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DO HIM NEXT

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theyre talking about us again

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November’s Theme is Sound!Euphonium

There was a distinct lack of lovely ladies in my bullet journal, so what better way to fill the void than with the reigning orchestra queens of my heart 

How I setup my bullet journals

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last week’s spread ~ feeling those summer vibes 🌻

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Please, like or reblog if you download it

Autumn Belacu Bonjour mon ami Brake fluid Cute tattoo Dk carte blanche Dk innuendo Happy camper Fish & chips Hermione Kg hard candy Loveya script Organique Peony Rose of baltimore Sailor larry Tasty birds Travel goals

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Semester and September Setup

Say that three times fast! As promised, here’s my monthly setup, as well as the setup for my entire fall semester, because that’s relevant. These are works in progress, since a) I may change my schedule and b) I’ll keep adding to these spreads as I go, because that’s how these things sorta work, lol.

I went with a bees and daisies theme this month because I’ve had that choir warmup stuck in my head I was just feeling it. Like I discussed in this post, I decided to change the way I do my monthly spreads: instead of having a weekly tasks space in addition to the important stuff right up by my mini-calendar and using the other half of the spread for art, I integrated my class tracker into my monthly spread. I also shifted my mini-calendar-important-stuff block down to make room for artsy stuff and motivational quotes. As the month goes on, I’m going to add more little bees and daisies in the blank spaces, because I really liked having a little progressive art project in my bujo over the summer. I also only colored the boxes for the first week because, again, I might change my schedule. Things shouldn’t move around too much, but I would like to be sure anyway.The color-coding won’t change though, and I really adore how nice it all looks together.

This is, of course, even more unfinished than September; I haven’t even decided what art motifs I want to stick in there. Also, you can’t really see the colors, but they’re all muted and autumn-y, which isn’t usually what I do, but so far I like it (or at least don’t totally hate it, lol). I also included a key for colors (which I don’t really need so i might just not ink it in) and one for symbols (which I’ve decided to do just for the ease of being able to fit multiple tasks in such small day-boxes, we’ll see how it works out).

Basically, everything’s been planned out for about a month now, and set up for half that long. My classes still might change-- I’m super torn about one class because they’re in the same time slot and one may be more relevant to what I really want to do with my degree, but the other has to do with my secondary interest in biology... Honestly, I’ll just figure it out when I actually get to attend the lecture. After an unexpected two days off from school, I’m really ready to start my final fall semester!!

Next week is sort of hanging in limbo due to some possible responsibilities I may or may not have, but hopefully I’ll be able to do a study tips post. I’m thinking of discussing how to figure out what kind of lecturer a professor is going to be and how to modify your note-taking and studying accordingly (which is hands-down the most basic and necessary college skill, my lovely readers). I don’t know. Shoot me an ask or message if you have any ideas or questions or whatever! Hope your first week goes/has gone well :)

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Hurricane Harvey got me like

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Revisiting Summer One Last Time

Looking back on it, this was a half-decent summer. I didn’t go anywhere, didn’t do anything much, but I’m at peace with what it was. It was productive, at least! I got to work through some personal issues, as well as a bunch of physics problems :P

May

Well, half of it. I flew home, and got to spend two weeks chilling and hanging out with friends. After a really intense semester, this was really nice-- for about five days, then I realized I was bored to the point of anxiety. I know that seems kind of counterintuitive, but it happens. One day, I double checked the times for the physics classes I had signed up for at my local community college, and it’s a good thing I did: I accidentally signed up for one on the complete opposite end of town from where I live! Luckily, I was able to switch it. May was full of weird feelings and loose ends, and not much to bullet journal about.

