CBYJ: #studyadvise

23:00

Studyblr - Beating Procrastination Formula

Hello Everyone!

This one never gets old because most of us fight this everyday. At least I do. Today I will share my tips how I get out of a really big procrastination hole which I overcame just yesterday after my energy and nerves were pretty much non existent. So I had to put life on hold and rest the eff out. On the plus side I am fully charged again but on the other hand, well I have a to do list that is endless and overflowing which makes me want to take a turn in my bed and keep on sleeping back and forth.

But lets get started. Here come the sex step to get things done!

1. Getting rid of all distractions

It's always the first and most important step. Cellphones, computer or all sorts of social media interaction are distraction if there are things to get done! Turn them of in order to have a free mind.

2. Put on some music

Although you have turned off your computer and phone, working in silence isn't nice if you do cleaning. Whilst doing homework I wouldn't recommend this step. However, if you cannot stand the silence turn on music or listen to an audio book like I do to get in the good mood and make things moving faster and easier.

3. Set a time limit

If there are multiple things to get done set yourself a time limit for each. If you don't get fully done, don't worry, at least you started! This is a tip I got from my head teacher and it is super helpful if you have much school work to get done and don't know where to start.

4. Know your energy levels

This is something I really have to work on. I always overstep my energy levels, don't rest enough or give myself time to recharge and heal. And then I end up being fully dead for one or two days because of exhaustion.

So please, figure out how your body work because you will just end up in a horrible procrastination cycle that is hard to get out of.

I know that I always get tired in the afternoon so around 4pm I will either have a little nap or have a tea and read a book for 45 to 60 minutes before going on mission two until 7 pm because then I know I really need to stop.

5. Being accountable.

If you really have trouble staying off the phone, train yourself by asking a friend to text you or call you to see if you really do get stuff done or not. Easy as it is, if the phone is on and the message read or you answer the phone its more likely you procrastinate. Also it is a reminder that you now should really get busy.

6. Reward yourself

Easy psychology this is, if there will be a rewards in the end like a piece of cake or a new shopping spree whatever you like, you won't have bad associations against doing work because you now know there will always be the extra rewards afterwards besides the amazing feeling of finishing something up.

So I hope this was somehow helpful and that you pick this formula up and give it a try. Are there any procrastination tips you have that are essential to you and you couldn't leave out?

Until next time :)

23:00

Studyblr - Exam Revision Tips

Hello Everyone!

It's not going to be long anymore before the hard part of the terms starts so I thought some tips about "how to revise" would be good for me as well as you. There are so many ways we can make learning and revising a bit less boring, less painful and more fun

1. Internet off

I cannot stress this enough but internet, social networks and mobil devices do not help, they take up all you attention and energy and in the end you know what all you friends did today but nothing for your exam which most likely won't get you an A.

Turn it off and answer two hours later, people will survive and most importantly you to plus you did something productive.

2. Timetable

Plan your studying. Let's say you have got three weeks left then plan e.g. every Monday and Thursday for this subject to revise, two hours each time. This will make it more organized, you do not have to stress if you don't understand or get something right away and you are more likely to remember it for longer because your brain has time to process the information and save it on the long term brain department.

3. Variety

I am a big believer in writing to do list. I could never concentrate on one thing all day long. So I write myself a to do list every day and include homework and study times in it. In-between each sessions I do something fun like calling my friend, write my blog, clean, cook, meal prep, go for a walk or work out. Whatever suits best. This will give my brain time and air to process, relax and recharge for the next study episode. Plus I am much more productive that way and that makes me feel good and sleep my 7-8 hours a day.

4. Get up early

I hate getting up at 10 am or 11 am and my whole day is almost over. I am a morning person, I get my strength and happy mood out of the first light of the day, when I am able to see how the world wakes up. I have much more time to do things in the day = being more productive and I have almost no stress unless I make it for myself. Figure out what works best for you. I usually get up at 7 or 8 am on weekends and love to enjoy my coffee in front of the open window and mindlessly stare outside. This honestly makes me happy and more energized that the depressing thought of 3 or 4 hours less of time.

