Latest Posts by plantsandstudy - Page 2

little things that exist:

warm blankets and snowy mornings

stars that glow from millions of lightyears away

fruits, bread and tea

cities for you to explore

poetry, art, books and cozy libraries

places with breathtaking sceneries

knowledge, languages and art museums

people who understand what you’re going through

a lovely future waiting for you

flowers that grow in cracks in the sidewalk

people who love and appreciate you

Good Study Habits (8 Tips)

Start

Make some time to study. Write it down in your planner, bullet journal, hand, anywhere. just make sure you tell yourself to do it and then do it! Starting is always the hardest thing to do. But once you start you will likely get into it pretty fast.

2. Make time for breaks

Being able to schedule in time for breaks is important. You don’t have to study yourself into the ground. Give your brain a break but, don’t give yourself too long of a break. Give yourself a maximum of an hour of break. If your break lasts more than an hour, most likely you are never going to go back to studying.

3. Remember to eat

Do not starve yourself but also do not eat too much. Being satisfyingly full is good, it will help you focus and help you feel comfortable. If you overstuff yourself, then you might get sleepy or you will feel too uncomfortable to the point of not being able to focus. Eat some snacks in between chapters, eat a balanced lunch, and make time for dinner. Good snacks would be: nuts, banana, yogurt, dried fruits.

4. When Studying a new topic, make time to go back and review older topics

Remembering new topics are great, but over time your brain will only remember the new information and eventually forget the old information. Being able to go back to old information for a review will ensure that you remember everything you need to remember.

5. Don’t overwhelm yourself with colors

Being organized with your notes is good! But having too many different colored pens or highlighters in your notes can get stressful and confusing. Having to focus on changing pens every paragraph or getting out more highlighters during a lecture will distract you from actually learning even though you are taking notes. Being able to take fast organized notes while also listen to what the professor is saying is a good balance. Stick with one other pen and one highlighter.

-One black pen for standard note taking (general information)

-One red or blue pen (definitions)

-One yellow highlighter. (dates and names)

6. Notes Index

If your notes have pages and pages of topics, I would make a separate page for an index. This way, you will be able to find a certain topic faster. Wasting time on finding something in your notes will not be necessary with an index.

7. Flashcards

You should make new flashcards for every new topic. That way you will have flashcards to refer to in class, and you can study on the go. It will be easier to pull out your flashcards on the bus, waiting for class to start, and while you do homework.

8. Organize notes later

Being able to sit there and listen while taking notes is important. It is more important than having pretty notes or to worry about having very organized notes. Write down what you need to write down and rewrite it later on.

Tips: How to Overcome Presentation Anxiety

Requested by an anon, how to get over the fear and anxiety of public speaking/presenting. I struggled with this throughout middle school but kicked it to the curb in high school. Here’s how.

1. Know your topic like the back of your hand. A lot of presentation anxiety stems from getting up there and suddenly forgetting everything you practiced. If you know your stuff, you’re not going to have to worry about this.

2. Practice, practice, practice. If you have younger siblings or someone in your family who is willing to sit and listen why you rehearse, even better. They may be able to identify holes in your presentation such as clarification or comprehension issues. You want your audience to know your topic

3. Be organized. If your teacher allows, have flashcards or an outline of what you want to talk about. Now this shouldn’t be your whole presentation word for word in front of you because then you’ll never make eye contact with your audience and your teacher will count off. Trust me. The notecards/outline should be just key points you can glance at to jog your memory on what you want to talk about. So if I’m giving a presentation on Aphrodite my outline would look like this.

Aphrodite

Goddess of love, beauty, and sex

Born of white foam of sea

Venus in Roman culture

Daughter of Zeus

Married Hephaestus

Sexual relations with Ares

Had x number of children

You get my point. Short sentences to jog my memory and I would fill in the details in the presentation

4. Before you present, chew some gum. If your mind thinks you’re eating, it assumes you have no reason to fear danger (anxiety) so it helps you to calm down.

