Hey it’s March and every day closer to graduation leaves me with more existential dread. Every time someone mentions how quick the semester is going I have to try not to panic

I have… So much going on and I don’t want to do any of it??? I have to email my advisor about my defense committee but I want to be able to send her the revisions I told her were done but they’re not and it needs to happen today but I don’t know how to piece all of this together. And also literally all I want to do is hang out with my girlfriend and I can’t which should definitely be illegal

Some pictures from being back on campus–this semester is going by so quickly

I’m faced with existential dread about the idea of graduating at the end of it–though I have to figure out my credits and make sure I’m cleared to graduate first, and get though all my classes and senior thesis (my advisor gave me a books worth of articles at our meeting this week). But I’m 0 for 3 on my grad school applications which means I have to figure out what to do next year and the anxiety of it is not helping me focus on anything.

It’s February! I’m busy (back on campus regularly for the first time in a while which feels weird) and digging into revising my thesis a lot.

My girlfriend came to visit this past weekend which was really really nice because I miss her. Hopefully I’ll be able to go visit her soon, because I want to see her concert next weekend but idk if it’ll happen yet :(

Also I got an email yesterday from one of the grad school programs I applied to that I haven’t opened yet bc I’m scared. I don’t think I’ll get in? But I don’t know if I want to know right now. I can’t decide if getting emailed so early (it feels early idk) means they didn’t get many applications or they didn’t accept me. And I don’t think I’ll get in anywhere but I don’t know what to do next year if it isn’t grad school.

Roughly an hour until my meeting with my advisor to talk about my senior/honors thesis (draft of)

In other news I’ve had all of my classes now and I think it’ll be difficult coursework but I’m looking forward to it. I suspect a significant portion of my psych class are there for the general education credit and idk if our prof knows (he’s new I’m pretty sure) but he seems cool lol

First day of spring semester and my first time back on campus for more than like an hour and a half since we went home in 2020–tbh not loving it. I’m going to need a routine bc I have almost 4 hours to kill twice a week between my classes. And I need to email my advisor about a meeting we scheduled for Friday that I want to move (whoops).

Anyway, I hope everyone’s semester is off to a less shaky start than mine! (I am, literally and unstoppably, shaking)

Working on my last chapter for my honors thesis–and I need to email my advisor back. Not exactly looking forward to spring semester starting on Wednesday but it’s my last one!

Also I’ve been worrying about getting sick, esp with how much I’ve been working bc I can feel my immune system taking a hit with all the late nights and less than stellar eating/drinking/exercising (which I’m honestly not super good about anyway lol). So I’ve been drinking lots of orange juice and I’m sharing what’s in my cup (and what it’s inspired by lol)!

So I used to work at a coffee shop and we had a (admittedly unpopular but it was on the menu) drink called a creamsicle, which you made like this:

• Fill a 20oz cup with ice
• Add a shot of vanilla (probably about 2oz? We didn’t measure we just counted to three)
• Fill with orange juice
• Top off with half and half

And it’s good! But that shop closed at the beginning of covid and I’m at home without regular access/need for some of these things, so I’ve been using a smaller cup with no ice, and just adding whipped cream to my orange juice for a little bit of the vibes. And it’s really getting me through some of these mornings (plus my coffee lol I have at least 2 mugs a day these days)

New book! Bc individual copies of books are easier to cite lol

Wrapped up my third chapter earlier this afternoon and now it’s time to start on chapter 4 (technically I didn’t finish 2 so I’ll have to go back and write another section of that if I have time but I can turn in the draft without it I think so we’ll see. This is the last full chapter to write though!)

Also got an email today that my university is requiring either double masking or kn95s on campus and they’re going to provide us with one (1) kn95. I’m not loving it bc disposable masks are not very sustainable but safety first I guess? I’ll have to be on campus every day of the week this semester which will be a big change from my life since March 2020 and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it

Hi yes just me trying to remember the plot and details of a book I haven’t read in like years to write about it for my honors thesis and it’s not going well y'all. Had to ask my family for a word for “being aggressive to scare someone into doing what you want” yesterday (spoiler alert I was looking for intimidate) and I think my brain is melting. One week left until my draft is due and I’m freaking out slightly.