June

Summer school started! I took physics 1 as a 5-week, and it was actually a fun class, since I had a really excellent professor and a table full of fun people to work and study with. I also started seriously tracking water intake and exercise. I’ve never liked running, but I made myself do it because I figured I didn’t really want to be totally unfit when the school year started. I also worked really hard on physics. The class itself wasn’t difficult, and transfer credit doesn’t affect my GPA one way or another, but I knew I would feel bad if I didn’t do my personal best. I ended up with a very high A :)

July

I took physics two during the second summer session with my friend! :D and it was a 7AM! :D and I tried to run every morning before school... which surprisingly actually worked out, until I ended up falling out of my sleep schedule. Lol. Summer two wasn’t so great, school-wise. The professor was disorganized, to put it nicely, and while the material wasn’t too hard (mostly because it had to be condensed into 5 weeks lol) I ended up teaching myself a lot. Also, were assigned a group project to do over the entire summer session and kept hitting roadblock after roadblock, but perseverance and a lot of creative thinking (aka improvising the heck out of things) got us through it! Also, my best friend and her gf took bio 1 together, and I absolutely had to help them... cue several nights explaining the cell cycle and the central dogma of molecular biology, and several 6AM bus rides to get between her place and my community college. She passed by two points, I got an A in physics 2, everyone wins!

August

My final two weeks back home went by too slow until they were almost gone, and then I was left wishing I had more time. I went on a hike with my dad, which was really hard but really worth it! (And I ran into a cactus... the cactus won.) I binge-read through most of Tamora Pierce’s books, did a couple sewing projects, and had many, many good naps. I started setting up my fall/September spreads, too, which I’ll post about next week! I got to see my best friend one last time in her new apartment, and then we drove over 700 miles in one day to drop my sister and I off at our respective colleges (Texas is huge, y’all. HUGE.) I’ve been here almost a week now, enjoying the awful humidity being back on the campus I love, around the organization that’s become my life, and getting to be with some of the people who make me the happiest. So many super sappy senior feels, so little time :’)

Selected Weekly Spreads

(more summer weeklies are here)

Purple and turn-of-the-millenium pop lyrics. I didn’t really do much that week but I’m really happy with this spread anyway :P

I know studyblr is all ~brush lettering~ and ~pretty cursive~, but I really really like graffiti-style lettering, and blending sharp corners with organic curves. I can’t for the life of me figure out drop shadows though, oh well :P Also LOL at 2-day shipping taking three days, and on top of that, my ambitious Sunday being rescheduled. It happens :P

The final week of Summer 2! I didn’t set a space for my weekly summary, but it worked out. The week before I got a Marvy Uchida Gel Reminisce pen in white, so I took advantage of that :3 My only problem is that it takes a little bit of rolling around to get the ink to flow freely, and you have to write at a weird angle and apply a certain pressure (or at least what’s weird for me, idk about proper hand posture). But it works and I got it on sale, lolz.

Materials Used:

From Michael’s:  "Get it done” full box sticker from the Create365 “Rainbow” sticker book, checklist banner from the Create365 “Basics” sticker book, “Get it done” sticker from the Create365 “Today is the Day” sticker book.

Other: Papermate Flair medium markers, Sharpie fine-tip pen, Zebra mildliners from the pink, blue, and yellow packs, Marvy Uchida Gel Reminisce in white

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College Survival Tips: Hitting the ground running

Okay, I get it, studyblr is full of this kind of post at the moment, but here’s some of my personal tips, specifically for freshmen, but parts of this are applicable to anyone. Like I said in my last college tips post, I go to a big university in Texas, so different resources! Different weather! Different social environment! And a whole lot of football.

The week before:

Try not to go overboard on buying stuff! As a freshman, I was inundated with “helpful” ads from department stores about what I absolutely needed for my dorm room-- and most of it wouldn’t have fit! If you’re in a dorm, your residence hall people will probably have info online about furniture, amenities, and what appliances you’re allowed to have. Same with an apartment, really, except it’s on the website and/or in your lease agreement. Two sets of bedding/towels and a couple of dishes/tupperware are probably enough. (I got oven/micro/freezer-proof glass bowls with lids that have worked amazingly!)

When it comes to school supplies, start off with the same basics from high school, and hold off on buying textbooks! Get a new backpack, too, with room for your electronics. Make sure you have backup chargers for everything, and a surge-protected power strip. (you can be someone’s finals week library hero) Keep it simple: you can always buy stuff as you need it, and it’s likely that you’ll get a bunch of free stuff around the start of the year anyway.