5. Take a big, deep breath before you go up. Seems cliche but it always helps me.

6. Focus on your content, not your audience. I promise most of them aren’t paying attention to you either. Be confident in yourself and in your material.

please make sure that wherever you’re at in life, you don’t treat it like a transitory period. don’t waste your college years wishing to already be graduated & have a job. don’t waste your single years wishing for someone to be in love with. if/when those things come, they will come in due time and they will be good. but there is nothing like looking back and feeling empty because you wasted literal years ignoring what you had because you were hoping for something better. while it’s important to better yourself and reach for your goals, don’t neglect the present because that’s where you are now and it’s your now that determines your future. 

he is so smart

wonderful Potter

with his scar

and his broomstick

- actual canon line by Draco Malfoy

“I’m gonna let out all my anger in the form of kissing you.” 

“I… well, I guess that’s one way to vent.” They paused. “…That I’m really down for.” 

This is for the mentally ill people who stay mentally ill. The ones that medication doesn’t work for, or who medication only alleviates some of their symptoms, or medication makes your symptoms more managable but only just so, just enough that everything is still hard, that you can see the difference between what you can do and what other people can

this is for the people whose doctor said “this is as good as it’s going to get”

who diligently take their meds every day knowing that this is as healthy as they will ever be and get up and face the world anyway

i am so so proud of you

U kno what???? Honestly?? All jokes side about the Duolingo owl, Duolingo is one of the only language education services I know of that doesn’t charge for the full course and I really think we don’t appreciate that enough in a world where knowledge is severely (and increasing) restricted based on income. I just went through the app store and downloaded every language app I can find, and the only two that didn’t charge hefty subscription fees to access all the lessons were duolingo and memrise. Support free education.

A reminder to smol insecure studyblrs

- You do not need midliners to be a good studyblr - You do not need expensive pens to be a good studyblr - You do not need a kanken rucksack to be a good studyblr - You do not need perfect lighting to be a good studyblr - You do not need a mac or iPhone to be a good studyblr - You do not need Japanese stationery to be a good studyblr - You do not need to be at university to be a good studyblr - You do not need plants and flowers to be a good studyblr - You do not need to follow aesthetics to be a good studyblr - You do not need to study red brick subjects to be a good studyblr - You do not need to be neurotypical to be a good studyblr

As long as you are studying SOMETHING and want to create your own content in ANY WAY YOU LIKE and are promoting good study habits and general positive vibes, you are a good studyblr. In fact, you are great. Keep up the good work!!

somehow I got 95/20 on an assignment

I hope they never fix it and leave it this way forever

Studying for my finances exam. 💆🏻‍♀️

 sunday night feelings of despair management checklist 

set a timer for five minutes and tidy up. (you’ll go past the timer.) 

pack your school/work/lunch bag

pick out which clothes you are wearing tomorrow

prepare any food/drink you can (putting water in coffee maker, etc)

make a to-do list for tomorrow

check if anything on that to-do list can be done now

do one final email check

do one final planner update 

relax

you’re gonna have a great week! you got this! 

back to school

i know, i know, i’m a little bit early. it’s all good, i have anxiety, i plan ahead constantly. i figured i’d share some of my plans to prepare myself for heading back to school.

1. fix your sleep schedule

for school i wake up at 6:30, in the summer i wake up at 12. and recently i decided to fuck that up even more by pulling an all-nighter and just, in general, screwing up my sleep schedule. i’ll need about a month to fix all this damage, but in general, you should start reacquainting yourself with your school schedule about two weeks before you have to head back.

2. figure out your note keeping system

i’m switching things up this year, and i won’t be using the binder system i’ve had all throughout high school. it’s simply to heavy for my walk to and from school. instead, i’ll be using a filing folder, and keeping loose leaf paper, as well as the week’s lessons in there, and once the week is over, i’ll transfer my notes to the binder system at home, which should limit the weight i carry. also, this’ll force me to have better organization, and hopefully make weekly review easier. just as a rule of thumb, refreshing your note keeping system is something you should do annually, at the start of a new year or even before a new semester; you know what’s been working and what hasn’t been.

3. gather breakfast ideas

i have about ten minutes scheduled in my morning routine during the school year for breakfast. and about five of those minutes are spent figuring out what to eat. i want to gather simple breakfast ideas that i can test out now, so i don’t waste time deciding what to eat. this just, in general, makes mornings less of a hassle and can help make sure you’re getting a good start to the day.

4. take stock of your supplies

i need a lunchbag and highlighters, my previous ones are no longer able to function, so i need to replace them. i don’t, however, need new pencils, i have plenty. doing an inventory check can really help prevent buying duplicates of something you thought you didn’t have.

