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bosterjc · 8 years

Conversation

askthetic

1: what color do you talk in?

2: what songs do you think people remember you by?

3: if you could take claim for any invention, which would it be?

4: radio or mp3?

5: what movie character would you choose to be your parent and why?

6: if people floated instead of walking, how far off the ground would you be?

7: choose a song to live off of.

8: would you rather have clouds for feet or suns for hands?

9: is your phone charged enough?

10: if you could choose one person to protect with your life, who would it be?

11: if you had to choose one person to be protected by, who would they be?

12: what book do you need to read?

13: who saved your life?

14: CDs or vinyl?

15: if you could only repeat words said by one person, who would you want to be echoing?

16: do you like feeling tall?

17: do you like wearing other people's shirts?

18: if you could breathe music, which artist would you choose to inhale and which would you choose to exhale?

19: would you rather have hair that changes color with emotion or get injured each time you're touched by the person you love?

20: what are the promises you've made to yourself?

21: if your family died, whose house would you go to for safety and reassurance?

22: what wouldn't you do to help a friend?

23: if you had to choose one music artist, actor, or author to become your mentor, who would it be?

24: who do you admire most in the world? why?

25: what are songs that make you want to become the sky?

26: would you rather be the night sky or the day sky?

26: would you rather be the sky or the earth?

27: would you rather be the earth or the moon?

28: would you rather be the moon or the sun?

29: if you had to change your name to something else, what would you change it to? why?

30: are your hands cold?

31: if you had to choose three articles of clothing to keep for the next three years of your life, what would they be?

32: monet or da vinci?

33: van gogh or michelangelo?

34: if you were a teacher, what would you assign to your class as their first project?

35: how do you pronounce 'crayon'?

36: have you ever wanted to be invisible?

37: have you ever wanted to be everywhere?

38: if you could change any one thing about your current surroundings, what would it be?

39: do you hear things in layers or all at once?

40: neon light or natural light?

41: if you could choose one instrument to master overnight, which would it be?

42: are you okay?

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bosterjc · 9 years

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Constantly losing focus while you study be frustrating. We will go through some of the top study tips that can allow you to focus and study effectively.

Remind yourself why One of the key things that help us maintain focus no matter what, is by getting really interested in whatever we are doing. So find a way to make your topic interesting, relatable and practical in your life.

Remind yourself that you want to study to expand your worldly knowledge, to graduate, get into a field that you can flourish in, and provide some value to the world with your awesomeness. Also try thinking in metaphors and whatifs. It’s your mind, no one else has access to it, so think of wondrous things to make yourself want to devote the next few hours of your life to the task at hand.

Before studying

Plan out what you want to accomplish and give yourself a time limit. For example, I will read 10 pages from my psych textbook in 30 minutes, or I will spend 1 hour researching the key words for my report.

Get enough sleep. Ideally around 7-9 hours. If you sleep earlier, you may need less sleep, but please never do less than 6. Constant sleep deprivation is deteriorating for the brain and body.

Eat foods that help you focus. Which include blueberries, green tea, avocados, spinach, kale, salmon, nuts and seeds. I often have a spinach, banana & kale smoothie with matcha green tea powder, but you can combine some of the ingredients in a quick sandwich if you like.

Your brain mainly works on sugar, but you need to temper it with a protein or something with low GI, to reduce any blood-sugar problems which can lead to sudden tiredness. A quick way to find a a balance is to opt for a fruit or healthy smoothie.

Be aware that if you study right after having a heavy meal the blood circulating around your brain reduces and goes to help with digestion, so you may feel less alert. Smaller meals can help.

Take supplements that help you focus: fish oil, omega 3, Ginko Biloba, vitamin B12, Co-Enzyme Q10, and iron.

Identify whatever distracts you and find a way to minimise it. So perhaps you can go to a non-distracting environment, if that is an issue. I prefer libraries or coffeeshops.

Surround yourself with motivated people. If you can befriend the top few students in your class, or at least be on nicer terms with them, hopefully their studiousness will rub off on you.

Have all the stationary and materials you need at hand.

Set up a reward system, but avoid food as a reward as it can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. Instead try a relaxing activity, or hobby. Pretty much any incentive you can think of that will help you cross the finish line.

While studying

Prime - Spend 2 minutes skimming or figuring out what you will be going through.

Drinking game - Keep a bottle of water or two next to you. Drink a cup or a half cup worth every time you get distracted for more than 5 seconds.

Put distractions in their place - Write down any distracting thoughts in a small notebook. But remember it’s not supposed to act as your pretty bullet journal, but you can make another spread for if it you like. I made a small notebook the other day to write down quick thoughts that I would otherwise dwell on. It helps me direct my thoughts appropriately to what I’m studying, and still have those important ideas to refer to later.

Motivate yourself - Write out exactly why you want to be a [insert awesome career position] in detail with examples. Keep that page or post-it on hand and look at it when you feel yourself losing focus. It can give you a motivational boost and can inspire you to keep going. Sometimes I like to visualise specific scenarios of how I could help people once my finish my studies.

Take strategic breaks - Remove yourself from your study space and think of something else for a few minutes. You can get a snack, walk around, do a quick workout, look outside, and notice nature. Practice being present in the moment. Listen to of the world around you and get out of your head.

