memyselfandcats

[memyselfandcats]

Laughing my ass off at The All-devouring whale: Homecoming, because trying to describe it it’s like a sort of Xie Lian (who in terms of drinking seems to be descended from the Lan clan) became the last remaining survivor of the water tribe. Wanting his sect to be the best pokémon trainers of all time, he started to built his sect up again, but when it seemed they would become the winner for sure, he tragically died. A year passed and he got reincarnated in Mo Xuanyu’s body and now has to figure out how he died, raise his sect anew, while also trying to avoid getting in trouble for Mo Xuanyu’s alleged lecherous behavior. Also he knows them secrets to level them useless magikarp into a beast.

Maybe saying Xie Lian is a bit of a stretch, but for giggles ok. Gentle seeming but baddass with a tragic backstory. Nobody can convince me that’s not really close to Mo Xuanyu’s body. The whole reincarnation thing too, lol and he even has a bad rep. The pokémon references aren’t even subtle. They’re leveling, buying bubble beam and there’s a Chinese nurse joy. Also the water bending-ish moves and clothes, water tribe.

The animation is really cool! I’ll think I’ll keep watching it even if I’m a bit eyebrow raising at the spirit pets. The animation style is nice and the intro music too. The ending music is just lol. Complete opposite of the intro.

[memyselfandcats]

every week man

[memyselfandcats]

Mood, Krel was in there but barely. Aja and Vex not at all. I hope they’re in the movie, what was the point otherwise of tying them in there? Also Toby got way too little appreciation. Sure it was a little hectic but still

me beforve watching wizards: I can't wait to see how aliens are involved in battle of killahead and magic, and see Jim meets Draal and Vendel again

me after watching wizards: w h a t

anyways I'm still gonna rewatching everything again

[memyselfandcats]

I agree with this tbh. I even have a diagnosis and would benefit from being able to record since I can’t make readable notes as fast as some profs talk, but it’s not allowed ‘cause professors don’t want to be recorded and that’s it. And it sucks that accessibility is locked behind a paywall (because assesement can cost a ton) to begin with.

I’m just gonna say it…

Professors should not be allowed to ban laptops in class. Professors should not be allowed to ban recorders in class. Professors should not be able to ban students from taking pictures of the whiteboard at the end of lectures. Professors should not be allowed to ban ANYTHING that will make the class more accessible for ALL students. I don’t care what the excuse is.

“They might not even be taking notes on their laptop, they’re probably playing games!” So that’s on the student and they’ll have to live with those grades. They’re paying thousands of dollars to be there, if they want to fuck off and waste their money that’s on them.

“I’m uncomfortable with my lectures being recorded!” What EXACTLY are you saying in your lectures that makes you worried about being recorded, hmm?

“I just don’t like the idea of being on camera/recorded at work. How would YOU feel being recorded at work?” Buddy, I work in retail. I’m always being watched. Suck it the fuck up.

And before anyone says “but you can just bypass this by getting permission from accessibility services!” 1. Not all students with disabilities have up-to-date diagnosis to qualify, 2. Not all students with disabilities have had it confirmed by a professional yet and won’t be able to access those services, 3. Not all students who need these accommodations even have a disability! Some people just learn differently and lecture-style learning actually doesn’t work for a lot of people! and 4. This often puts a student on the spot to all their classmates and can make them feel very uncomfortable. 

Students should not have to jump through hoops to get an education that they’re paying for. That’s not accessibility. 

[memyselfandcats]

Selfcare for autistics

I know that lots of you struggle with selfcare, no that’s why I wanted to share with you guys some ideas to help you out.

Journals

Having a journal is a nice idea to encourage selfcare. If you usually forget to update it a good idea is to have a routine in certain moments of the day like after waking up, after school, before going to bed; specific moments of the day that will make it easier to remember it. 

I know most of you (including me) love to make lists but struggle planning things or fulfiling your plans due to executive dysfunction, but if you go little by little adding details to your routine you can be able to change it. My idea is to make a list of things that are struggles for you like staying hydrated, sleeping, eating, showering, brushing your hair or your teeth, and create a mind map with ways to overcome this problems. Here I have some ideas for you:

Shower

Shower can be an struggle for many reasons but if some of this are your issues this might help.

