Babe, you’re not stealing my fries, you’re sharing our fries=) #EthicalMemes
Many students—including myself at one point—tend to think that making big strides towards their academic goals means also making drastic changes to how they’re used to approaching academics and studying; however, making big strides towards your goals oftentimes only requires that you make small changes in your day-to-day behavior. For instance, you can replace small unhelpful habits (like checking social media between classes) with small helpful habits (like reviewing notes or flashcards between classes). These little behaviors accumulate over time to lessen the burden of big tasks. They can also build a stronger sense of self-efficacy and mastery, both of which go a long way to motivating you when it comes to the bigger goals. Here are 6 small but powerful study habits that you can adopt:
Doing this will help you identify what you don’t understand early on so you have time to learn and ask questions. It also gives you a chance to practice and quiz yourself on material you may feel confident about. As a result, you might be able to narrow your focus on what you truly need to study come exam time and not waste time reviewing material you’ve already mastered.
This is one of the simplest yet most important steps you can take towards better academic performance. It ensures you meet your deadlines and can help you realistically visualize the time you have available in comparison to all your other tasks and events. If you don’t have an accurate sense of the amount of time and energy you have to complete a certain task or meet a deadline, you won’t be engaging in other small, helpful habits to work towards that goal.
During class, ask yourself if you’re understanding what the professor is saying. While taking notes, reading, watching an educational video, or doing any other study task, ask yourself what the key points were and try to identify areas that you can’t articulate or summarize well. If you identify these areas and come up with questions, be sure to write them down and fill in the answer at a later time to measure how well you addressed those lapses in comprehension. If you find that the answer still seems confusing, you can then ask your professor for additional guidance.
Make sure that your notes for each class are separate from other classes and grouped with other related notes. It would be even better if each subject was filed or organized in a way that you can easily distinguish between units and sub-units within each class/subject. Keeping your notes organized allows you to easily revise and review. It also creates a mental image of the information. For example,if you have a specific method to organizing your notes and use that method to review them, then you may be able to imagine going through your notebook or binder to find a particular piece of information during the exam.
Extra reading reinforces the ideas that you’ve learned in class and places them in a wider context. It also strengthens your critical thinking and comprehension skills.
The more specific you can be, the better you can identify solutions to improve. It’s also helpful to ask these kinds of questions after big events like the end of a project, essay, exams, and the end of the semester.
Best Wishes, Bujo Paper Creations
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now that it’s back to school season, here are some ways to stress relieve during the school term
fun things to do
spa days
go to the cinema
make playlists (for your friends, for different moods, etc)
go to the park
thrifting
painting
play/learn an instrument
play minecraft :) (if u want to play with me, my xbox name is kaitlin980 ;))
spend time with family
draw
journal
hang out with pets
binge-watch your fave shows
be around friends
keeping mental health in check
eat healthily (but with cheat days!)
drink lots of water
have a routine
take days off
relax in your breaks
try not to feel guilty
don’t procrastinate!!
take the stress out of studying
get ready beforehand (snacks, water, clean space)
study with friends
study in the library
listen to music
use pretty colours
use fun methods (quizlet, teaching ur family and pets teehee)
again don’t procrastinate!!
be organized
learn about other things, not just your curriculum
hope this helps in the coming term! im rooting for all of you <3
you’ve gotten a bad grade. the assignment you turned in was not as good as you expected. the exam just went awful. we all know the feeling when this happens. but i’m here to help you!! don’t stress my friend everything will be okay
first of all: it’s okay!!!!!! everybody fails sometimes! i know it feels awful because you worked your ass off and now this happens. what’s important is that you don’t give up. academic success is not everything, so don’t beat yourself up too much. (also like there’s so much wrong with this system, but that’s a topic for another time)
give yourself some time to be sad, angry, frustrated, etc. talk to someone or journal your thoughts down and just get everything out. (it would be best to talk someone who isn’t in the same situation, so instead of maybe making your classmate uncomfortable, talk to somebody who will listen and give emotional support)
nobody excepts you to go right back to studying. in fact it would be better to get your mind off of things and distract yourself a bit. do something you love and relax a little.
but! don’t forget to pick yourself up again and take the next step:
put your “failing“ into perspective. how bad is it really? is it the end of the world (no it isn’t). do you only think it’s a bad grade because you keep comparing yourself to your classmates?
don’t!!!!! compare!!!! yourself to others!!! focus on yourself. you don’t know all the other things your classmates may struggle with and your academic performance does not determine your self-worth. so what you didn’t do that good? there are so many other great things about you, believe me mwah
what was the cause you didn’t do as well you expected?
did you study the wrong things? or did you study them the wrong way? were the concepts just way to complicated and you didn’t understand them?
did you panic while taking the exam?
didn’t pay attention in class?
did you not start early enough?
is your teacher just awful™?
whatever the reason try to identify it and find a solution. try to apply it the next time. but remember that there is not always a cause, sometimes things are just like they are. if that seems to be the case, just remember that it’s probably not your fault and try to continue doing your best.
ha you thought you have to figure out the solution all by yourself. but i’m here to (hopefully) help you.
don’t be afraid to talk to your teacher/prof! most of the time they want to see you succeed, so maybe there is something you could do to improve the grade or you could try to tackle the issue you have/had.
find a study method that suits you and make it a routine. there’re so many helpful posts on here (just search up “study tips”) so there is to 100% something that works for you.
study schedule? some people do better with one, some don’t. with one, you can exactly plan out when and what to study for the upcoming tests, so you’ll be able to improve your grade. also, try to plan in when you’re going to revise hard topics again or the ones you didn’t understand if there were any.
do your homework and assignments! they help so much with improving your grade and the teacher/prof sees that you’re willing to make an effort.
join a study group or visit a tutor. they are a great way to find help and make you remember that you’re not alone and that there’s a solution to everything.
be a pro at exam taking. i’ll maybe do a separate post on that because there is so much i could say, but the most important thing is: be positive. give yourself a pep talk and don’t stress. you got this.
okay, that’s everything i have to say! i hope i could help u a bit <3 remember: you got this!!