5. create achievable goals

this year is my final year of high school, and then i’m off to university, most of my goals centre around applications and just graduating. but there are other things i know i need to do. embracing study habits for one. i’m hoping to do so by staying in the library after school instead of walking home right away because i know i can’t get work done as effectively at home. i’ll also be doing a review for exams all throughout the year, instead of the day before, by creating flashcards and mindmaps for each days lesson. set a general goal, then add the steps you’ll need to take to achieve it.

6. check your courses

i’m dropping out of physics because i don’t need to be taking it and it will give me a spare instead of a full course load. i need to talk to my guidance counsellor before school starts because of it. as well, i like to make sure i’m in the correct classes and that my schedule is as balanced as possible. some schools may not allow this for regular students, mine does. make sure you’re taking what you need to take and what will allow you to succeed.

7. put dates in your planner

my school offers a tentative list of events going on through the year, with set exam and break times. i like to keep track of these, and setting them in my planner makes it easier to see how my year will play out. if your school doesn’t offer this, check out past years scheduling so that you have a general feel for how your year will go.

these are just some of the things i’m doing to ensure this year goes smoothly for me. let me know what y’all are doing too!

so your last semester wasn’t great.

we’ve all been there fam. in fact my previous semester was not great either – i got kicked out of my university’s honor program. You need a 3.5 cumulative GPA to stay in, and because of a lot of different circumstances, I finished out with a 3.48 – which is, frankly, better than i deserved. But this semester I’m gonna get a 4.0 and reapply. So here’s how ya do it. 

1. have a good first day. 

a big mistake is to go balls-to-the-wall discipline on your first day. Fuckin… relax, dude. Wake up as early as you need to be ready, but don’t push yourself to be up at 5am or anything like that. Set our your stuff the night before so you can have an easy morning. Treat yourself to a good breakfast or just get that fast food you’ve been craving for lunch. It’s really important not to stress yourself out too much, especially after your last semester kinda sucked, and it’s VERY important not to let yourself automatically associate school with negative emotions like fear and stress, because that will paralyze you down the line when things get more difficult closer to exam season, etc. 

2. don’t be afraid to drop

when going to all your new classes, really seriously evaluate your ability to succeed in a class with that time slot/professor/etc. last semester I had a quantitative reasoning class that was part of our core curriculum – the professor was NOT good at their job, did not teach us the material, and frankly showing up to that class was a waste of my time. What i SHOULD have done was DROP THE DAMN CLASS the first week, and taken it the next semester with a better professor. 

3. limit other activities at first

your first couple weeks of the new semester, cut back on other activities. I’m really active in political stuff going on around my city, and i’m on a leadership team for an organization that does that kind of stuff. I’ve let the team know that I’m not going to be participating, going to meetings, or ANYTHING for the next two weeks while my semester gets started. The reasons for this are many – it helps you get used to the pace of all your classes without being stressed out by other things, it helps you reorganize your priorities and put school first, and it also helps you build credit with your professors, so down the line if you’re having problems (like ‘oh SHIT i forgot this homework’ or ‘FUCK i don’t understand this project i need an extension’) they’ll be more likely to help you out, because they know you’ve been putting the effort in. 

4. try out something new organizationally

if you’re like me, keeping track of assignments is really difficult. I lose papers all the damn time. So this semester I’ve bought one of those accordion file thingies – so I can keep all my papers in one place, while still having them separate and organized. Just remember, the strategy is only one part, but you’re responsible for sticking to it and making it work. 

so there ya have it, friends. you’re ready to start this ‘recovery semester’ off with a bang. you can do it, and so can I!

I don’t use a bujo but I’m going to use some of these ideas.

How to use a bullet journal, student’s edition

I’ve been using a bujo for a year now, and as a high school student, I was struggling to incorporate my bujo into my studies, aka organising my homework and stuff. Before starting a bullet journal I was using a day to day diary where I wrote down all my homework and exams. As I switched to the bujo, I was so happy to have this productivity-boosting tool, yet I couldn’t figure out how I could write down my school-related dates and assignments on my bujo, since it is not designed for long-term planning. So here are the tips I figured out through time (and a lot of studyblr scrolling hehe) on how to use a bujo as a student! Enjoy ^^

1. Have a Semester/trimester/year overview of your school/uni year

This is so far the best tip for long-term planning in your studies. With an overview of your school/uni weeks, it is very easy to jot down exam dates, deadlines, conferences and stuff. 