5. Study methods

Now this step is a feather personal one. It depends what type of person you are. Do you learn better seeing things, doing it yourself or hearing?

I write flash cards in my own hand writing, my brain remembers writing the same thing over and over again very easily plus I can carry them with me everywhere and have a quick look at any time.

Another thing I do in subjects that include a lot of studying like psychology or biology, I also make collages and pin them somewhere I see them from every point of my room. You will catch yourself looking at it and thinking about it a couple of times and remember in the exam where what was writing (hopefully)

Another thing I do is talking to myself loudly + moving around in the apartment. Lets say I was learning about coping mechanisms I walk around my apartment and learn each of them in another room. Later when I need to write them down in my exam I remember where I was standing as I learned it. Freaking genius idea!

6. Look Ahead and Divide Work

Studying the night before doesn't work. Been there, done that, simply does not work for me. You usually know when your exams are so start revising at least three weeks ahead, a little every time every day but therefore more intense. It'll stuck with you more than the stressful, painful night before the exam. It also won't seem as much and if you do have questions you have time to ask the teacher or mates to explain again.

7. Breaks

Another proven fact is that if you take little breaks in-between studying it is more effective studying that having a power lesson. For every 30 minutes studying there should be a 5 minute break, have a cup of tea, open the window and breath. 15 minutes for an hour of studying, make yourself something to eat, call a friend, get your mind of studying for those 15 minutes. Finally id you powered through 2 hours os revising, take a 30 minutes break and go for a walk, move around a little and put your energy into physical use.

8. Believe in bananas and power foods

You need to recharge! Your brain takes up the most energy during the day. Only for keeping your organs working it'll take 500 calories not including the energy you need for studying. So in your study breaks have a little snack like a banana, a couple of dates or some fruit, a smoothie. Something that gets your blood sugar up again. This will recharge you and you have more concentration afterwards.

9. Relaxing time

Do not study through the days. It is a proven fact that this won't work because your brain needs breaks as much as your body does if you run. You'd never run a whole day through, you wouldn't be able to!

So set yourself a certain time frame, lets say two hours a day

10. Sleep with your books

This might sound really stupid but I believe in putting the books or flashcards under my pillow the night before the exam to absorb all the knowledge I need to have :D It's a comforting believe that makes me go into the exam a bit more confident.

So these tips really help me. I hope I could somehow help you, motivate to study and that we will all have a bit less of a stressful exam time!

23:00

Studyblr - How To Take Good Notes

Hello Everyone!

Today I am going to talk about a topic that I just learned myself in the last two years. It is quiet important not only for school but also for for life, I think. So I will give my best now to show you how to take good notes for school, college, or other important things when you have to write something down you need to remember.

Before we start we need to understand why we make notes: We make them so we are later able to study for our exams, make concepts in our minds and easier to understand (for ourselves) later on at home.

There is definitely no right way nor wrong way on how to take notes because we are all different and there are many ways to do so. I will tell you what works best for me and if you can relate maybe you pick some of my habits up as well.

1. Organization - Be prepared in class

Every year I have a big binder where I put all the different folders from each subject. This keeps everything together.

Each topic of the subjects get their own chapter in this folder under their category. This helps me not get confused and I always know where everything belongs.

When I head into class I will always have the binder from the current topic with me, 4 highlighters and my pencil case with pens, whitrrs, etc. as well as my note book.

Now to the actual notes, whilst in school I always write down the sub heading of each lesson and the date. For me this is important to focus, I know where I am at and what my notes are about in one look.

2. Listen Good

In class I mostly try to focus and listen to what the teacher tells me. Sometimes they give little hints and I can take side notes. Talking to my neighbor is distracting because your attention is not where it belongs to. Turn you phone off or put it far away in your bag, social media can wait those 2 hours, the world is not going to die!