So I got exactly nothing done yesterday, which was really bad for me mentally but probably good like physically/in terms of my project because it let things stew and develop a little bit. Still made me kind of frustrated and upset with myself though, because my project is due in just over a week and I still have more than half of it to write.

(Calling myself entirely unproductive yesterday isn’t strictly true, because I folded my laundry and finished a book and went grocery shopping with my mom, but I didn’t work on my essay because I was just so tired and couldn’t focus on it and it made me feel awful.)

So today’s all about getting stuff done–at least something, though realistically I need to write two sections/long paragraphs a day in order to finish my draft on time so that’s the minimum goal–and I’m still struggling but at least I’m getting somewhere today. Still feel a bit like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew though (and that’s my fault bc I basically didn’t work on the project all summer/autumn and have left it to the last minute like an idiot).

So I hope everyone else’s day is going better than mine!

So I’m calling the rough draft of my first chapter finished, as of about four hours ago today. And I’ve been staring at this sheet of paper since then trying to figure out where to go next and how to start it.

My plant is blooming! (Came unidentified but my mom says it’s a spider plant and like she’s probably right. Pictures are two of the three flowers that have bloomed so far–the first is done–but there’s more buds so more to come! Also it probably needs to be repotted lol)

Also hard at work on my honors thesis, due in less than two weeks (the first draft) and which is almost entirely unwritten because apparently I have no self control and also hate myself. So I’m writing it by hand because somehow it seems to help me work on it? Idk y'all. I’m trying to not be too hard on myself–my advisor is phenomenal and it’s only a first draft so if it’s not fully finished or like spectacular that should be okay, but I do need to have something of like revisable quality to hand in so I’m working on making myself do it.

Also considering scheming a way to go visit my girlfriend this weekend (unlikely but like I miss her so…), which is maybe not the best choice for productivity but I can’t find it in me to care. (Also it’s unlikely so not too worried but a girl can dream)

(finally) working on my 2022 bullet journal set up–I had a whirlwind winter break, including getting to spend loads of time with my girlfriend and celebrating another of my little brothers becoming an adult (!!!!)

After I’ve got this set up, I need to spend my January cracking down on my senior honors thesis, the first draft of which is due at the end of the month and which is as of yet almost entirely unwritten (whoops). Wish me luck!

07.01.2020 || I’ve started a new way of working this year, which involves saying “I’m going to do this many hours of work today,” and then setting off the stopwatch on my phone so that over the course of the day I hit that number of hours. It also means that I can easily pause it when I’m procrastinating, which also allows me to see what percentage of my time I’m wasting (currently I’ve spent 77% of the time I’ve set aside for work actually working today lol), as well as seeing how long it actually takes me to do a task I’ve put down on my to do list!

you will probably be more productive writing when you are awake rather than when you are asleep

2019/04/20 Life hasn’t calmed down yet

• Got all the electric appliances for my new apartment (finally)
• Revised my schedule for the 8105th time, thanks education department
• Joined a music club, excited to play in a band again
• Got a job in helping students learn English at uni
• Reflected on my attitude towards stress, maybe I should get some of it
• Learned how to read Hangul and learned some words
• Learned how to read Pinyin and still can’t read Pinyin half the time
• Korean is so much easier to learn compared to Chinese, at least in the very beginning stages
• Must remember to study Japanese, worried that I might get complacent
• Waiting for money to appear

study-sleep-tea-repeat:

The Pomodoro Method is a great time management technique that a lot of people use and find to be helpful! I’ve used this method on and off for several years (usually around midterms and finals) and always enjoy using it!

The basic premise of this technique is to work for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. Every 3 breaks you’re allowed to have a longer break of 15 minutes. Repeat this until your work is done.