It’s very useful when you are given, at the beginning of your school year, the planning of exams. You can easily jot down the dates and subjects of each exam in this calendar.

You can also add vacations, public holidays and weekends. I also like to highlight the days already gone so that at the end of the school year, I’ll feel the joy of highlighting the last day of school ^^

2. Weekly spreads and assignments columns

This is essential if you want to incorporate your bullet journal with study planning. 

It consists of having one column of your page, the weekly assignments overview, dedicated to only writing homework, assignments and upcoming tests. The other part of your weekly spread consists of your usual daily logs. Here are some of my weekly spreads as an example (shoutout to @studypunked for the inspo)

As you can see in the pics, the left column is used solely for writing down my homework and tests.

I also like to add some decorations and pictures to give a bit of life to those weekly spreads.

I also added a month overview and a sleep log each week, but this is personal: you can become creative about how you want your weekly spreads to be.

I usually pre-do these weekly spreads for school weeks after a vacation so that if the teachers give an assignment due in a week or two, I already have the homework column of the due week prepared in advance. When I don’t have school (aka during vacations), I don’t make a weekly spread. I just do my dailies linearly.

3. Useful collections for school

I also like to have some pages of my bullet journal dedicated to other elements related to school:

Homework to do during the holidays:

My grade averages:

A spread dedicated to the list of things I had to do for UK uni application and school during last summer:

And so on… you can get creative and it also depends on your needs for school. 

So here it is! This setup worked really well for my senior year and I will definitely continue to use it for university. 

I hope this post was useful :)

little reminders

do you have homework due tomorrow? do it

did you get any homework today? do it

did you get an assignment notification? break it into small chunks, schedule these chunks and make a start on it. 

do you have an exam tomorrow? do some light revision. or if you’ve left it until the last, turn off your phone, put it in your desk drawer and revise until you’re done. make sure you get at least 4 hours of sleep if you’re cramming, 8 if you’re not. 

do you have a quiz tomorrow? do some v light revision, and redo some homework problems or handouts on the topic.

how much tea/coffee/general caffeine have you had today? how much water have you had? switch your next coffee refill to water.

have you brushed your hair? tame that mane.

have you showered? have a warm shower right before you go to bed so you feel sleepy when you come out.

are your feet cold? put on socks.

are you working your hardest? push a little harder. 

when was the last time you allocated relaxing time? pick a cutoff point for your work, whether it’s 9pm or 1am, and spend 15-30 minutes (depending on the time) to wind down by reading a book, talking to family or friends, taking a shower and generally doing whatever you want. 

friendly reminders to

Brush your teeth/floss

Wash your face/hair 

Put on some lotion

Take your medicine

Drink some water

Tell yourself something good about yourself

Take a break when you need it

Take a moment to breathe deeply and relax your muscles

Eat some fruits and veggies

Eat what makes you happy

Don’t be so hard on yourself

Remember that everything is going to be okay

Just a quick reminder! Having a bullet journal/planner will NOT make you more organized! Only YOU can make yourself more disciplined!!!!

picture it now. the life you want to have. the smells, the colors, the people. the smiles and the accomplishments. where you’ll live, where you’ll relax, where you’ll study or meet new people or just discover. allow yourself to dream, and aim high. disappointment is a part of life, and whenever someone succeeded, they allowed themselves to dream, to expect, and then to fail. and then try all over again, until it worked out.

bad study/school habits to drop

like seriously, drop them asap. 

they’re toxic and prevent you from being productive and doing your best. change won’t come right away, but do your best to stop these bad habits.

comparing yourself to others. in anything, we tend to compare ourselves to others even though we know how unhealthy it is. stop comparing yourself to your friends and classmates because everyone works in different ways at different paces.

complaining. i get it. nobody wants to write multiple essays or do fifty math problems. it’s either you do it or you don’t. if you don’t do it, there’s nothing to complain about. if you do the assignment, why complain if you know you’ll finish it anyway ? complaining is counterproductive and honestly quite annoying.