So while listening I try to write down as much as I can that I think is important or helpful. My writing is not the best at that point, writing beautiful at this point is not needed!

After class I always, always try to read through the notes and highlight the keywords, headlines etc, so I am able to see what is going on at home.

This also is the first step to revision, in this little time space you actually start processing they information and it may be easier to remember when actually revising.

3. Review and Edit your Notes.

Now when at home I will go through my notes one more time. The actual work starts now because I know myself, I learn while writing and seeing the letters. As my notes look rather messy in class, I will write everything down again!

Here I will use a structure that helps me remember better, lots of symbols like arrows, bubbles, colours and drawings. This also makes learning more fun but my brain remembers those items and makes connections to topics and concepts a lot easier.

I use short terms, no full sentences ( I will use those when revising though!) to have the compact matter wrapped up in a couple of my own words. This makes me get familiar to the topic also and I can relate to the context much more.

As this step might seem rather dull to you, it helps me to revise as well. I write it down, care for the topic and am focused on it again. I revise again and in the end I do not need to study as hard anymore the night before a test because I have been constantly dividing my time to revise beforehand. Gave my brain breaks in-between to process and there is a good chance to remember it for longer as well.

Tip #6: Review, edit, and organize your notes – After class, it is a good idea to review your notes and make any edits necessary. Oftentimes, notes become messy and disorganized because you are trying to keep up with the professor during the lecture. It is worth the additional time to rewrite your notes in a more organized way. Also, research any terms or concepts you didn’t completely understand during the lecture. Additionally, in order to protect the content you’ve spent hours creating, you’ll need to keep your notes in an organized, safe place. Clearly label the binder or folder you are using for each class. If you are taking notes on your laptop, create a backup file on a zip drive in case your computer crashes the night before a test. Regardless of whether you take handwritten or electronic notes, you should date your notes and reference any chapters in your textbook that your notes correspond to for easy lookup later on.

23:00

Studyblr - 15 Study Tips

Hello Everyone!

So being all about the studyblr lately because I want to finish my A- levels as good as I can I thought I might share some of the study tips I have found lately.

I wrote them all down and pinned them on my pin wall so I can see them all the time when I am about to lose faith and want to procrastinate.

Here they are.

Now before I start going further into the topic I must say the most important things about being a good student is that you must be willing enough and be organized. There is no way around these two things I believe.

Organization will make it so much easier for you to overlook all of your tasks and work, that you stay on track at all times. Plus the will to be good gives you the energy to follow all the tips because nothing else quite reaches the importance of your aim.

So my aim this year is: to finish my A- levels as best as I can, do my homework, study hard and get into a good university at the end of the year.

1. Get to class early

Now, I always used to be late or on the last minute last year which left me very stressed and exhausted, confused at the beginning of class and it took me a little while to settle down and concentrate.

This year I try to be in the room a little earlier, like 10- 15 minutes. I am able to revise and read through the notes so I now were we are at in class right from the start. I find this tip really helps a lot.

2.There is no easy way out

I always tried to find an easy way. To copy homework, cheat at tests or simply have sick days. Not a good solution to be honest and I do not recommend that. Yes you might make it but it's actually so much more stressful do think about how you are going to get around the work than going it.

I am sorry to bring this to you. Not cheating and so on is much easier!

3. Trick yourself into being interested

Well, I found out that most of the things they teach us in school is not as boring as we think it is. So I do not struggle with that and most of the time do not have to make myself interested. However, if you are dealing with it, it might would help to build a story around the topic to make it funny and with that easier to remember for you. Use insiders, common weird words or make up neologisms to make that stuff stick in your brain.

4. Make school your priority

What your are doing now is the solid ground for your future and right now it's all you have to do. So treat school like your work, make it the most important thing in your life for the time being. A boyfriend might go, real friends will stay no matter what, you can be as beautiful as you are but eventually a students that did very very well will rather get your favorite job than you who spend all the time in front of the mirror and so on.