So, what does this mean for you?

This method can be used for any type of tasks, it doesn’t have to be studying! You could also use this for any job-related work, cleaning, passion projects, anything you need or want to do!

Personally, I see this as a way to remind me to take breaks since I could just keep working for hours on end which just leads to burnout for me. The frequent reminder to take a break helps to keep things a little more balanced.

You could approach each 25 minute block as a way to separate which tasks you’re working on (for example, you could plan to work on one piece of homework for the first block, clean out your fridge for the second block, study for a test for the third block, etc.), or you could just work on each task until they’re done, taking breaks in the middle of tasks (for example, studying for a test might take 3.5 blocks, taking breaks every 25 minutes, then after you’ve finished you just move on to another task). Or you could do a combination of the two methods, whatever fits for you! I like breaking down larger tasks into smaller chunks so for me doing the first method works the best with interleaving.

Guidelines for blocks

These are just suggestions for helping to make each pomodoro block more productive, but you can customize your experience to fit your life and your tasks!

• Put your phone/social media away! I use the app SelfControl on my laptop and the Forest app on my phone to keep myself on track and off of social media.
• Have water and healthy snacks readily on hand so you don’t have to get up to get food in the middle of a block.
• If you like to listen to music while working, put on music without vocals (or music that you’re really familiar with so you aren’t distracted by listening to the words). If you don’t like listening to music while working, then don’t! I like wearing earplugs if I’m not listening to music since to me it’s a signal that I need to focus and it helps keep me from getting distracted by other noises around me.
• Try your best to single-task instead of multi-tasking. My favorite way to encourage myself to single-task is by only allowing myself to have 1-3 tabs open at a time (only more than one if I need them for the work I’m currently doing). Any other tabs are bookmarked if necessary and then closed.

Ideas for breaks

• Prep a snack to have during your next block
• Read a book that’s not related to school or work
• Go for a short walk
• Stretch, yoga, or do a short workout
• Doodle
• Listen to a guided meditation
• Put on some of your favorite music (and dance around to it if possible!)
• Change up where you’re working (go sit outside for your next block, find a different table, etc.)
• Have a short phone call, text or conversation with a friend or family member

Have you all tried the Pomodoro Method? What are your thoughts? Let me know! x

obliviatestudies:

THINGS TO TRY TO HELP BOOST PRODUCTIVITY

Hey everyone! Lately, I’ve been finding that my productivity and just the want to work (and effort I put in when I do) was been lacking…badly. So, I’ve decided to compile a list of small things to help me improve my productivity, things I want to try out and things I know have worked in the past, so I hope these can help you guys too.  

• Start the day by time blocking; i’ve been using just the calendar app on my iPhone/Mac, and basically i just block out times during my day to get certain things done, and even if it’s not done (unless it’s due that day) i move onto the next thing to keep the workflow going 

•  Keep a workflow; if possible, don’t have large breaks of time between your studying and change the class that you’re studying every 1-1.5 hours depending on the amount of work that needs to be done, this will keep you on your toes and overall less bored

• Change your study space; even if you can’t (or don’t want to) get out of your house, rearranging your workspace or even going to a different room to study for a few days out of the week can really help

• PUT YOUR PHONE OUT OF THE ROOM; this has been the biggest thing for me as i kept finding myself getting distracted, and if i need to work on my laptop, for ex. i need lecture slides or an online textbook, when possible, i load everything then turn off the wifi on my laptop

• Study with someone; or just have an accountability partner, i know a lot of people don’t find this very helpful, myself included, but something being in an environment where everyone else is working too makes you want to work as well. or even putting a study with me (realtime) can help you be more efficient

• Make your study space a positive place; by this i mean, don’t bring a negative attitude towards it, even if you don’t want to study, if you go in with a bad attitude, the fact of the matter is that you more than likely won’t get much done, or if you do it won’t be as good as your work would be with a positive headspace. i sometimes light candles or put on instrumental background music to make the space more inviting

• Take breaks; your productivity is the best in 50-minute chunks. your mental attention is proven to begin declining after 30 mins and steeply decline after 50. if you’re not in a good work/productivity swing try a 5-10 minute break every 50 mins of uninterrupted studying, but this doesn’t mean that if you are working hard, you should stop the flow!