The weekend before:

By now you’ve definitely moved in and gotten situated. Maybe you’ve made it to a few “freshman welcome” type events, maybe your school doesn’t offer any. Either way, this is probably the most important part of your first semester. Pull up your schedule, find a campus map, and figure it out. Know any campus shuttle/bus routes. If you’re really anxious about it, you can time your walking times between buildings. Nobody is going to make fun of a freshman walking around before classes with a map, in fact they’ll probably wish they had done it themselves! If there’s an online map, download that to your phone, as well as all the syllabi that are available so far, because odds are that the school’s servers will be very slow with everyone on them all of a sudden.

No need to print off your syllabi yet, since most professors will hand out a hard copy (in Texas at least, they’re legally obligated to make sure everyone sees it). Make sure to check your school email, since if you are supposed to print your own, you’ll be told there. Like I mentioned in my fall setup post, if you’re putting anything in your planner at this point, it’s a good idea to do it in pencil if you’re not fond of wasting pages. At least put in your exams and big assignment due dates, because it might be worth changing a class if you regularly end up with three exams or quizzes on the same day. Look at finals, too: my school lets you move finals if you have 3+ finals on the same day, yours might not.

The first day!

Breathe. Breathe some more. You’re going to be okay, especially because you’re prepared! Check the weather forecast (>20% chance of rain means it’s a good idea to bring an umbrella, >60% is rainboots weather) dress comfortably, wear walking shoes, and make sure you eat breakfast! Have your schedule where you can get to it easily: some people set it as their background and/or lockscreen, and there is zero shame in that. Check your school email once again. Leave your dorm/apartment at least 20 minutes earlier than you think you need to: roads, sidewalks, and public transportation are going to be really crowded, at least until people decide they can skip certain classes. (don’t skip. you’re paying to be here.) Take your time and admire the scenery: it’ll never look the same to you as it does today. Also, keep an eye out for landmarks, everything from cool sculptures to a funny-looking tree can help you get around later. Just keep track of the time, you’ll be fine.

Lecture halls can be huge and intimidating! If you don’t want to be the first person in the room, just walk around a bit and come back. In any classroom, I prefer to sit right in the middle. Sitting in the front will force you to stay focused if you don’t mind the pressure to do so, sitting in the back will let you people-watch more than you probably need to. Sitting by the aisles is good for a quick escape- just make sure you don’t take a left-handed desk if you don’t need one. Either way, make sure you have a good view of the board/projector! And make sure your stuff is tucked away where nobody can trip on it, especially coffee cups.

The first few weeks:

Don’t buy books until you’re sure. Some professors will do this “well, you’re supposed to buy this edition...” thing. Never buy from the college bookstore unless it’s a lab manual or a book you absolutely can’t find anywhere else. Pay attention to shipping dates. Do make sure that if you’re supposed to be getting online homework that a) it’s the right code b) you’re not paying for something you won’t use! For example, if you get the ebook for free with the homework, you really don’t need a physical copy. Also, sometimes you’ll get a looseleaf book, which is nice because you can break it up and carry a few chapters around at a time, but bad because you can break it up and lose pages.

Make sure you get a good sleeping/eating routine set in as soon as possible, and try to stick to it. Physical activity of some sort is good to work in there too! You can try to set a study schedule, but be realistic about it, and make sure that when you do study, you’re productive. Freshman classes are easier, but don’t let that fool you into slacking off! You’re setting up habits for the rest of your college career now.

I hope that some part of this helps you start your semester off confidently! If you have any questions or want to see something in a future college/study tips post, don’t hesitate to send an ask :) Be brave, be strong, you’ve got this ♥

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To everyone who started school last week/this week/whenever you start: I hope you have a wonderful year/semester/school term. I hope your classes challenge you, but never stress you out. I hope you have wonderful teachers who want to see you excel and will do everything in their power to help you learn. And I hope you make lots of friends who love you for who you are and that you create a lifetime of wonderful memories together. And remember, you can do anything you put your mind to. Now go rock that place! :)

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Please reblog this if you are a studyblr/studyspo/bujo account and you are active! I am a new blog and I am looking for blogs to follow to spice up my dashboard. Reblog this and I’ll take a look at your blog and follow if it’s what I’m looking for. And if you feel like it, please check out my blog. Thanks so much!