5. Make a weekly checklist

This tip really helps you to stay on top of things. Write a weekly list of the tasks you need to get done in the week. So you know what is most important and needs to get done. Also it will motivate you even more once you can cross it off.

6. Do active studying

You can always sit down and read through a text but actually focussing and understanding is the key. I know that from myself, sometimes my mind wanders off to the weekend, my bed, and other more fun things. But in the end I didn't get what was written, not even in the slightest.

Try to concentrate and focus --> make yourself interested. And you will find out that maybe after reading it once or twice you already got it!

7. Get your work done right away

Last year I made this mistake. It wasn't good and I regret it. I had an assignment which I had to end in before my internship. Meaning I had 3/4 of the year to write it. Lazy me, I left it to the last week. I had to take a whole week of school to write the assignment, missed all the stuff and was so stressed about getting it done.

This year I want to actually come home and start my homework, write my year assignment in my next holidays and revise more often.

8. Help teach others

Study groups are awesome! If you explain things to others it also helps you to understand and revise. As simple as that. You get half you studying done then and there. Maybe your friends motivate you as well, help you if you don't know how to find a solution to a maths problem and so on. Also you surround yourself with positiv people that have the same aim as you and want the same things. You have some social time after and feel better.

I have an english study group this year for the oral exam. We meet weekly and study together, get to know each other better and have a fun time as well. It's only positiv for as long as you surround yourself with the right people.

9.Time management

Don't over work yourself. So far I always said you school is very important but so are you! A planner here helps a lot. I do mine weekly. I write down all my classes and homework, daily life tasks but also plan in some "Me-Time". This is so important to recharge and do the things that fall behind. Have a bath, do your nails, read a good book or watch that movie or TV- Show. This allows your mind to let go of the stress and you can start freshly again.

10. Speak up in class

You can choose to draw in class or talk to your neighbour and so on but I find it helps if you interact with the teacher, think, answer to their questions because then your brain is already processing all the information you've been reached. Maybe you understand right away and remember quicker. Also it will you do good for the grade you get for how you behave in class.

11. No electronic in class

Media rules our world but I found out people will answer even if you answer them an hour later. The world won't go down and you will survive if you leave your phone on silent in your back and check it in your break or so. It helps you stay focussed.

12.Acutally do the work

I kind of mentioned it before. Do not copy work of others. Two reasons: it could be wrong and so you learn the wrong things (saying that you revise that). Or you do not learn at all because the process of getting the solution has been left out.

Also it feels much better to let others copy (if you chose to let them) than be the needy one, right?

13. Know your limits

Rather don't take any extra tasks up on your shoulders if you are already struggling. It's going to be so stressful and hard on you. Eventually you will just collapse and get nothing done or just half of it.

Have the work done you have to do first. If you then have time and lust to do extras, do them!

14. Individual study plans

Having routines help me a lot. I manage my time and it's always the same for me because this works, I won't get confused about my tasks and it's reliable.

My plan looks like this:

- School in the morning till midday/ afternoon

- home after that and have a lunch and an hour nap (! not more and I have an alarm set for that as well!)

- going to feed my pets and get some errands done like grocery shopping, meeting a friend or so.

- homework and dinner for as long as it takes me but I will start at 6pm at the latest.

- plan my next day, meaning I write a to do list for the following day and pack my bag, food, etc ..

- Me- time: I do my nails, shower, get ready, read or watch a movie and go to bed at 10- 11 pm.

15. Enjoy

You simply have to enjoy life. Try to see the glas half full. Be glad you get an education and get to see your friends everyday in school. They support you, you laugh, have a fun time, a social life. See the positive, life could be so much worse.

If you being a more positive person and the best version of yourself life will seem easier. Trust me, I had to find out the hard way!

I hope you found this post somewhat helpful. I did. Maybe you can give me advise to? What are you daily routines?

Comment below or write a mail, I am always happy to hear from you.