving-break http://acadaemic.tumblr.com/post/153572080605/super-pink-super-soft-spread-from-last-week https://studyfulltime.tumblr.com/post/153917313189/112-this-month-and-this-weekim-trying-something http://journalsanctuary.tumblr.com/post/152787633563/doodle-ideas-1-plants-remember-when-i-asked-you http://journalsanctuary.tumblr.com/post/154391532418/lettering-tips-i-did-a-thing-d-its-been-ages Even More Things To Add To Your Bullet Journal http://nag-aaral.tumblr.com/post/154970947270/week-51-important-life-decisions-made-and-im http://studyrose.tumblr.com/post/154472885699/i-really-really-like-the-way-my-spread-is-shaping https://gooseapartment.tumblr.com/post/152800191105/06112016-the-way-to-you-becomes-a-flower-path http://journalsanctuary.tumblr.com/post/154593004978/december-17-2016-ive-decided-to-take-a-break Page Ideas for My Bullet Journal ideas for bullet journal spreads http://time-to-get-focused.tumblr.com/post/137187238739/ta-da-my-banner-page-is-complete-so-stoked Bullet Journal page ideas for 2016 http://alicesbulletjournal.tumblr.com/post/153361332097/bullet-journal-page-dividers http://brighterplaces.tumblr.com/post/149837586299/september-plan-with-me-i-tried-using-washi-tapes http://haleystudies.tumblr.com/post/138512058801/cute-lil-bullet-journal-page http://lillstudies.tumblr.com/post/151712672576/my-first-ever-bullet-journal-page-ive-started-in http://lnkstones.tumblr.com/post/142433450475/bullet-journal-page-ideas-page-4 http://please-justletmepass.tumblr.com/post/136362433981/bullet-journal-my-motivation-page-can-you bullet journal pages http://allcutified.tumblr.com/post/155114756855/so-2016-will-last-only-a-few-days-and-now-im ideas for bullet journal spreads http://studywithinspo.tumblr.com/post/153441714765/the-evolution-of-my-bullet-journal-in-seven Things to put in your journal: http://lostlxmb.tumblr.com/post/153478048392/nov-21-2016-its-finally-thanksgiving-break http://icecreamandcereal.tumblr.com/post/153688759561/bullet-journal-essentials http://lycheestudy.tumblr.com/post/154048502593/120416-starting-a-new-bullet-journal-in-a http://literahti.tumblr.com/post/154322031662/11122016-working-on-my-bullet-journal-for http://bulletsjournal.tumblr.com/post/154354045442/doodles-x-printables-x-dailyweeklymonthly http://studykouffee.tumblr.com/post/154630879928/181216-a-spread-just-for-christmas-ꈍ-ꈍ http://baby-gloom.tumblr.com/post/154168911959/recent-planner-pages-to-read-to-watch-food-log http://studyrose.tumblr.com/post/155108970349/my-bullet-journal-flip-through-video-is-live-go http://studyguideverified.tumblr.com/post/155017107099/ina-studies-just-in-case-this-helps-anyone-go http://studyjewel.tumblr.com/post/155108890727/holocrams-12-19-17-little-journal-plant http://biiostudy.tumblr.com/post/155318626406/reviseordie-how-to-illustrate-your-notes-if-this Bullet journal quotes part II Celebrate every tiny victory Pages for your 2017 bujo http://academiix.tumblr.com/post/155368727211/3100-productivity-days-saw-this-lovely-spread Things to put in your journal: http://studyguideverified.tumblr.com/post/155636706994/thearialligraphyproject-weve-talked-about-how http://acadehmic.tumblr.com/post/155876681082/acadehmic-hey-everyone-its-about-time-i-made

1.31.17 ||

bright yellow spread for a gloomy week 4! excited to see what February brings! 🌥

an overview of this week: hours of studying psych. and korean grammar, with lots of food breaks in between (＾• ω •＾)

a little saturday morning reading.