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Planning Ahead for Fall: How I do it

So last week, I outlined some steps you can take to plan ahead for the fall semester (that’s in 19 days for me, I am literally counting!) and this week, I’m going to show how I made use of them in my bullet journal :)

Looking Back

I do a lot of this when making any spread, tbh, partly because a little bit of continuity helps my brain, and partly because I really like the way I’ve planned previously! I’m going to draw inspiration from a couple of places: my summer spread (gorgeous, functional!), my April monthly/class-tracker hybrid spread (somewhat like my typical monthly one, but with a class-tracker stuck in) and of course, last semester’s class schedule page (very, very important). Weekly spreads are going to change as needed, of course, but I’m going to try to model them off of my newer vertical spreads rather than my horizontal ones.

Breaking it Down

Now comes the time to think about how I’ve used those spreads I’m drawing from, to figure out what’s worth keeping and what needs changing.

First, my summer spread: I just can’t stop gushing over how darn useful and practical it was! I put a lot of love into it, and it shows. I did fourteen weeks on a single page, with each month color-coded and each day with a dozen squares, in sort of a compressed running calendar. I added mini calendars on the bottom, and used little checkmark-banners on the sides for my exam grades. The writing space was a little bit cramped, and obviously I couldn’t put every event in there, but that also forced me to really focus on the important stuff: upcoming school assignments. Fun fun fun. To extend this spread to seventeen weeks (the semester, the week before, and finals) I’d move the calendars to the side and make the title smaller. I’d also have my grades moved on a separate page, because I like having a hard copy and 5 courses just won’t fit.

Now for monthly spreads. I’d like to keep them consistent, and April seemed to work well. I combined my tried-and-true Class Tracker with part of my typical monthly spread. I used to have important highlights right next to my mini monthly calendar, a week-by-week thing with more room to write underneath, and finally habit trackers at the very bottom. I’m bad at consistently using habit trackers, and that is probably correlated with me not using the “week-of” space either... and besides, the semester-long spread covers that purpose. It all works out. Of course, to have my monthly-class-tracker, I need to use five-week months, which just so happens to work out this semester with some overlapped weeks and a three-week December.

My schedule page is a no-brainer: I’ve had it sketched out since I registered for classes in April, and it looks just like my spring one. Of course, this page also determines the most important thing: color coding! I've been using more or less the same color-coding scheme since middle school, so it’s just a question of adapting what I already have :)

Designing My Spreads!

When I actually put my semester spread on paper, I realized that having the calendars on the left hand side didn’t make sense visually, so I moved everything over to the left. Finally I decided that the calendars were kind of redundant since I already had some in the front of my bujo, and the space would be much better used as a notes-space, where I can expand on weekly events if needed.

I sketched out my monthly spread with a few modifications: The calendar and month title now are squeezed to one side, while monthly highlights and a blank space for goals and motivation take up the rest of that empty space. Also, my class session boxes are going to be outlined in their respective color for quicker visual recognition, because that can’t hurt! ...aaaaand then I realized I wanted to have a grade tracker spread right after my semester spread, because that makes a whole lot of sense. This is why you always sketch spreads in pencil first! Either way, I wasn’t planning to finish this spread until I get back in town for school, so it’s not a big deal to move it at all. Now let’s just hope I don’t wreck this page with eraser smudges :/

I’m also not going to finish my schedule page until after add-drop week is over, because you never know, but given my current classes, I’ve ended up with a really happy, vibrant color scheme! (shown here on my pen test page, because I don’t want to put anything permanent down until I have my final schedule) Purple for developmental bio, magenta for biochem and pink for its lab, red for choir, green for critical writing in biology, yellow for performance in world cultures (my last non-bio elective class, RIP me). Biochem also has what’s listed as a lab but I hear is optional recitation/scheduled office hours? It’s weird, imma roll with it, and definitely not pick a color for it until I can ascertain what, exactly, that hour is dedicated to.

Next Steps

Obviously, I can’t really evaluate my spreads until I actually start using them, but I can set aside time for self-evaluation. I’m going to be doing that purposefully every week (my weekly spreads now include a weekly summary section! I’ve done a mixture of regular journaling and reflecting about my productivity and goals in there, and so far it’s at least not a negative thing. I also do it automatically whenever I make my next monthly or weekly spread, even if it’s more of a “maybe I should move this box over a little and write smaller” kind of thing. I always try to focus on the practical rather than the pretty: yes, sometimes I’ll start on a spread with a theme in mind, but that’s because I already know that the spread is going to work for my purposes that week or month. Usually I just sketch things out and then doodle around the “skeleton”. Art is nice, and it’s part of why I keep doing what I’m doing, but my bullet journal is always also a tool.