Struggle showering due to sensory issues can be a problem. I experience it a lot, my shower always change the temperature of the water spontaneously and I hate feeling wet. However staying clean is a necesity and you can do many things to make this issue milder:

If you hate feeling wet you can try showering part by part of your body with a piece of cloth to control the amount of water that comes to your body.

If vapor overwhelmes you may prefer to have a bath instead of shower, maybe with not too warm water.

If the scents of shampoo or soap are too strong for you, water down the bottles. You can also try brands that may be less overpowering or more pleasing for you.

If the noise of the shower is too much for you, try having baths. However I know having a bath whenever you want to clean yourself is a big deal in terms of paying the water bills, so you can also try like I’ve said before showering part by part using a piece of cloth.

If you find showering understimmulating but you fear that you may have an accident if stimming in the shower, try to use shower toys like a little cute duck.

Struggle showering due to executive dysfunction is also a problem. It also happens to me, this are my tips:

If you forget to shower, set an alarm in your mobile phone. You can also try to put a poster in your wall to remind you to shower. Asking a friend, your family or your couple if they can remind you to shower everyday or every two days can be also a good idea.

If you want to shower but your body does not seem to move, put omething appealing in the shower like toys or orbeez to encourage you to go and have a shower.

Eating and drinking

Executive dysfunction can stop you from eating or drinking when you need it. My advise is:

Have always water and food near to you. In your bag, in your bedroom, have some sweets inside your pocket, some fruit on your desk.

Have someone to help you out, intervention can be a way to deal with it.

Sleeping

Struggles with sleeping are big deals. Having a good sleep can make the difference between a good day and a bad day.

If you overthink, you could try meditation or relaxing techniques. Reading also is helpful to prepare your mind for sleeping. Avoid screens, they can decrease the creation of melatonine in your brain.

If hyperfixation or executive dysfunction stops you from sleeping ask for someone to help you, the best you can do is trust someone to help you out.

Brushing your teeth

Brushing your teeth can be sensory hell and executive dysfunction can play a bad role here. Things you can do to overcome this are:

If it’s sensory hell, use just mouthwash. You can water it down if it’s too strong for you.

If executive dysfunction does not want to collaborate, use something appealing that may make it more interesting like buying a toothpaste with a nice flavour.

Getting dressed and brushing your hair

Something I want to point out is that there is no issue if what you wear is considered ‘weird’, the most important thing here is that you feel comfortable with what you’re wearing. So, if executive dysfunction or sensory issues are unableing you to get dressed and brush your hair here I have some tips:

If clothing is sensory hell or overwhelming for you don’t sacrifice your comfort to fit in social rules and beauty standards, wear clothing with thin cloth that allows you to move freely. If your pijama is the thing that makes you feel more comfortable, stay in pijama in your house all the time.

If brushing your hair is sensory hell you can try a softer brush or just showering and brushing your hair with your fingers.

If executive dysfunction keeps you from doing those things, again, you can ask for help or try to make it more appealing by using clothing that will make you feel sensory heaven or using fragrances in your hair.

Remember that you can go little by little adding this things to your routine. One at the time, including it progressively, follow your rythm and don’t push yourself. In your journal you can create a spread for every day of the week including the details you want to add day by day and how you want to do it or a reminder to do those things once you have incorporated it to your routine.

Posters

Writting posters reminding you your necesitites can be useful if you may forget about your journal. You can even have a board in which you can write what you have to do during the day.

This posters can be a checklist that you may mark with pencil to erase it at the end of the day and start over again. A board can be very helpful for this.

It can also be reminders of what you have to do or what you want to do.

Comfort box

Having a comfort box can be very useful to prevent meltdowns/shutdowns. I know that listing things you can add to it isn’t useful as executive dysfunction makes it difficult to choose so here I have some ideas for comfort boxes. Choose your favourite:

Visual box: nougat, carrots, prints and images of your special intenrest, a bottle with glitter and water, a relaxing film (studio ghibli, disney…), a photoalbum, cute tape, a bottle with orbeez and water.

Touch box: honey, peaches, feathers (real or synthetic), slime, squishys, foam, clay, nice fabric, a blanket, plushies, a lotion.