If you feel you can not sustain your concentration on a task for too long, you may switch between two different yet equally important tasks. But try to do a big task for at least 20 minutes, you never know, by then you might like it. Some studies show, it takes 20 minutes to really get into concentrating on something.

Reduce as many distractions as you can, including turning off notifications and wifi, putting you phone on do not disturb or airplane mode, and try blocking apps.

Track how you use your time. I like the apps ‘Now and Then’ and ‘Moment’ for iOS. So you can see how much you have accomplished or slacked off.

Write draft first. Edit and prettify later.

If you’re in the final stage, focus on the fact that you have made it this far and that you’re almost done.

Try to make it fun somehow, perhaps with strategies you used when you were a kid.

Use as many senses as you can.

Record your voice and say whatever you are reading or writing in different accents.

Draw quick doodles next to whoever you are doing to help you remember it better.

As long it’s not your first draft, feel free to use colourful pens, highlights and tape to keep you engaged.

After studying

Revise whatever you have accomplished just before your break, by quickly skimming through your most recent notes or readings.

Consequent revision schedule. The best way to remember what you have worked on is to revise it in specific intervals, after you have studying it. So after five minutes, in that evening before bed, the next day, at the end of the week and then in three weeks.

Reward yourself, as long as you feel like you ended up accomplishing something you couldn’t before.

You can try out each step for two days each to see which strategies work best for you.

I hope these tips can help you, and feel free message me if you would like more details in one of the points :)

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bosterjc · 9 years

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i’ve seen many posts with study tips saying highlighting is ineffective because it lets you become a passive reader, but since i personally find it useful when done correctly i wanted to make a post specifically about highlighting effectively! note that these are all my personal tips and you should always go with what works for you :]

the big NO: passive highlighting

the “highlight everything that’s important” technique where everything seems to be important

don’t do it!!!

you’ll end up with pages of yellow text not knowing what u just read

this doesn’t help u study at all

when should i highlight?

reading in advance for a class or sth, you have a really long text + you want to be able to recall important parts easily later – not necessary to colour code

you need to extract information from a text to answer different questions or similar – colour code: different colour for each question

you’re studying for a text and want to make a study guide - colour code: vocabulary + definitions, dates + people, etc

don’t highlight when the information is already very compressed, short + to the point, but you can make annotations if you want

colour coding

the art of highlighting

colour coding your notes

colour code and highlight efficiently [+ scientific evidence]

how to colour code

colour coding notes 101

colour coding annotations

example of a key

another example

yet another key

create your own key to suit you best!

use different keys for different subjects

tips + advice

keep your key somewhere visible, like a post it note, an index card, the highlighters themselves, etc

is there something important that u feel like u may not remember or don’t understand? highlight it, make a note on the side

don’t highlight titles/subtitles bc they’re usually already made to stand out. same with already bold words, but do highlight the definition/explanation

you don’t need to highlight the whole sentence either – figure out what’s important in the important information

accompany highlighting with annotating to engage more + make it more effective – why did i highlight this part? do i have any info to add? personal comment/reminder?

don’t think just because u highlighted a chunk of text u’ve already studied it/know it – highlighting shouldn’t at all work as a study technique on its own

if you have few highlighters but want more colours, mix them!

highlighting supplies

very cute pastel highlighters!!

oh - so - famous - mildliners

candy color marker pens [actually highlighters]

cheap + good bic highlighters

clear view sharpies!!

stabilo boss wallet of 8 highlighters

soft colours + window!!!

muji twin tip highlighter

+ masterposts

studyblr-ing 101

apps for ur life

how to mind map

studying better

diy notebooks

i hope i was any help at all and that u never fall in the grips of passive highlighting!! happy studying!

- sofi xx

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bosterjc · 9 years

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MY 3 STEPS IN STUDYING

Understanding the Topic This is the most important part. You have to understand what you’re reading and the concept behind your topic. If you don’t understand what the topic is about, how are you supposed to ace your test? With that being said, read over everything and if you don’t understand something, go over it again until you do. What I like doing is using a dictionary or thesaurus to help me understand words I’m not too sure about. This definitely helps me a lot and it also increases your vocabulary.

Making Notes This step connects with the previous one, as it allows you to show what you’ve just read and understood. It can also assist in further understanding, and help you out with preparing for essays etc. This is where I basically summarise the important points and have definitions of the key terms. Summarising is extremely useful because you’re writing it in your own words and it helps you with the structure of your sentences for your essays. You can also make sub headings and have a few dot points if it makes it easier for you to memorise. Flashcards are good too!! Remember, highlighters, sticky notes and tabs are your best friends!! Don’t neglect them!

Revise Revise, revise, revise!! By now, you should understand pretty much everything, and all you need to do is memorise! Read over your notes and do practice questions! Don’t slack off after writing your notes by reading over them just once after you write them! Read over it a few times a day whenever you can. On the way to school, on your way home, while ads are playing on your tv or if you’re bored! Never sit down complaining about how bored you are but not wanting to do work, because trust me, I’ve been through this countless times and it ain’t helpful!! If you want, you can also ask a friend or family member to quiz you using your flashcards you made!

Good luck studying! But remember, health before study!!

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