I hope these little tips can help boost your productivity a bit more, even if you don’t do all of them, maybe try to implement some of these into your study routine and see the difference a  small change can make

If you have any requests for posts or something you want me to talk about, feel free to leave a comment, msg, or ask!

-Obliviatestudies

teacupstudies:

1. Set habits, not goals

The problem with goals is that they’re literally just the end result that we wish for. When we set goals we don’t usually specify HOW we are actually going to get to that finish line, we lack an action plan. HABITS > GOALS. Instead of making a list of things that you want to achieve this year, make a list of habits that you want to achieve every day or every week. Let those be your only goals, and set them in a way that lets you check if you are actually on the right path.

Example: Instead of “Lose weight” make it a daily goal to “Make half of my dinner plate veggies” or “Work out 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)” or “Always put a bottle of water on my bedside table before going to bed and drink it upon waking up”. 

Be as specific as you possibly can! Plan habits in a way that lets you check them off every day. The satisfaction of doing that will keep you motivated!

2. Baby steps. Seriously.

Ok so before we get all excited and plan to incorporate a thousand habits into our daily routines: LET’S CALM DOWN. What is actually, realistically achievable? Because let’s be honest, even though it’s a nice thought, we probably won’t be able to go from eating one vegetable a month to drinking water in the morning, going for a run, eating a salad every day AND drinking 3 cups of green tea every day. It’s just not gonna happen. So. Ask yourself again. WHAT IS REALISTIC? Now cut that in half. Choose only one (1!) of those goals to start, and make it an easy one to achieve. Make it so easy that it’s impossible to fail. (Example: Read 1 page of a book) Do that for 3 or 5 days before either leveling it up (Example: Read 2 pages) or adding another habit (Example: Drink a cup of water upon waking up). Keep going like that, giving yourself enough time to feel those daily goals transform into literal habits that you just do because they’ve become a part of your life. Keep adding something small here and there, but know when to stop. Listen to your body, listen to your mind. See it as a sport, as something you can get better at only by increasing its difficulty little by little. And remember this quote by Bill Burnett: “The unattainable best is the enemy of all the available betters.“. Just think about that.

3. Write it down, baby.

Literally. I don’t care if it’s in your planner, your phone, a notebook or a piece of paper, but you need to see your habits in front of you and when they are supposed to completed. This way you can also check them off as you go, which is really motivating, especially when you look back and see everything you’ve already achieved. Keep it simple if you want by just writing simple checklists for every day, or make it pretty by using colors and stickers, but make it YOURS.

4. Be a team player.

If you have a friend who wants to join you on this journey you can keep each other in check, maybe even sitting down together once a week to discuss how your past week went. If not, tell someone. Tell them about what habits you’re going to incorporate into your life and ask them to check in on you from time to time. This way you know that you’re going to have to explain yourself if you don’t follow through, which most of the time is motivating enough to just do it.

5. Reward yourself.

Just like you plan your habits, you should plan rewards! But again: it’s all about achievability. Learn to be proud of small improvements and encourage yourself the same way you would a friend. For example, after completing a habit 5 or 7 days in a row, pamper yourself by taking a bubble bath, putting on a face and hair mask and eating your favorite food. You can also plan a picnic with friends, go for a hike, buy that lipstick you’ve been eyeing for so long, go out to dance with friends… there are so many options! Rewards will keep you motivated by being a short-term goal you can work towards, which most of the time is much easier than just thinking of that long-term goal that seems so far out of reach.