Smell and taste box: milk, cherries, candles, perfume, chewing toys, caramel, lotion, moistraiser, flowers, herbs.

Focusing box: lollypops, apples, a rubik’s cube, books, a nice relaxing film, a fidget spinner, a cube spinner, crayons and paper, a notebook and a pen, some music.

Of course, you can create your own, this are just ideas for different kinds of people who may enjoy certain types of stimulation.

Selfcare after a meltdown/shutdown

This is so different for all of you that I can’t really tell you what to do after a meltdown or shutdown. I’m going to give some ideas but really this things depend a lot on the kind of person you are:

Breath deep and slow. Try some meditation. Make your breathing regular and avoid hyperventiling as it can provoke you to colapse.

I find oral stims extremly helpful so you may want to have some stimmy sweets like lollypops, chewing gum or a nice piece of fruit.

Stay hydrated, having a glass of water can be seen as a tiny detail but it’s extremely helpful.

Stim free, engage your special interests, don’t feel limited by social rules.

Listen to relaxing music.

ASMR, specially ear blowing and breathing, those sounds are so helpful to calm you down.

Interact with your pets.

Vent. By talking, posting, tell what has happened, write it down, if you are able, analyse the situation to prevent it from happening again.

Lay on your bed or in a flat surface for a while.

Sleep, have a nap, rest.

Well, that’s all for today, I hope you’ll find it helpful, stay safe <3

[memyselfandcats]

originally a text post by @adhdpie

link HERE

I made an actual flowchart version because I am a visual person and have mediocre abode illustrator skills

[memyselfandcats]

my quest to do succulent variations of every grass-type pokemon continues! (twitter)

[memyselfandcats]

Finding Masculine Clothing in the Women’s Section

Kai says:

I have parents who only let me buy clothing from the women’s section, so I thought I would compile a list of places I know you can find masculine/gender neutral clothing in the women’s section for all the other transmasculine people who might be closeted or have parents like mine! If you know of any I’ve missed, please send an ask to my personal blog kaikev

Note that some of these stores/brands may be more expensive than others if they aren’t on sale. I also apologize in advance if these stores are not accommodating to plus size individuals; I don’t have any experience with that and if anyone has suggestions for additions to these lists, please tell me!

I also apologize for any problematic language I use in this post, so feel free to send any suggestions for better wording to my personal blog (listed above).

Button down shirts/flannels:

Uniqlo

H&M

GAP / GAP Factory

Old Navy

J. Crew / J. Crew Factory

Anywhere you can find button down shirts/flannels in general has masc/neutral style ones. Skate or surf stores/brands may have some.

T-shirts: (especially graphic tees)

American Apparel

Urban Outfitters

Hot Topic

Anywhere you can get unisex t-shirts (for example, custom designs or merchandise, stuff with chest designs, skater shops)

Pants:

H&M

RVCA

Zumiez

Pacsun

Levi’s

GAP / GAP Factory

Adidas (they have track pants that are pretty masc/neutral)

American Eagle

Generally chinos, joggers, track pants, and sweatpants are styles that are more neutral/masc and tend to have bigger pockets

For jeans, ‘girlfriend,’ ‘boyfriend,’ ‘tomboy,’ and ‘tomgirl’ fits are usually less tight and more loose and can hide hips

Don’t go for high-rise pants if you’re looking to hide the waist/hip ratio. Go for low-rise pants.

Shorts (these are hard to find in the women’s section unless you can get athletic shorts):

GAP / GAP factory (they have 9 inch or 10 inch shorts)

athletic brands or stores for basketball shorts like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Sports Authority, etc.

Generally, basketball shorts are masc/neutral and have pockets

Edit: also bermuda style shorts are generally longer. You can always each “9 inch shorts” on websites and see what comes up

Jackets/Hoodies/Sweatshirts:

Zumiez

Pacsun

H&M

Old Navy

Tilly’s

Vans

Urban Outfitters

ASOS

American Eagle

Athletic brands and stores tend to have masc/neutral jackets, hoodies, and sweatshirts (see above at Shorts section for links)

Edit: outdoor stores/brands like The North Face, Patagonia, REI, etc., surf brands, have a lot of neutral clothing in the women’s section.

