allbookishthings

[allbookishthings]

I love my university, our beautiful libraries and I am so grateful that I can study here

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26.03.2016 // it’s a quiet, grey Saturday at home and I’m in my study working on essays for next week. 

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I call this piece: ‘I tried to do my essay 4 hours before the deadline instead of during the 2 months I’ve had it and failed by 600 words’

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mon // accidental mugging sesh with bringyourhorses. trying to finish this essay(s) on animal rights without too much emotional raging (ft. her book on hello kitty lol). 

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take the time to read this

look I know you’re tired, and I know you’re scared. scared of that daunting task, scared of screwing up that daunting task. I get that you might be mad at yourself for procrastinating or letting the work with seemingly far away deadlines pile up and suddenly it’s 1am and you realise your thesis for that essay is horrible and you have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. but all of that is in the past, all of those decisions in the past and you can wallow in anger and self loathing and continue to put off things you know are important, or, you could utilise the time you have right now to do as much of it as you possibly can as soon as you can. so go onto google calendar, or grab your planner, or a scrap of paper or hell, a napkin, and figure out the time you have on your hands in the next 24 hours, estimate how long you think those big horrible, breath shaking and head-in-hands inducing tasks will take. if you get it done in that time, great. if you don’t, move on, you have other shit to do. it’s better to have 85% of most things done than 98% of one thing done and 2% of another thing done that will turn out to be equally as important. save yourself further stress, do the napkin plan thing, block social media sites, write down what you’re feeling if you’re feeling anything immense, because emotions tend to take your mind off things, and get it done. Whether it’s %100, %85 or even %10, get some of it done.

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in love with this library ✨

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13/01/2018

1) I’m actually very behind with revision. 2) My first exam is in 3 days. 3) I really need to get off Tumblr.

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Finally felt able to look at my work again, for the first time really since finishing my degree. I’m editing a few pieces – one is an essay on Europe which I started a year ago. Reading it again, it’s clear how much has changed and continues to change all the time. Scary, and exciting

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reading after reading after reading….

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a gloomy October morning in Ljubljana

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Top 10 Book Boyfriends

10. There

9. Is

8. Too

7. Many

6. How

5. Could

4. I

3. Even

2. Choose?

1. Rhysand

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“Maybe you should read all your unread books before buying new ones.”

Me:

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in case i haven’t been clear i am straight up in love with my room and this apartment (complete with new plant babies and journal) 😍

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When your friend only reads non-fiction but you constantly hassle them to read a fantasy novel:

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19 May 2016 ||

Last-minute revision for my test on corpus linguistics! I even made flashcards for this (which I don’t usually do). Good luck to everyone doing exams at the moment, I believe in you!

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Your realistic guide to Sixth Form / College when the depression and anxiety are just too real:

✎ find your movement✎

For some people it’s running that shakes off all of that misplaced anger or irrational fear, for me it’s yoga. Every morning I crawl out of bed and roll out my matt and do 5 - 60 minutes of yoga. It doesn’t matter how much you do or when you do it but on those days when you can do something it makes all the difference. Yoga and mindfulness link together and with frequent practice you can find yourself with a clear mind for the whole session, focusing only on the sensations of your body and not having to think about how shit your life is. You’re welcome.

✎ Track everything✎

I don’t care if the only thing you’re tracking is every time you can crawl out of bed to grab a glass of water, track it! I track everything from nutrition to exercise to study hours and it helps me stay in check and function to the best of my abilities even on the rough days. If you’re a bullet journal person that’s cool but I love the ‘health’ iphone app and use FocusTimer to track my studying.

✎ Find your accountability friend✎

Make one understanding, reliable friend in each of your classes your accountability monitor. This wonderful human being will save you. Whenever you’re absent (which might be a lot and that’s okay) get them to send you the work and fill you in on all the little things that happened whilst you were taking your 3 pm nap. This person can even be your teacher, constant communication where they know that you’re a little mental will give you the support that’s going to save your grades.

✎ Prioritise✎

We can’t manage everything. We’re not jesus. And that’s okay. On days where you can only manage one class, try and choose one that’ll be most beneficial. For example, if there is a revision class on a topic i’m not 100% sure on and a timed essay writing session for another subject on the same day I’d go to the revision class and do my essay at home and email it in. Strategic planning does not mean you’re ‘faking it’, it means you’re thinking practically about what you can do. And if you do manage both classes? Even fucking better.

✎ Stay Constant✎

Sadly, unlike all the not depressed students in the world we don’t get to start revising 10 weeks before the big exams. Because there’s every chance there’ll be frequent mental breakdowns through out this period and consequently times when we have to have a nap or see our therapist instead of doing past papers, we need to revise from day one. Every day, learn what you did in class, practice your technique, do extra essays and questions and work ahead if you can. Study like the exam is next month so that when you do have those 8 mental breakdowns in May you don’t have to worry about covering some things because you know them so well already.

✎ The Little Things✎

Stationary that motivates you to study? Do it. Ambience and live study with me videos? Use them. Only letting yourself drink cups of tea when revising so you can condition yourself to get down and work hard when you’re drinking your earl grey? Implement that now. Any little technique or hack that is going to make this whole thing a little easier for you is undeniably worthwhile.

✎ Resources✎

Use the textbooks in the library, read exemplary answers, google extra little facts that you can use in exams that’ll make you look insanely smart and on another level. Maximise on the quality of your revision and the hours you miss out on wont show as much.

✎ Practicality✎

You don’t need notes and flashcards. You don’t need mind maps and a power point. Choose one method and then learn the content on a whiteboard so you can start practicing exam technique and recapping the facts in 10 minute bursts which will make you feel confident as hell because you already know it all. Don’t waste time passively, we haven’t fucking got time to waste.

Good luck. This is about to be the hardest thing you’ll ever do. But you can do it. I never ever thought I’d be where I am today and yet I’m surprising myself and everyone who thought I’d fail constantly. For the first time in my academic career I can say that I’m an A* student. Depression works hard, but we work harder. Go be brilliant, my friends.