6. Be kind to yourself.

Always treat yourself the way you would treat your best friend if they were in the same position. What would you tell them if they fell off track and messed up? You’d probably say to them that it’s okay, that things like that happen. You’d tell them to just start fresh and that everything will turn out just fine, right? Tell yourself the same things when you mess up, because you will mess up. Nobody is perfect, we’re all just human and there will come a point when you’ll be tired, stressed or busy and you won’t be able to keep up with everything, and THAT’S OKAY. Instead of beating yourself up over it and losing all motivation learn to forgive yourself, take a deep breath and get back on track. You can do this!

study-sleep-tea-repeat:

How to Create a Life Organizational System (when everything’s a mess)

• 1/14/20 • 11:30 am •

The other day I helped my friend through this process since she had basically no organizational system and it was getting really difficult to get things done on time and for her to take care of herself on top of schoolwork and a job. I thought some of you would benefit from this considering some of the comments and messages I get, so here you go! No shame here, I just want to help and share what I’ve helped several people to do and it seems to be pretty effective!

1. The first step is to have a desire to change things. The first step to making a substantial change is to acknowledge that there’s a problem in the first place. You need to have a system for managing your life, and if you don’t currently have one then you need to develop one and try to stick to it (you can always change it up later if it’s not working! These are designed to help you and make life easier, not harder!)
2. Write a list of all your commitments. This can include things like work, school, a hobby, a club, and taking care of yourself, or any other categories that are relevant to your life! Be as specific as possible to write down all of your recurring commitments, this will help you later in the process.
3. Figure out what isn’t working the most. What’s the biggest problem? Do you keep missing important things because you don’t remember when things are scheduled for? Is your email inbox overflowing? Do you start every day by scrambling around in the morning, unsure of what to do first? Do you keep turning in assignments late? All of the above? Figure out your most important problem to fix and make that your top priority for now. We can also address other issues, but this will be your main focus.
4. Brainstorm solutions to your main issue. Do you need to set up a calendar system? Need to sort through your email and create a system moving forward so it stays manageable? Do you need to set a specific morning routine? Need a planner or other time management system? Think of some solutions to your main issues and some reasonable, actionable steps that you can take to do it.
5. Take the first step towards tackling this issue. This can be a small step or a big step, whatever you have time for! If you need to set up a calendar system, for example, you could start by inputting important commitments for the upcoming week. If you need to figure out your email system, you could start by making a couple of folders to organize things. It’s totally up to you!
6. Once you’ve started to tackle your main issue, now it’s time to focus on how you want to be spending your days. Make a list of any habits you want to incorporate into your life on a regular basis (whether that’s daily, weekly, or monthly), and determine what specific days (and times, if applicable) you want to do each habit. If they are time-specific, put them into your calendar as a recurring event! These habits aren’t permanent, you can change them up as you go if you find they’re too much or not a right fit, so try not to put too much pressure on yourself! Also try to just focus on doing 2-5 things on a regular basis, since I’ve found doing any more than that can get overwhelming and frustrating.  Start smaller, and you can always add more as you like.
7. Now for another list, this time it’s our short-term to do’s! What do you need to get done in the next week, or next few days? I find it helpful to sort tasks by categories based on my recurring commitment list, as well as a miscellaneous list for anything that doesn’t fit in the other categories. Write down the due dates next to each task, if they have one. Then, write down what day you want to work on each task, and try to estimate how much time each task will take. No worries if a task is going to take more than one day, just write it down for all of those days that you think it might take to complete it!
8. Then, write down a list of long-term to do’s! Not everyone will have stuff in this category, but this is for bigger tasks like essays or projects that need to be broken up into smaller steps. Write down any longer-term projects you have, and then below them write down some smaller steps that you need to do to build up to the completion of the project. Be as specific as possible! Then, write down “due dates” for each sub-task so that it’ll help to pace out the project over time instead of just doing everything at the last minute.
9. Look at your lists and ask yourself if all of them are entirely necessary. It’s ok if they’re all important, but taking time to consider if there’s anything you can cut down on to make your life a little easier can really pay off in the long term.
10. Make one last list for the next week (or next couple of days), sorting through your habits, short-term to do’s, and long-term to do’s lists and order tasks based on what day they need to get done. For example, on Monday you might have to do laundry, to do a homework assignment, and to create an outline for your essay. If you have an overwhelming amount of stuff all on one day, try to re-allocate some of the tasks to other days if possible. Otherwise, at least you know ahead of time that it’s going to be a busy day and you can plan accordingly!
11. If you aren’t sure you’ll remember to check your list (which you can totally write into a planner or other system if you don’t want to just use the plain ol’ list, it can be a great start to using a planner or bullet journal if you aren’t already using one!), I’d recommend setting a reminder on your phone to check it every day. (I’d also recommend taking a photo of your lists if you’re the kind of person who loses things!)
12. The last step is to continue! Keep working on tackling your main issue and follow your list(s) to the best of your ability! Once you feel like you have a handle on things, then you can work towards getting a hold on another issue that you have with your organizational system! It’s totally ok to continuously revise your system, if anything it’s even better to keep improving it since continual progress is amazing!