being negative. “i’m gonna fail this test.” “i can’t do it.” everyone says these things to themselves, including me. sometimes i’ll say “i don’t understand anything” even though i’ve barely tried. speak your success into existence and put in the work. believe in yourself or at least accept the situation if you didn’t prepare enough so you can do your best.

cramming. if you know you have a test on friday, start studying a few days before. rather than spending a whole 3 hours studying the night prior, study in smaller increments several days beforehand. take your time to understand the concepts. cramming stresses the body by trying to force memorization which usually doesn’t end up well.

going out when you have homework. i get it. you want to hang out with your friends, but you really should get your work done. make an effort to finish most/all of your work before you go out. personally, the fact that i have work to do lingers in the back of my mind which lowkey stresses me when i’m trying to have fun. who wants that ?

procrastinating. you all know why you shouldn’t do it so there’s really nothing to say. it’s one of the worst habits to have, and i hope we can all work towards getting rid of it.

p.s. thank you to everyone who disagreed with my advice but gave me feedback in a polite way. i’ll keep editing slightly because i usually write these at the end of a long day so sometimes my intended meaning doesn’t get across to some people.

Okay, so you’ve been called smart all your life. As a kid, you were one of the smartest in your class. Maybe you could read at a much higher level than your peers, or you could fly through multiplication drills like they were nothing. Then, you get to high school and suddenly you’re surrounded by lots of people who were ‘gifted kids’. None of what made you ‘special’ seems all that important now. Your work is actually challenging, and it’s actually requiring effort.

If you’re experiencing this, just know that so many students have gone through the same thing. Maybe it happens in high school, maybe college. But a lot of us who were considered gifted as kids suddenly run into this and it challenges our entire identity. It can be paralyzing, but it’s 100% possible to overcome it and succeed! I’ve compiled a few tips for ex-gifted kids dealing with impostor syndrome and self-doubt. I’m not a therapist, psychologist, or any sort of education expert. I’m just speaking to my own experiences, and I welcome any input from others who have insight into this as well!

1. Understand that working hard does not mean you aren’t intelligent. If something doesn’t come naturally to you, that’s not a reason to give up. Believing that people can do things “just because they were born with a talent for it” is only going to hurt you. It’s not true! People may have natural aptitudes for things, but hard work is involved even for the smartest or most talented people. You are capable of learning anything, and you don’t have to be “good at it” right away to do so.

2. Comparison will kill you. You are your only competition. Focusing on how you rank with other students, and comparing yourself to your classmates is going to exhaust you. By focusing on others, you can’t put your full energy into focusing on your work and yourself. You belong. Even if you struggle with your work, you belong. Focus on your own self-improvement and doing your best.

3. Don’t focus on the goal, focus on your current actions. If you’re always thinking about the future, and about whether you’ll get into that school or that program or win that award or get that scholarship, you’re not using that time to get work done. Don’t worry about college applications, just do your homework. Focus on what you are doing now to reach your goals so you can apply to schools with confidence later.

4. Your grades may not reflect intelligence, but they do reflect work ethic. Don’t let others convince you that grades mean nothing. They sure as hell mean a lot to colleges, and thinking that you should “reject the current education system” is not going to harm anyone but yourself. If you don’t feel like you’re learning anything in your high school classes, that’s all the more reason to want to get into a university that will challenge you. If you put effort into your work, it will not let you down. Your hard work will be reflected on your transcript. Don’t lose focus.

5. Talk to someone. Let people know if you’re struggling. It can be hard to feel like you aren’t allowed to identify as “smart” or to feel pressure to constantly compete and improve. I went to a highly competitive high school that pushed kids to cope in dangerous ways. This is not healthy and not okay. If you’re feeling overwhelmed you need to find healthy coping mechanisms. Speak with someone you trust and don’t let yourself spiral. Don’t try to self medicate. Your well being is always more important than your grades. Period.

6. Enjoy yourself. School may seem like hell, and you may feel like it will never end and you’ll always be stressed and worried. But high school is only four years, and you can do things during that time that you probably won’t ever again. Take advantage of things that seem fun, even if people think they’re nerdy or weird. Try and remind yourself that you’re lucky to have your education and you have the power to do great things with it. Don’t lose sight of your own ability and your bright future!