Formalwear (specifically blazers/suits. If you’re looking for button down shirts, see the section above as well):

J Crew / J Crew factory

Nordstrom

Wildfang (this is marketed towards masc women, so some parents might not approve because they sell men’s section clothing there)

ASOS

Mango

Old Navy (for blazers)

Dr. Martens (for shoes)

H&M (for slacks/pants)

Blazers can range from quite feminine to very neutral, so it may take a while to find one you like. Suits might be easier to find in a neutral style, though they tend to be more expensive. For button down shirts, see above. Slacks/pants are not too hard to find as well.

Shoes:

Vans

Converse

Adidas

Dr. Martens

Nike

Athletic brands in general, especially skate shoes tend to be masc/neutral/unisex

Swimwear (rash guards and boardshorts):

If you search on Amazon, or online for women’s rashguards, there will be some that are more neutral. Kanu Surf brand looks a little more neutral, but I’m sure there are others.

If you search for 9″, 10″, or 11″ board shorts for women, you can find neutral board shorts like this Volcom one and Rip Curl one

Wearing a rash guard and boardshorts over a one piece swimsuit or a sports bra and a bikini bottom works for swimming

Racing/sporty one piece swimsuits might help with compression and holding your chest in place, so check out brands like Nike, Speedo, etc. for high quality racing one piece swimsuits that have a little bit of compression

Binders/High compression sports bras:

See our Transmasculine Resources for binders, though these are not from the “women’s” section, so transphobic parents might not let you buy it

Underworks Magicotton Sports Bra and Binding Minimizer Bra (marketed for cis women as a sports bra, so potentially transphobic parents might let you buy it. If you check the reviews, many people use it as a binder)

You can also find high compression sports bras from athletic brands like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, etc.

Generally, I’ve had good luck with skate brands, surf brands, athletic brands, brands/stores for teenagers like H&M, etc.

I hope this helps! Please feel free to send me more suggestions if you come across anything helpful - this post will probably be edited to add more links so check back every once in a while and reblog again for your followers and for updates!

[memyselfandcats]

So, recently I handed in my dissertation. This was the biggest piece of work that I have ever done. I wrote 10,000 words on the topic of women’s friendship in the early modern period as presented in letters. And let me tell you, it was tough. Incredibly so. But it was manageable! And it can be for you too! If you plan to go into higher education, writing a dissertation, thesis, or project, is inevitable. So I’m here to tell you how to plan and execute a huge piece of work. As my background is primarily History, this will be more about humanities than sciences. But I hope that I can help you out!

Choosing a topic:

Choose something you like. Because by the end of it, you’re going to be sick of it. And, trust me, it’s better to be sick of something you’re actually interested in.

Look at the stuff you’ve done in the past and think about what you liked about each module. Gender? Politics? Semantics? The great thing about a dissertation is that you can explore which ever topic you feel like.

Research. Read everything you can on the topic. When you think you’ve read enough, read some more. The more you research, the better idea you’ll have as to whether your topic is viable. Google scholar is awesome, use it! And Jstor. And your university library. You have so much material at your fingertips, you just gotta find it.

Look at which sources are available to you. I stupidly chose a question which was very difficult to research. This was okay, as I was passionate about the topic and willing to travel to archives. But if you can’t think of anything to write about, maybe see what primary material is available to you at your university/college.

Originality is key for a huge piece of work like this. This is the most difficult part of choosing a topic, in my opinion. Think of something that hasn’t been done before, or come to a new conclusion. Trust yourself, your opinions are valid!

Primary sources are the most important thing here. Read them before you read too much secondary material. This way, you can find your own opinions on the subject without just appropriating what has been already said.

Talk to people who know what they’re talking about. Your university pays lots of professors whose job it is to advise you. Go and talk to them! They may be able to give you some new perspective.

Planning your essay:

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

This is the most important thing I can say to anyone planning a huge piece of work. If you do a little bit every week, then you’ll be fine. You DO NOT want to find yourself a week from the deadline, with still 5,000 words to write. I know some people who did that, and they suffered. Badly. So keep plugging away at it, and you’ll get it done in time. Here are a few tips which I learned the hard way…

Give yourself plenty of time to research. I spent 3 months just reading before I even thought about making a solid plan. Only after doing loads of reading and thinking can you come up with a way to tie together everything you’ve learned.