Procrastinating makes me feel really icky, but I can’t help myself. I always wait until the final moment to do something or study for something and then am always rushing, thus I’m always stressed out. This is the way I deal with procrastination. What works for me might or might not work for you, and that’s okay.
Make a list of every single thing you know you have to get done. This doesn’t have to be limited to a certain time, if you know your university applications are due in two months, put this down too! Also include the smaller tasks you may have ignored like changing your sheets or tidying up your room.
Put some sort of symbol next to tasks you want to accomplish first. These can be assignments due soon, or anything you want to get done quick. I usually use exclamation points and for ones with looming deadlines, I put multiple exclamation points.
Assign an estimated duration to each task, ranging from five minutes to two hours, see how much you can realistically get done today.
After making that list, you may have a rush of energy to start checking things off, so start with something that’s high priority and also has a longer time duration. Work on this for at least half an hour, or at most an hour and a half.
Try not to open Netflix or YouTube on this break. Use this time to get something to eat, you can also use this time to finish those small tasks you wrote out, or play with a pet! If you open any addictive apps, you’re probably going to have problems coming back to the tasks.
As soon as your alarm signifies the end of your break, come straight back and attempt a different task now. If you were to do the same task, you might get bored. Work on this task and follow the above mentioned techniques.
After feeling like you’ve accomplished a decent amount, you can reward yourself something. I usually reward myself an episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine or a face mask!
While doing the tasks, keep checking them off, it’s extremely satisfying and once every single task is complete, you’ll feel so good about yourself.
When at least three things have been checked off, you can take a bigger break. This can last anywhere between fifteen minutes to half an hour. During this break, you can use any of the apps previously banned.
Try to remind yourself why you’re studying. Is it because you want to get into a specific university? Is it because you want to make your parents proud? Is it because you want to prove yourself to haters? Whatever the reason is, channel the emotion attached to it and get back to studying.
Just know that no matter what happens, your grades do not define you. You are not just a number or letter on a sheet of paper, you’re a beautiful human being and you can do anything you want to do.
- ̗̀ masterposts ̖́-
how to stay motivated throughout the school year
spicing things up
how to handle a bad grade
ideas for rewarding yourself
kpop journal
burnout - a guide for students
bujo for students
my after school routine
new year, new me?
how i study
german media
taking notes in class
how to wear what you want to school
autumn study tips
self care journal
birkenbihl method
summer guide
printables
study breaks
my favorite apps
study music
good habits
self-discipline
how to drink more water
what to do while on the bus
some advice
that time of the month
self care
- ̗̀ asks ̖́-
how to study + motivation
tips for new studyblrs + ways to prep for senior year
how to stay motivated after school when u have homework
back to school tips in german
german slang
i’m starting the second semester of my junior year soon, and recently i’ve been dealing with a feeling of burnout and lack of motivation. it’s hard to force myself to study and power through.
one thing that has really helped is taking good study breaks! it definitely also helps if you’re staying up late studying or having a marathon study session… like for finals ;)
when should i take a study break?
here are a couple of options—find what works for you, or try a bunch of different methods!
pomodoro method - this generally involves working for 25 minutes, then breaking for 5 minutes. after 4 work sessions, you can break for 15 minutes. good pomodoro timers are the marinara chrome extension and tomato timer for iphone!
between subjects
between different assignments (ex. after a paper, then after a worksheet)
whenever you feel tired or unmotivated!
study break DON’Ts:
watching 5-10 minutes of a longer tv show episode - my ULTIMATE don’t. you’ll just be tempted to watch the full episode…and 3 more afterwards! save the tv-watching for after you’re all done. tv is meant to be compelling and enjoyable - NOT something you just watch 5 minutes of at a time.
reading a chapter of a book - for the same reason why tv-watching is super ineffective! you’ll just want to know what happens next.
watching 5-10 minutes of a longer youtube video
playing a video game
sleeping/napping - super short naps are ineffective and you’ll just be groggy. HOWEVER if you’re staying up super late and set an alarm to wake you up, a 30-minute power nap can be good!
scrolling through instagram/twitter
doing stuff you do before bed like showering or skincare - this will make you sleepier since you associate it with going to bed!
basically, don’t spend your study break doing things that are meant to suck your attention! save that for when you’re done and you can actually enjoy it :)
study break DOs:
eat a small snack
clean up your study area
wash your face or brush your hair - super effective, especially when studying late at night. splash cold water on the back of your neck!
listen to your favorite song and sing/dance along
drink a glass of water
do something boring - give your brain a break and do something important but super boring. send an email, get some forms filled out, etc.
and my ultimate study break tip…
WORK OUT!
this may seem really counterintuitive. why spend a work break doing MORE WORK? however, working out is SUCH A GOOD STUDY BREAK. it gives you a sense of accomplishment, gets some endorphins flowing, and COMPLETELY takes your mind off of studying.
my favorite study break workouts:
pretty much anything from blogilates:
really hard weightless arms workout
another really hard weightless arm workout
extreme abs
under 10 minute yoga practices
10-15 min yoga
i hope these help you! in 2020, let’s start conquering procrastination and lack of motivation together!! :-)
- amulya
[click images for high quality]
Other advice posts that may be of interest:
How To Stop Procrastinating
How To Study When You Really Don’t Want To
Active Revision Techniques