sadcypher:

Goodnotes | 8.99€

[note taking.]

gives you a good structure. Depending on your way of organising things you can divide different subjects/topics/etc into folders and notebooks. You can import scans and highlight things, annotate pdfs, you can include pictures into your notes and much, much more.

Adobe Scan | free

[scanner]

turns your ipad/iphone into a scanner. Absolutely a life saver.

Minimalist | free version

[productivity | to-do list]

simple. Minimalistic. Effective. Offers a built-in pomodoro timer, countdown & more. Compatible with apple watch!

Microsoft Office | free for students!

[writing. calculating. presenting. basically everything]

Your school or university might offer Office for free! Just check if you’re eligible and sign up with your university email.

Dropbox OneDrive & GoogleDrive | free

[storage]

If you don’t have a Mac like me try these storage apps. You can transfer files, notes and pictures directly to your laptop. I also use Dropbox for my monthly backup :)

Graphing calc/ Geogebra | free

[maths]

such.an.underrated.app. You can use it as a high school student, as an undergraduate, postgraduate, whatever. It combines tools such as plotting, CAS,3DGeo, spreadsheet, stochastic tools & more. Produces great graphics and can be smoothly exported to LaTeX. + vv interactive!

LEO | free

[dictionary]

Offers: ItalianxGerman, EnglishxGerman, PortuguesexGerman, SpanishxGerman, RussianxGerman, PolishxGerman and ChinesexGerman.

Grammarly | free version

[writing app]

I think we’ve all seen their ads at this point but I still felt the need to mention it. The free version is pretty okay! Especially if you worry excessively about your spelling like me (welcome to the club lol).

Naver Dictionary | free

[dictionary]

Korean-English Dictionary. Even offers hanja to some words! Gives you example sentences, you can even take a picture of the word or sentence you want to translate and it will do its best to help you out. (Still a beta function but works most of the time!)

TED & Podcasts & Khan Academy | free

[free education]

I use these platforms to educate myself on topics I don’t know much about or want to learn more about. Some podcasts I highly recommend are ‘the Minimalist Podcast’, ‘Not Overthinking’ and ‘The Ground Up Show’.

Endel | paid (depending on subscription)

[music. music?]

It’s hard to describe, but in their own words: “Endel creates personalized soundscapes to give your mind and body what it needs to achieve total immersion in any task”. Basically you have four modi: relax, focus, on-the-go and sleep mode. They take into consideration external conditions such as heart rate, weather, time and location to personalize these soundscapes. I personally love sleep mode!

Moodpath | free

[mental health]

It’s a mental health diary but without the excessive writing and the nagging feeling of guilt when you don’t have the time to update it. It helps you to reflect and get information. What I absolutely love about it: you don’t have to write. If you don’t want to at least. They will ask you daily questions about your emotional and physical well-being, that way you’ll get a bi-weekly mental health assessment. You can learn effective methods and techniques + have a reference of your emotional state which you can share with mental health professionals.