When making a plan, decide how many words to devote to each “chapter.” This means you won’t go over the word limit. And editing is the worst.

I made quite a long detailed plan in order to structure my thoughts. That plan became my bible. It might not work for you though.

This is my favourite way of planning my essays. It’s such a useful guide, so simple, and so helpful. Give it a look! I’ve been using a similar technique since I started uni, but this is better tbh.

When researching, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, write down where you found the information. Page numbers, author, publisher, date of publication, editions, chapter titles, chapter page numbers. I spent 4 days after I had written the whole thing just trying to find this one God damn article which I had read nearly a year ago. It was a nightmare.Please. Record the bibliographical information.

Write all the important dates in your diary/phone. I also used ��monthly reminders” so I was constantly aware of how long I had left.

Give yourself a week to edit and create your bibliography. It’s nice to edit at your own pace, not at a rush.

Give yourself lots of room for disasters! When I was planning my essay, I had no idea that I was going to break my arm, and be in cast for half of the year. I obviously did not predict that. But I had an adaptable schedule, which really helped me.

And make sure to regularly back everything up! I lost a load of work and it sucked so bad. Don’t let that happen to you.

The Writing:

Give yourself your own deadlines. Say that you need to have written the first chapter three months before the deadline, or something like that. This means that you won’t be rushing at the end, and you might be able to give drafts of chapters to your supervisor to read over.

It’s alright if you don’t write perfectly on the first try. Splurge your ideasall over the paper! Freewrite everything you want to say. And then, after a cup of tea or a nap, come back to it. You’ll feel much better for it.

You don’t have to start at the beginning. Maybe write the chapter that you have the most information for first, to give yourself some confidence. Or, maybe start with the worst first, to make the rest seem less daunting. It’s up to you, both strategies have merit.

Daily word counts are great when you’re reaching the deadline. I knew I had to write 150 words every day in order to hit the deadline - I exceeded this every day, which made me feel awesome about myself and gave myself loads of confidence.

Talk to people about it! I find that talking about my opinions out loud really help me formulate my ideas in my head.

Do loads of proof reading. I discovered two days before the deadline that I had been spelling “amicitia” wrong consistently. It was pretty embarrassing.

Ask your friends/family to read it through. Even if they don’t  understand everything, they should be able to help with grammatical errors and such like. When you’re sick of reading your own words (which is very quickly for me) you’ll be thankful for the second opinion.

TRUST YOURSELF AND YOUR ABILITY, YOU CAN DO IT.

[memyselfandcats]

How to take an Essay from Good to Great

Hello, all!

I’ve just recently been writing my Extended Essay, and something I’ve noticed during the process is that this one thing can completely change how people read your essay, and consequently, can get you a much higher grade!

Have a Point. (No, really.)

The point you are making in your essay should have very little to do with the subject you’re writing it on. It sounds crazy, but trust me.

Let’s say this is your thesis: 

“Chemistry was the most influential area of science during the Enlightenment because of the drastic changes which allowed it to develop into modern chemical science.”

From here we can break it down into three parts: What, How, and Why.

WHAT are you claiming? (Chemistry was the most influential area of science.)

HOW do you know this? (Because through drastic change it evolved into modern chemical science.)

WHY is this relevant? (Uhhh…)

This is the trap that I see so many people fall into (and I have fallen into it myself a few times) when they try to write major essays. It’s the difference between a B and an A, or eventually in upper-level classes, the difference between a pass and a fail. So how do you fix it?

Figure out why you’re arguing the thesis. Why are you making the point in the first place, other than because the teacher says you have to? 

This would by my answer:

WHY is this relevant? Because the advancement of chemistry during the Enlightenment era shows that critical analysis of systems within the natural sciences is mandatory in order for evolution within the field. Science can’t progress if nobody is willing to question it.

This type of universal point is what will get people interested in your essay even if they can’t relate to something as specific as chemistry or the Enlightenment. And the great thing is, you only have to include it a few times in the essay (conclusion especially) to make it work! You still prove your original thesis just like you would normally… this is just a little sprinkle of greatness on top. This is the best advice I have to give you on essays.

It works. It’s strange, but it works.

