18.02.17 - 3 Days Till Surgery!

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10 small tips to improve your productivity

Who can resist reading another little post full of tips to help you get more work done? Here is a few things that I find useful when trying to get myself motivated.

Clear desk, clear mind - I like to organise things before I start working. If things are messy, I get a little preoccupied and procrastinate even more. My suggestion is clear your desk, sort everything you’ll need to study and get on!

The two minute rule - If a task that needs to be done takes less than two minutes, just do it. My dad has often suggested that this is a great way to sort out your priorities and so far it has worked for me. Things like check my emails, cross off events from my planner, file something away don’t take long but get you in the mood for productivity. As they say “object in motion, stay in motion”.

Break your time up - Schedule your study time and any breaks you need to take. This helps structure your day and acts as a motivation to get things done. Especially if you can reward yourself at the end!

Leave your phone alone - Like most people I use my phone constantly but when I’m trying to work, it is best to leave it alone. Out of sight, out of mind. Try leaving it on silent and behind you so you aren’t tempted to pick it up after every beep. Use your break times to check it.

Find your top three to five priorities - Seeing a long list of things to do is usually, for some people, kind of counterproductive. Figure out the main things that need to be done and work on those. If you’re able to complete those main things, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished the days necessities and may even want to complete some more.

Try using a mindmap instead of a to do list - Apparently using a mindmap layout instead of a traditional list can help boost productivity. It is a little more funky way to see all your outstanding tasks and might not look as overwhelming as a super long list.

Wear headphones - You don’t have to always listen to things but it can help block out any noise that can distract you. If you’re someone that likes some music, try songs with little or no words. This is a great playlist by Spotify.

Don’t multitask - As much as you think you can do it, trying to multitask usually ends up in a confused mess and takes twice the time. Stick to one task at a time. If you think of something you need to do, write it down and do it later.

Change things up - Doing the same things in the same place can get boring. Make the effort every now and then to change where you’re studying or how you’re studying. This can include moving your studying from the desk to the kitchen table for a change of scenery, or making flash cards instead of annotating your notes. Studying with a family member or friends is a fun way to get some work done!

Be positive - Most people have times when they just don’t want to study or anything, it is natural. However it is not worth sitting staring at your books in an unmotivated mood just waiting to feel inspired. If you’re not feeling it, do something else for a while. Come back to it a bit later and have another go. Usually walking away and coming back is all you need to feel more productive.

I hope these few tips are useful! These are the kind of things that work for me, so give them a shot and let me know if they help. Best of luck with your studies x

life update. 10.15.17.

hi, i’m sorry. i really haven’t been active lately and i really have no excuse. my main issue with having a studyblr is that i feel compelled to have very aesthetically pleasing notes/supplies/etc. and it slows down my studies by having me work 3hrs on two pages of notes just so it looks pretty. so instead i’ve simply been typing out a lot of my work and such. i don’t have an aesthetically pleasing study routine and i’m a bad procrastinater. these are things i am working on and yeah. it’s my junior year, i am 16 years old, and i have a lot to catch up on. i’ve recently joined a lot of clubs and plan to join more. i am now officially treasurer of the creative writing club at my school and i am also the historian of la raza unida. i am taking only one ap class this year and my grades are alright.

i am taking seven classes, i have two b’s, one c. the rest are different forms of a’s but a’s nonetheless. my goal for this semester is to end with all a’s. i have to study for the ACT and SAT. 

in short.

it will be a very busy year for me and my inactivity will continue until i learn how to balance managing a blog, extracurricular activities, and who knows, maybe one day i’ll be able to afford the pretty supplies people have and take pretty notes.

as of now, my studies, like myself, are messy.

Versailles while horrible inaccurate is surprisingly good. Like it can be messy with characterizations at times but it’s also very entertaining. I love the character of Philippe of Orleans. Although I don’t see why they had to make him rape poor Henriette it literally was just in their for shock value and hardly made sense. 

Speaking of which why don’t they bring in the two daughters of Henriette and Philippe? I see this as a trend in historical tv shows, excluding daughters and younger sons when they often are very important and go on to populate the houses of Europe (Lol Margaret Tudor in The Tudors). I can understand not showing the various children that Louis XIV had with his Queen other then his surviving son, since they all died young and having that many child actors could stress the production. But Philippe’s daughters go on to have very important lives from what I understand, one marries Charles II of Spain in an alliance with France, and the other ends up inheriting the Jacobite claim to the throne of Great Britain as well as populating many royal houses with her children.

This is a similar problem that The Tudors had, many wanted the show to continue after the death of Henry VIII but Michael Hirst had literally written himself into a giant mess by not including Princess Mary Tudor daughter Frances Grey nor including how Mary Queen of Scots was a potential Tudor heir. He literally couldn’t continue the show on to the next generation due his inability to see ahead. 

Versailles might run into a similar problem if they keep cutting out the younger children. They might be forced to cut the story after the death of Louis XIV when they should continue right up to the French Revolution. The show is named Versailles after all, and I would like to see it go passed just the simply construction of it. It should show how the genius idea of Louis XIV,  to bring the nobles to heel, ended up being the destruction of the monarchy. This will be hard to do if they continue to cut out characters. 

4.4.16+3:50pm // 28/100 days of productivity // made a title + subheaders reference page since i needed some inspiration for my notes. hope you find it useful, too!

So, do it. 

This is how it is: Trump gets sworn in January 20th. We’ve still got 2.5-ish months under the Obama Administration. Between now and then there’s the chance to make a media circus out of Donald Trump’s upcoming sexual assault trial, creating more friction between him and his party, giving us at least a little breathing room in congress. He’s appointing three new judges this term, so checks and balances (which weren’t really adjusted well for a two-party system) won’t be in good working condition for the Democrats (which counts third-party and non-voters and basically any minority because welcome to reality). 

So first thing: fight for that media circus. House reps will do ANYTHING for reelection. Friction within the party will force them to pick sides.

Second thing: VOTE IN 2018. Mid-term elections are a thing. ALL 435 SEATS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WILL BE CONTESTED. Go out and VOTE. We can win back the house. That’s one victory we sorely need. 33/100 SEATS OF SENATE WILL BE CONTESTED. We can win that back, too. 38 GOVERNORSHIPS WILL BE CONTESTED. If your county’s red, time to turn that around. VOTE ON NOVEMBER 6TH, 2018.

The clock is ticking guys.

15.04.16. these are all the revision notes i made while studying for the three biology exams i had today. it’s been such a stressful day and my head feels all mushy right now 😩 happy that it’s over now though, and also thankful for the studyblr community for keeping me motivated 💖