Dear Humanities students

Always always always take notes - even if extremely summarized - of the stuff you read. You do not want to be looking at an exam bibliography and realize that you read a number of those books and articles but have no recollection or record of their content.

Sincerely yours,

Someone who did not take notes of the stuff she read and now has no recollection or record of their content.

study inspiration: Elle Woods (Legally Blonde)  “You got into harvard law?”

Study tips

College tips

Learn stuff

Relax

WRITING

READING

STUDYING/SCHOOL/HOMEWORK

FITNESS

ADVICE

NICE LITTLE THINGS (THAT WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY)

Essay writing

Other writing stuff

Languages

Math/Science

Music Skills

Philosophy

Stress Relief

Studying

P R O D U C T I V I T Y

O R G A N I Z A T I O N 

S C H O O L // S T U D Y I N G

P R  O J E C T S

If it has * it’s an app

This is a list of helpful sites pulled from multiple masterposts, compiled into one. (Photos are linked with their respective post.)

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this is great!

How to Study Like a Harvard Student

Taken from Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, daughter of the Tiger Mother

Preliminary Steps 1. Choose classes that interest you. That way studying doesn’t feel like slave labor. If you don’t want to learn, then I can’t help you. 2. Make some friends. See steps 12, 13, 23, 24. General Principles 3. Study less, but study better. 4. Avoid Autopilot Brain at all costs. 5. Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 6. Write it down. 7. Suck it up, buckle down, get it done. Plan of Attack Phase I: Class 8. Show up. Everything will make a lot more sense that way, and you will save yourself a lot of time in the long run. 9. Take notes by hand. I don’t know the science behind it, but doing anything by hand is a way of carving it into your memory. Also, if you get bored you will doodle, which is still a thousand times better than ending up on stumbleupon or something. Phase II: Study Time 10. Get out of the library. The sheer fact of being in a library doesn’t fill you with knowledge. Eight hours of Facebooking in the library is still eight hours of Facebooking. Also, people who bring food and blankets to the library and just stay there during finals week start to smell weird. Go home and bathe. You can quiz yourself while you wash your hair. 11. Do a little every day, but don’t let it be your whole day. “This afternoon, I will read a chapter of something and do half a problem set. Then, I will watch an episode of South Park and go to the gym” ALWAYS BEATS “Starting right now, I am going to read as much as I possibly can…oh wow, now it’s midnight, I’m on page five, and my room reeks of ramen and dysfunction.” 12. Give yourself incentive. There’s nothing worse than a gaping abyss of study time. If you know you’re going out in six hours, you’re more likely to get something done. 13. Allow friends to confiscate your phone when they catch you playing Angry Birds. Oh and if you think you need a break, you probably don’t. Phase III: Assignments 14. Stop highlighting. Underlining is supposed to keep you focused, but it’s actually a one-way ticket to Autopilot Brain. You zone out, look down, and suddenly you have five pages of neon green that you don’t remember reading. Write notes in the margins instead. 15. Do all your own work. You get nothing out of copying a problem set. It’s also shady. 16. Read as much as you can. No way around it. Stop trying to cheat with Sparknotes. 17. Be a smart reader, not a robot (lol). Ask yourself: What is the author trying to prove? What is the logical progression of the argument? You can usually answer these questions by reading the introduction and conclusion of every chapter. Then, pick any two examples/anecdotes and commit them to memory (write them down). They will help you reconstruct the author’s argument later on. 18. Don’t read everything, but understand everything that you read. Better to have a deep understanding of a limited amount of material, than to have a vague understanding of an entire course. Once again: Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 19. Bullet points. For essays, summarizing, everything. Phase IV: Reading Period (Review Week) 20. Once again: do not move into the library. Eat, sleep, and bathe. 21. If you don’t understand it, it will definitely be on the exam. Solution: textbooks; the internet. 22. Do all the practice problems. This one is totally tiger mom. 23. People are often contemptuous of rote learning. Newsflash: even at great intellectual bastions like Harvard, you will be required to memorize formulas, names and dates. To memorize effectively: stop reading your list over and over again. It doesn’t work. Say it out loud, write it down. Remember how you made friends? Have them quiz you, then return the favor. 24. Again with the friends: ask them to listen while you explain a difficult concept to them. This forces you to articulate your understanding. Remember, vague is bad. 25. Go for the big picture. Try to figure out where a specific concept fits into the course as a whole. This will help you tap into Big Themes – every class has Big Themes – which will streamline what you need to know. You can learn a million facts, but until you understand how they fit together, you’re missing the point. Phase V: Exam Day 26. Crush exam. Get A.