-Alyssa (ib-study-and-tea)

[memyselfandcats]

How to change your mood while honoring your feelings

So this is a pretty complicated subject, but here are the basics

Don’t judge yourself for having emotions. Remind yourself it’s ok to feel whatever you are feeling. It doesn’t make you broken or a bad person, and there is nothing to be guilty or ashamed of. Try to just accept the emotion without being sad or angry that you are experiencing it

Assess the situation. The first step is to identify what emotions you are feeling. (This may be help if you are stuck). The second is to figure out what thoughts or events (if any) triggered it. For example you might feel angry because you were treated poorly, or sad because you were thinking about all the ways you believe you have failed. Worksheets such as this one may help you with this and the following steps

Make a plan to address any issues now, or if the emotions are too intense, make a point to come back to this later. For example, if you are stressed about the amount of work you have due, your action could be to make a plan for what work to do each day, email your professor about an extension, and to identify and challenge the assumption that turning in a project late makes you a failure. DBT & CBT tools can help you identify and work through the process of doing this

Do something sensory. Focusing on your senses can be a very effective way to get out of your head, and allow your emotions to fade naturally. You could simply observe what’s around you (such as listing things you can see or hear), or you could create a pleasant experience by putting on a favorite song, using scents you enjoy, doing something with your hands, or some combination of these things. 

Remind yourself of things you have a positive association with You could remind yourself of a favorite memory, think of something you are grateful for today, read a message from a loved one, look at a photograph that you like, or imagine you are in your favorite place. Make sure you aren’t doing this to force yourself not the feel the emotion, but rather focusing your attention on something pleasant and being open to however your emotions change. It is important you follow steps 2 & 3 if you choose to go this route. However, if you are facing a thought you have all the time and you have already worked through those steps in a similar situation you may be able to go straight here.

[memyselfandcats]

Adulting Posts

Adulting 101: The post that started it all! Discount cards, xmas lights, and general food advice.

Adulting 102: Cacti, electric bills, and some inexpensive cleaning advice.

Adulting 103: Peeing after sex, chalkboard paint, and why you need scented trash bags in your life.

Adulting 104: Electric bill budgets, lint drawers, and why mixed greens are more trouble than they’re worth.

Adulting 105: Paper bills, Yankee Candles, and where to purchase postage stamps.

Adulting 106: Scented tampons, dishwasher pods, and why you should live next to a fire department.

Adulting 107: Command hooks, inexpensive bathroom decor, and why organic cucumbers are overrated. 

Adulting 108: An Adulting post dedicated entirely to apartment hunting!

Adulting 109: Cleaning your shower head, condiments, and why you should never buy Dollar Store paper towels.

Adulting 110: Food hygiene, Airborne, and automatic payment advice.

[memyselfandcats]

Tips for an autistic going back to public school next year?? I'm already having my psychiatrist write me a note saying I get to keep my backpack with me, but I'm super unorganized and just not looking forward to it. So please ANYTHING WOULD HELP! I'm thinking of even making a blog just to help autistics out at school but I need to know things first!

Well um. I don’t know how YOUR classes will happen exactly but ? (long post ahead)

- Read all the assigned books as soon as you can (trust me on this). If you have trouble concentrating on reading or you read really slowly, it helped me to listen to the audiobook at the same time, or instead if I wasn’t in a situation where I could bring a book and actually concentrate on it.

- Break down your homework in small, manageable tasks.

- Ask for the class material. EVEN IF YOU DON’T END UP USING IT. Better safe than sorry. We also have a post specifically on accommodations

- This post is my advice about studying for litterature class but honestly it can be applied to pretty much any subject. It’s about class notes taken on a computer. If you don’t have/aren’t allowed to use one, a new thing I tried this year and which worked wonderfully was to merge my written class notes with someone else’s, in a notebook, every night. It was an ENORMOUS amount of work to write class notes twice, but it paid off in the end.

- How to write an essay

- Giving a presentation

- Block websites if you have a tendency to be distracted (especially by your SIs) when working on the computer. You can also use the Pomodoro technique to balance working and distractions.

- That being said this noise generator website and this website which tells you when you’re supposed to go to sleep are awesome.

- Stim toys ! A weighted lap pad ! Those will help you concentrate both at home and at school.