Things I Wish I Knew Early On

I’m entering my junior year of college and have been creating a list of things I wish I knew earlier than now, like back in middle school or high school. Learn from me with these things, and feel free to add-on whatever you think fits!

Buy Victoria’s Secret underwear and bras. The quality is way better than anything else and definitely worth the money.

Go to the movies by yourself. It may seem weird at first but it really isn’t. Plus you don’t talk anyway. Treat yo self.

Begin saving money early on. Save it all up. Travel with the savings.

Don’t waste all your money on cheap clothes. Don’t solely shop at stores like H&M and Forever 21. Get the latest trends from there and that’s it.

Spend more money for higher quality clothes. Especially for jeans. But don’t buy $200 jeans. $50-$100 is plenty.

Work hard. Get a job. Even if it’s crappy. The experience (and money) is important.

Study hard. Even if it sucks. I regret not trying harder in high school and am pushing myself more now in college (thus this studyblr). Learn all the things.

Simple basic items for clothes look cleaner and are easier. Don’t wear tons of patterns.

Buy yourself a flannel. A good, soft one too. Flannels are amazing.

If someone doesn’t make you feel good about yourself, don’t spend time with them. It’s not worth it.

Don’t keep tons of knick knacks. You don’t need them.

Keep a decorative box and put small memories in them each time you do things. Ticket stubs, wrist bands, fliers. Then when it’s full, go through it and enjoy all the memories. Then, throw them out after and start over.

You don’t owe anyone anything. No explanations. No apologies. (Except maybe your family). When you choose to give them those things, it will mean more because you will actually mean it and want to mend your relationship.

Watch the sunset. It’s fucking beautiful.

If you are not comfortable, don’t do it. Leave the situation.

Learn the balance between school, work, social, and personal lives. Put equal time into all four. Even your personal life.

You are your own best friend and will have your own back, so spend time with yourself. Treat yourself (but not too often) and enjoy your own company.

Talk to yourself. It is good to be able to have a conversation with yourself and think things through fully.

Sometimes you have to be impulsive. It takes just three seconds of spontaneity to get yourself out of your comfort zone. Sometimes this means making new friends or overcoming a fear.

Life will tear you down sometimes. It is okay to cry. But just remember, when you hit rock-bottom, there’s only up from there.

The 100 Days of Productivity Challenge with EmmaStudies!

Productivity challenges are a fun way to help boost your motivation to get things done! ‘100 days of productivity’ is one of the most popular challenges when it comes to Tumblr and Instagram. As I am planning to start the challenge, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get more people involved! So, where do we start?

What is ‘100 days of productivity’? To put it simply, the challenge is to do something productive for 100 days. It comes from the idea that each day, we can do at least 1 thing that pushes us forward. The challenge is meant to improve your sense of accomplishment and show that with a bit of motivation, you can get things done!

What classifies as productive? This is entirely up to you and what you feel is worth recognition. Whilst the majority of study blogs do something study related each day that isn’t a set rule. Some examples could be:

studying for an accumulative time of 2 hours a day

decluttering your desk and study space

finishing all your homework

drafting an assessment you’ve been procrastinating on

organising your files

sorting through your emails and implementing a filter system

backing up computer files and phone

organising your monthly plan

going to study or read at the library

finishing a book you’ve been meaning to read

setting up a file organisation structure on your computer

creating a resume and cover letter

applying for jobs, internships, work experience

spring cleaning your bedroom and study space

organising your bookshelf

unsubscribing from spam emails

collecting account emails and passwords

sorting out your expenses and budgets

deactivating unused social media/email/etc accounts

Obviously, this list has just a few options. You can do anything which you find achieves a positive and organised result! Even if you do something small, you can count that :-)

Does it have to be consecutive days? It can be, but there isn’t a rule. Most people attempt to do consecutive days but that isn’t always possible. Doing something productive one day after another is great for building your self-discipline, however, you can skip days if need be. If you do, don’t feel bad! Remember to bounce back and continue the next day.

Who can join? Do I need to have a studyblr/studygram? It is open to anyone! There are no requirements for joining. You don’t need to have a studyblr or studygram! If you’re looking for a fun way to motivate yourself with the backing of other people, this is a great challenge to be a part of. 