So that’s pretty much it! Over the semester, I’ll be posting more regular posts (including study tips, life tips, etc.), and at the end I’ll probably revisit this post to talk about what I’ve learned! It’s all just part of the journey :)

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Something from next week’s spread, I’m really digging it ♥

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If I collect enough box tops can I pay for my college tuition with them?

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Ohh boy, I’ve done so much math this week, I’m lovinggg this subject 🙆🏻💕

Taken from my studygram: @equaticnss

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Planning Ahead for the Fall Semester

When fall starts, I’m actually going to do posts about my setup for the month the first week of said month, but for now here’s some steps to help you plan ahead for upcoming semesters!

Look at what you’ve done in the past Whether you’ve been bullet journaling or otherwise using planners for years, you set a couple phone reminders whenever you remember to do so, or you’ve done nothing so far except taken a few random notes in notebook margins and called it a day, you likely have some sense of what works for your lifestyle, or at least what could work. Find those things, and think about what aspects of your planning worked and what didn’t.

Take the things that work from various sources and analyze them By now, you have a physical list of pros and cons going or you’ve at least got a vague sense of what you need in your life right now. This is the time to scroll through plannerblr and drool over the pretty spreads and sticker sets look at those spreads in a more analytical way than usual, try to understand why people set up their spreads the way they do, and ask yourself if doing something like that will work for you. You can also go back to Carroll’s original ideas-- I’m not a bujo purist at all, but at its most basic level, the system works. Sometimes you have to step back from the pretty stuff and look at the big picture!

Design your spreads: rough drafts first! So you’ve done your research, and maybe had a few really deep thoughts about your life direction. Now, put pen to paper and see if you can make it happen! Don’t use a nice notebook, just get some looseleaf blank, lined, or gridded paper. It’s much easier when you can lay everything out in front of you, and you also won’t be as upset with yourself if you make a mistake. Start with the long-term stuff first: you’ll use it more if you create something that works functionally and aesthetically. Would it work as well during your insanely busy weeks as it does during the easy ones? Do you need more space for weekdays than weekends? Do you want to leave room for quotes or journaling? If you’re making trackers, how long do you see yourself using them, and is the thing you’re tracking actually useful? For your monthly spreads, do the same thing, keeping in mind that as you “zoom in” on your life, you’ll be able to add more detail. Maybe you’ll want to make monthly or weekly trackers rather than long-term ones, or maybe there’s other spreads you want to repeat monthly, or will have served their purpose after one month. By the time you get down to weekly and daily spreads, you can worry a little less about function if you want, but make sure that you’re leaving room to adjust for busier days, and that you have a way to schedule and prioritize individual tasks when you need to. Don’t be afraid of getting messy here! Creation is a messy thing. When you have something that you’re comfortable with putting in your journal, go for it!

As you use your journal, take time to evaluate your productivity It’s a good idea to get out your bullet journal periodically and take a look at how you’ve been using it. Pay attention to blank spots and unused spreads, what happened there? Also pay attention to where you needed extra room, is it a one-time thing or should you look at making some sort of adjustment? Do this at least once a month, maybe even whenever you start a new weekly spread. This is the bullet journal’s greatest advantage: When your planning style needs adjusting for whatever reason, you don’t need to drop another $10 to $60 (like what even???) on a new planner, you can just start a new page. Yes, planning ahead will get you close enough to your perfect system, but actually using it and adjusting as needed is where the real magic happens.

Remember you’re doing this for you I feel like I include something similar whenever I write a tips post like this, but it’s always good to remind yourself that beyond the aesthetic stuff, you’re really going for functionality here. A bullet journal or planner is about organization, and making it artistic is totally fine if it’s not slowing you down, but when you get caught up in all the pretty spreads and fancy stationery and how fast you get followers on social media, you end up worrying more about something that should ideally be making you worry less.

Next week, I’ll post about how I’ve personally used these steps to plan ahead, and show you all some of the spreads I plan to use this fall and how (and why) I’ve adapted them from previous spreads. It’s gonna be great :3