Woah

Finally managed to clean (most of) my desk.

1. DON’T BE COMPETITIVE

Don’t look at other students as people who want to take your place or people you should be better than. This is toxic thinking and it will only lead you to more stress. Try to see your class mates as different people, who will follow different paths in life, and also might know things you don’t, that will help you get where YOU want. See them as partners.

2. KNOW YOUR LIMITS

There are always gonna be difficult situations in life, and some of them will lead to unwanted results, even though you tried a lot to deal with them. Keep in mind that pushing yourself is important, but only to a point that you can feel physically and mentally comfortable. Know when you did your best and when it’s time to stop.

3. BE ORGANIZED

To avoid stress and to guarantee good results and still have time for relaxing, PLAN! There are infinite ways to organize your daily routine and your goals, such as Bullet Journals [X] and planner notebooks [X]. Do some research and find what will work better for you!

4. SEARCH HAPPINESS

Remember that you have a long full life ahead of you! It may seem that now (high school, college, university) is the time to decide how your whole life is going to be, and that is really overwhelming. However, there is always time to chance your life, choose new paths and meet new people. Try not to put so much weight in the choices you make now and enjoy doing what makes you happy today.

|1.1.2015|

No holiday for me. 😫 2 weeks left for end of posting exam to happen 💆

If it makes you feel any better your notes are breathtaking

Perfect blogger’s desk always has coffee and macaronis on it.

Owner: Lindzi Shanks, Blogger.

P R O D U C T I V I T Y

O R G A N I Z A T I O N 

S C H O O L // S T U D Y I N G

P R  O J E C T S

If it has * it’s an app

Studying for Math

For the Anon who requested it. :)

I know lots of students struggle with math, so hopefully these tips will help some of you! Most of the tips will also apply to subjects like physics and chemistry. 

I’ll start with something not very pleasant, but very important. Math is the kind of subject where you need to know the whole material in order to go further. It’s vital you understand every concept - if not, the problems will continue to build up. So first, a way to learn the more basic things without which you can’t solve more advanced problems. The key is revising.

Now, for those have all the skills needed but still can’t solve problems:

FIRST METHOD - if you don’t understand the task

SECOND METHOD - if you understand the task, but still don’t know how to solve it

General tips for homework:

You CAN do it! As absurd this may sound, math can be fun and rewarding if you understand it.

Make sure to follow us on There’s An App For That for more app recommendations and reviews!

List Making, Time Management & Reminders

Studying / Flashcards

Reference

Educational Distraction / Brain Training

Health / Concentration

Other

* = favourite

Been away for a while to focus on exams, so I thought memory was a relevant topic to explore! This graphic shows where and how it works and also tips on improving your memory.

1. Prioritize

 Count the hours/minutes you need for everything you do - but always plan some buffer time! Then write down on what day you do what so that you have a roughly overview to put in every column.

 Example:                                                                                          

2. Make your Plan

You can use a program, an app, a printable sheet, a calender.. Whatever you want! I always find it helpful to colour-cordinate everything.

 Example:

 Printables + Useful programs

3. Stick to your Plan

Pictures of Plans

I hope this is helpful! If you have a question just message me here. Request a post here.

2:43 PM // A requested (low quality) planner tour/overview.

Hello. Okay. So..

So there ya go. I am not a very artsy person, so my little planner seriously looks so bland. But I love it so much that I keep everything in there anyway! To whoever requested this post, hello to you.

Alright, friends. Keep smiling. Keep studying. Have a wonderful day! :~)

First post: I’m Kathy and my dream is to become a doctor. I’m not sure what type of doctor I want to be yet, but I know I want to be a doctor. I’m currently a sophomore in high school, and I’ve started this blog to motivate myself and others throughout their studies. Whether you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or english teacher, I hope you good luck on your journey and nice to meet you! 

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