When do I start? Absolutely whenever you want. Could be the start of a month, the start of your school term or for the new year. For this which I’m setting up as a collective challenge, I am planning to start on Monday 9th October. For anyone who has seen this post before then, you are more than welcome to start the same day! But if you see this afterwards, you can still join and be a part of it - but you’ll just be a few days behind, but that is not a problem! :-)

How do I track document my productivity? Most people document their journey through Tumblr or Instagram by posting a photo each day (or every few days). I will be doing this! I will be tagging my posts with #emma100dop which you should too. This way I can see your photos and reblog them too!! As a challenge which I am hoping lots of people can get involved in, having a specific hashtag is great for motivation.

Similarly, it is worth tracking your days on paper. I have created a printable set which you can download for documenting each day’s work. *Download link here!*

Do I have to share pictures? If you don’t want to, you don’t have to share. For studyblr and studygram accounts this is a good idea because you’re uploading original content but if you don’t have a study account, you don’t need to upload any. You can still document your progress with photos and make a gallery on your phone if you want. As mentioned above, I have a printable which you can download for free to track your progress. If you don’t want to take pictures, you can just cross off or write down what you did that day! 

I am really excited to start this challenge with you guys! :-) I think doing it as a collective group is a fantastic idea in terms of boosting and maintaining motivation through the whole challenge. With lots of accountability partners, we should all hopefully manage 100 days! Best of luck! Remember to tag me in your pictures on Tumblr and Instagram!! x

Other posts | Printables | Instagram | Youtube | Pinterest | Etsy Shop

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”          – Confucius 

you can fall in love at 30. you can discover your true passion at 40. you can go back to school at 50. you can learn to draw, or paint, or sing at 60. relax. just because you didn’t do most, or any, of the things considered “young adult milestones” doesn’t mean you never will. there’s no time limit on happiness.

#96: Experiments

I wrote this post for myself as much as I wrote it for you.

You have an idea for a short story. It starts small, a random, sudden jolt of inspiration. Over time, other ideas latch on to it, big and small. Slowly but surely it expands into something bigger, and you start paying attention. It stays close, at the back of your mind at all times, and you pick the thread up whenever you have a spare moment.

Even more time passes, and you realise that the idea is so big that you can’t keep it inside your head anymore. So you pick up your notebook and dump all your thoughts under the heading initial notes.

You’re excited about it and want to explore it further. Things seem to be getting pretty serious. If you do it right, this could get really big. Not a short story but a novel for sure, perhaps even a trilogy. Now you have to be careful and really think about it.

And you do. More unsorted notes start piling up until you’re pretty sure this will be at least an eight-book series with the possibility of spinning it off into a fantasy empire not unlike the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.

At this point, you’ve been racking your brain on this for months, but all you have is an idea. A pretty epic idea, but still, only an idea. You don’t know if the story’s going to work and have no idea whether you’ll actually enjoy writing something like this. This has happened to me many more times that I’m willing to admit, and most of them remain mere ideas to this day.

I often wonder: why not do it the other way around? When the initial jolt of inspiration comes, why not harness it? Why not sit down and write whatever story comes out in however much time you have without thinking about it? Just a little experiment.

Writing scenes with those characters that just appeared in your mind puts things in perspective. It gives you an idea of how much research and other related work you would have to do. Writing even a short experimental scene doesn’t spoil the idea. It puts it to the test.

As writers of fiction, we have the luxury of being able to try things out with almost zero cost. A surgeon or barrister or firefighter can’t turn up for work with a wild new idea and immediately put it into practice. That would be dangerous.

Unlike all these responsible people, you can write out whatever comes to mind as crazy and half-arsed it might be. In case that fails, you can always just delete it or tear it up or burn it or take it to Nevada and nuke it in the desert (stay safe, though).

You can abandon it if you don’t like it or change it in the middle. There are no rules. Even if it turns out well, you have no obligation to publish the exploratory story. You can rewrite it as a novel and/or incorporate it into a larger body of work.

If you write just a few hundred or thousand words towards a story, you have a much better idea if it’s going to work than a person who spent months just thinking about it. There’s nothing to lose.

Think less. Do more experiments.

What I Am Reading

This week, I finished Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman — a collection of short stories by Haruki Murakami. It was a fantastic read. I have to admit, I’m becoming a massive fan of his style. I’ll have to read more Murakami in the future.

