My simple online class (+ work) setup for the past couple of months! It may not be super ~aesthetic~ like the ones we see online but it is pretty functional and I get lots of work done here which is the most important. I wasn’t supposed to make this video but I really loved this desk so I decided to document how it usually looks like before I slowly remove all the items and bring them over to where my parents are.

A good way to effectively write your notes is through the Cornell Note-taking System. If you want to know more about Cornell Notes, I made a whole video about it: I highly suggest checking it out.

Here’s a sample of one of my monthly bullet journal setups This one is for the month of January. Sorry for the poor lighting on my recent videos.

For the past 3 years, what helps me keep my life on track is the bullet journal method. In this video, I share with you my setup for 2021.

Earlier this year, I tried turning one of my poems into visual poetry!

physical books vs digital books pros & cons

Physical books vs Digital books: Which one is truly better?

Fun fact: Classic books like Little Women and Frankenstein have expired copyright protection so they are now part of the public domain. Meaning, you can read and download all the classic books for free on the web! You can directly search for them on Google, Amazon, or check out https://www.gutenberg.org

I realized I wasn’t clear when I said I am not a fan of music. I enjoy listening to music! It’s just that I don’t sing, dance, or play musical instruments. Anyways, in this video I shared my top 5 favorite fiction stand-alone books (at least, so far!)

Another highly requested video! Can you count how many times I said, “English” in this video?

A random productive day at online university. It was late when I realized there is static on my voiceovers! I’m so sorry about that. Will fix it by the time a new video is up next week.

I would like to apologize for my recent inactivity! I had to take a step back from siennanotes in the past few weeks to reassess what it is I want to do with this platform. Anyways, this video is all about studying without a study space. I hope you find it helpful

This video has been requested for quite some time now and ever since then, I have tried filming it but constantly failed because I don’t really have a proper ~wind down~ routine.

productive day in my life vlog! ✨

i’m currently stuck in lockdown so I thought I’d share a bit of what I’ve been doing to keep myself occupied! mainly; playing with my planners and making stickers for my shop

STUDY HACK: How I get things done in 4 hours a day

Hi guys, Lala here! I want to share with you guys how I am able to get things done in 4 hours a day. I know that for some of you the idea seems ridiculous. I thought the same 3 years ago. But I realized that while I would study, I was actually pretending to study because I would actually drift away from my studies and work and end up reading something completely unrelated to what I was supposed to get done. 

I would “study” for very long hours and didn’t get even half things done. And what is interesting is the fact I was actually burned out and stressed. About 2 years ago, I came across this article on Quartz called “The 4-hour workday is not a crazy idea”. While this is targeted towards businesses, I said to myself “School is basically work, so why not give it a shot”. And I am not kidding guys, it has helped so much. I actually get more things done, and I am not overworked because studying or working for 4 hours a day leaves me with plenty of time to focus on personal goals and my health. And while university leaves you with a ton of work, I am able to do it following the principles I shared with you above. 

If you guys want to know more about the methods that I talked about here, you can find more info below:

Time-blocking 101

Avoid the urgency trap with the Eisenhower Matrix

Productivity 101: An Introduction to The Pomodoro Technique

How to improve productivity with time batching

Hope you guys found this useful, and if you want to know more study hacks, feel free to check out my blog.