There is nothing wrong with your body or your age. Capitalism, media and corporations want you to feel bad about yourself so you'll be a better consumer and customer and make them tons of money. Loving yourself and filtering the media you consume is the sweetest form of rebellion.
Don’t hold the younger you to the standards you hold yourself to today. You didn’t know as much. You were in a different headspace, with different things affecting and scaring you, facing challenges that seemed big at the time. Maybe you were even lonelier. What’s important is that you know better now, and you know more now. That’s something to move forward with, not something to curse the past with.
Men need to normalize having friendships with women without a sexual or romantic foundation. Some women are just really cool people to know, regardless of your attraction to them.
Notetaking
Sound Note - take notes while you record audio
Evernote - notetaking that syncs across platforms
Paper 53 - minimal notetaking that syncs
Microsoft OneNote - collaboration and syncing, best for Office users
Google Keep - jot things down, best for Google suite users
Notability - take notes and annotate PDFs
Mindly - create mind maps
Day One - a digital journal
Flash Cards
Quizlet - the quintessential flash card app
StudyBlue - another commonly used app
Cram - best for its “cram mode”
Eidetic - uses spaced repetition for effective memorization
Planner
My Study Life - schedules, tasks, reminders, and more
StudyCal - keeps track of tasks, exams, and grades
24me - automated reminders and event planning
iStudiez - schedule and prioritized task list
Google Calendar - a calendar, best for Google users
Glass Planner - a calendar and to do list with incredible functionality
To Do List
Clear - organized to-do and reminders
MinimaList - simple to-do and focus timer
Trello - collaborative project organizer
Todoist - clean and functional task manager
Default notes app on your phone
Time Management
Forest - plant trees by staying focused
Pomotodo - pomodoro timer with to-do list
Timeglass - custom timers
Tide - pomodoro with white noise
Alarmy - forces you out of bed
Pillow - smart alarm that tracks sleep cycles
Productivity
Workflow - automate tasks
Habitica - turn your habits into an RPG
Continuo - simple, colorful activity tracking
Freedom - block distracting apps
Free Learning
Coursera - free MOOCs
TED - listen to Ted Talks
Duolingo - language learning
Memrise - spaced repetition language vocabulary
Khan Academy - free video lessons
Ambient Noise
8tracks - curated playlists
Spotify - online music streaming
Coffitivity - cafe ambience
Noisli - background sound generator
Rain Rain - rain sounds
Binaural - binaural beats
Health
Rockin Ramen - recipes based on ramen
MealBoard - meal planning
Lifesum - healthy eating
Stop Breath And Think - mindfulness meditation
Pacifica - mental health management
Sworkit - personalized video workouts
Waterlogged - hydration tracker
Reference
WolframAlpha - Google on steroids
Oxford Dictionary - all of English at your fingertips
RefMe - citation generator
PhotoMath - solve math problems by taking a photo
Mathway - step by step math help
Desmos - free graphing calculator
Wikipedia - not the best source, but it’s handy
Miscellaneous
Companion - stay safe when walking alone
Mint - money management
Toshl - finance manager
Tiny Scanner - scan documents
I will try to follow these definitely
Try and wake up early, and go to bed early too. I’m not saying get up at 5 (unless that’s you’re thing) but sleeping into noon is a productivity blackhole. I go for 8 or 8:30, generally, but that’s just what works for me.
Get dressed for the day. I’m not talking like, jeans and a business casual outfit, but a clean pair of sweatpants, fresh underwear, and a new shirt can really put you in the mood for a new morning.
Have a workspace. Whether it be the kitchen table, a desk, a spot on the floor with a lap desk, have a place that’s dedicated to your work. Have items that signify that workspace too, like your book, planner, laptop, lamp, whatever. It can help you get into the zone, being in that space.
Have a morning drink. I choose earl grey tea with honey and cream, but black coffee, herbal tea, lemon water, whatever works for you is awesome, as long as itll wake you up and start your day.
To do lists. To do lists and to do lists and more to do lists. I have three. One is a post it weekly planner deal (3.99 at a local grocery store). it’s a weekly spread already set up, and if you’re anything like me, its really hard to set up a weekly spread. Then I have an app called Ike. I have a daily to do list I write on that app, and then I have four more to-do lists of what I have to for each specific class.
Spread out your assignments. Don’t overwhelm yourself. If you’re professors are like mine, and have the due date for each module as Sunday at midnight. What I do is spread out all my assignments from Monday to Saturday, and I leave Sunday blank, so anything I didn’t do that week, I finish on Sunday. It works for me, it might work for you.
Have a folder for each class, and a notebook for each class. I hate spending money, I’m broke as hell, sono al verde as the Italians say, but a 0.99 cent folder and a 0.25 cent notebook can do wonders for motivating one to fill them up.
Study with a drink. Tea, water, coffee, whatever, but my go to is generally a warm drink. I cannot study if I’m cold, I get tired and groggy, so warm socks, a robe, and a hot drink really keep me going.
Take breaks. Make time for your hobbies, for something fun. Working without stopping absolutely destroys my motivation, and let me tell you, when I feel like that, an episode of Avatar and a snack gets me right back on the wagon.
Do self check ins. Does your back hurt? Are you sad? Stressed? Do you have to pee? Are you hungry? Never put your homework over your health. You won’t be able to get anything done well anyway if you’ve got those blocks.
Most importantly, get enough sleep. I beg of you. Sleep is so important, and it’s the game changer, at least to me. We as students have such an amazing opportunity to get more sleep than we ever have before during the year. Take advantage of that.
You might have disappointed some people; this doesn’t mean you are a disappointment.
you might not have have met some people’s needs; this doesn’t mean you are a failure.
you might not have received the love you needed; this doesn’t mean you are unlovable. just because you did not meet other people’s expectations doesn’t mean you are fundamentally flawed or a waste of space. You are a human who is growing and learning and trying again.
obviously love isn’t easy, but there’s something to be said about finding the person that makes it feel that way. conversation is effortless, and silence is not uncomfortable. seeing them brings you a sense of peace you didn’t realize you were missing. conflict is not the end of the world because you know it can be resolved. trust is a given and you don’t have to wonder how they feel about you. it may not always be easy, but you know without a doubt that it’s worth it. it’s truly a beautiful thing.
Our minds are naturally really good at envisioning worst case scenarios and worrying about problems before they’ve ever happened. And since it comes from your own head, of course it’ll feel like truth. But the actual probability of something going exactly the way you think it will is very low. Next time you keep yourself awake with nightmares conjured up by your fear, try to think of it like this, “I cannot predict the future, much less in the state I’m in right now,” and trust that the reality of things will be much more indifferent (and maybe even much kinder) to you than you are to yourself.
Drawing in my bullet journal.
My handwriting is not ✨pretty✨ but I was really happy with this.
“Don’t lie to an over thinker. It never ends well. Such people have trained their brains to look for holes in a story. If shit doesn’t make sense, they think about it over and over until it makes sense. I’m that person.”
— Unknown
reminder that anger isn't a bad emotion!! in fact, no emotions are inherently bad. your anger is usually trying to protect you. it's a part of you that wants you to be treated right. of course you should always consider your actions, and you may feel angry at someone that hasn't actually done anything wrong in which case you shouldn't lash out at them, but you're still allowed to feel angry. listen to your anger, sit with it, hear it out. maybe it's not always reasonable but that's not it's job. you're allowed to be angry.