Short Stories

I read the following short stories this week:

Firefly by Haruki Murakami

Chance Traveller by Haruki Murakami

Hanalei Bay by Haruki Murakami

Where I’m Likely to Find It by Haruki Murakami

The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day by Haruki Murakami

A Shinagawa Monkey by Haruki Murakami

Divorce by Tita Chico

Want More?

My email subscribers receive a notification when I publish these posts along with a few things I found interesting or helpful on the literary internet every week. Click the link below to join the club.

SUBSCRIBE

(I won’t spam you or pass your email to a third party. You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Past Editions

#95: Project Fatigue, June 2019

#94: Writers and Jobs, June 2019

#93: Time Tracking for Writers, June 2019

#92: Decisive Moments, May 2019

#91: Writing and Life, May 2019

Doing well is much easier said than done. The best tip I have is to just do the work. It’s going to suck, but there’s no secret other than doing the work. Though, there are ways to make doing the work easier!

I. Time Management

Have a planner to gain a general idea of your week.

Schedule your time for studying but also schedule time for breaks.

Every morning I check what needs to be done for the day.

I treat college as a 9-5 job with a lunch break. This may not work for everyone, but this thinking allows me to be done by 5, and I usually finish everything for the day by that time.

Take a break after you finish an assignment. Allow yourself to feel proud for finishing and give yourself a reward.

Break up projects into smaller parts, this is incredibly important. It’s easier to do an outline, then a few paragraphs rather than doing an entire essay at once.

It’s not time well used if you don’t focus on the task at hand. If you’re having trouble, get rid of distractions using apps that limit phone/internet usage.

Don’t waste time on techniques that don’t work for you. I don’t rewrite notes, it doesn’t help me study. Instead I do extra textbook problems or I watch a video on the topic. 

Sometimes it’s hard to motivate yourself to do the work, to study. Then just do a single problem, a single page or paragraph. Usually starting is the hardest part.

II. Studying & Learning

Be present during class by asking questions and answering problems.

Use phone-locking apps like Forest if you need to to stay focused on the class.

Skim lecture notes ahead of time. You don’t need to take notes on them, the professor will tell you what’s important.

It’s ok if your notes aren’t pretty as long as they’re functional.

Practice problems until you can’t get them wrong.

Try to teach the material to someone else. This will show holes in your understanding. Pretend to teach if you don’t have a friend in the same class.

If you need, study in the library. Honestly, studying at my desk in my dorm has worked just fine for me though.

Do the homework, there’s no way around it. This is probably the biggest tip here. Do the work.

Actually do the homework, don’t just copy answers. Understand the answers. You can’t copy on a test.

Speaking of tests, do as many practice tests as you can find. Once the real test comes around, you won’t be as nervous and it should feel familiar.

Nice pens and notebooks aren’t required. However, spend a dollar and get a pen that writes well enough that you’re not wasting time during class getting it to work. (I’ve been through this)

Do the extra credit. There’s no reason not to, and your grade will thank you.

Go to tutoring, not everyone knows everything. You might even make a new friend since most tutors at my school are also students!

Realistically, you don’t need to do every reading assignment as long as you know what your professor tests on. If you don’t have the time, its fine to only skim the assignment.

Make study groups. If you don’t have a friend in the class, it’s as easy as asking “want to work on the homework together?” In my experience, most people are happy to work with you.

Go to your professors office hours if you need help. Your professors are a valuable resource.

Ask your friends for feedback, I do this all the time.

III. Treat Yourself

Sleep and eat well. Coffee is not a breakfast.

Please, don’t force yourself to cram a subject overnight. This is where time management comes into play.

An over-stressed student is a bad student, but a little bit of stress is healthy.

Find what motivates you. Personally, I wish to become a researcher so I work hard towards that goal to get into a good grad. school.

You don’t have to join a club. I’m not in one, and my social life is just fine since I spend time playing games with friends at night.

But join a club if you want, even for a single day. You might meet some friends.

Really do whatever you want with regards to your social life. Do what’s comfortable for you.

If you need it, colleges have a therapist that you can make an appointment with.

Sirius: Being gay isn't a choice.

Sirius, grabbing Remus' hand like a trophy: It's a game and I'm winning.