- If you can, avoid crowds at school. If you can’t, stock up on earplugs.

- Keep your work space organised: for me it helps to separate work from fun. I have two identical booksheves, the one on the left of my desk is for fun things and the one of the right is for serious stuff like studybooks,notebooks, binders, health records, financial stuff, school papers, dictionnaries, a printer …  My desk only has my computer and a water bottle on it at all times. (Of course I put stuff on it all the time, but I clean it up at the end of the day.)

- MAKE AN ORGANISATION BOARD. Studyblr blogs could help with this, mine looks like this:

[picture of a board which is half cork and half white plastic that you can write on with a dry erase pen. The white part is organised in different sections: “important dates” (like exams or appointments), “to do”, and a blank section. On the cork part, there are some papers and pins, and a removable cardboard schedule stuck in the frame. It has weekly classes printed on it, plus sticky notes detailing the week’s appointments and other important events.]

Using the cardboard schedule helps me visualize my timetable, and not be taken by surprise by approaching deadlines.

- Executive dysfunction masterpost

- Autistic studying advice

- Spoonie student ressources

- Interview advice and how to write an email

Hope that helped !

- Sister Cat

[memyselfandcats]

Any tips for how to study when the teacher doesn't give a study guide? This is the first time I didn't get a study guide and the teacher just said "Ch 1 & 2 are on the exam and what we covered in class" It's on literally 3 days of class so I can't see it being that long/that much, but I also always see "important" stuff that actually isn't important so I end up studying the wrong stuff WITH and study guide and now without one I'm freaking out bc there's no guidelines at all.

As a general rule for any class, the things likely to take up the most space on the exam are the ones that took up the most space/time in class.  So if you’ve had three days of class and spent one and a half days on a particular topic, that’s probably the best thing to study.  If you take good notes in class, you can look over your notes to get a sense of what was most discussed.  Additionally, most textbooks have a chapter study guide and/or a chapter quiz at the end of each chapter, which can help you to identify what’s important.

It’s not clear from your ask whether this is a class that focuses primarily on skills they’d want you to demonstrate (like constructing an argument, identifying literary themes, solving equations, etc.) or on facts they’d want you to memorize (like the details of a story, important historical dates, formulas, etc.).

If it’s a skills-heavy class, find ways to practice the skills you’ve been practicing most over the past few days.  For a math or science type class this could be doing extra problems from the textbook or on your online homework program if you have one.  For a writing type class this could be discussing or writing about things you’ve read or watched recently for fun.

If it’s a facts-heavy class, you can make flash cards to quiz yourself or ask a friend or family member to quiz you.  Don’t bother making flash cards for things you already definitely know - it’s a waste of time and energy.  Make cards only for the things that you’ve identified as important and feel like you might need to review at least a bit.  Remove cards from your stack as you get more comfortable with the material on those cards so that you’re only spending time on the things you have not yet learned.  Check on whether you’ve learned stuff as well as you think you have by starting with all the cards together again about a day later, and then permanently retire any cards that were removed from the stack two days in a row.

Depending on what your school culture and your relationship with your teacher are like, you could also try emailing your teacher for a bit of guidance.  That email could look something like this:

Dear [Teacher],

I’m working on studying for the upcoming exam and was hoping you could just reassure me that I’m studying the right things or point me in a more effective direction - this is my first time studying without a study guide and I’m not sure the material I’ve identified as important is the best stuff to spend my time on.

After reviewing my notes and the study guide in the textbook, I’ve identified these topics as most important to review: [list of topics].

Am I on the right track?  Is there anything else you think I need to add to this list?

Thank you so much,

[Your Name]

It’s likely that part of the reason your teacher isn’t giving you a study guide is because they want you to get in the habit of trying to identify what’s important, so making it clear in the email that you’ve made some effort to do that will make the teacher more likely to help you.

Good luck!

-Liz

[memyselfandcats]

Do you have any advice for the first few days of school? Like how to stay motivated or to do well etc.

Hey! Here are a few things that might help:

how to take effective class or lecture notes

how to build self-discipline

how to stick to a schedule

how I organise my binders

10 small ways to improve your productivity

10 tips to increase your motivation for study

productivity and time management applications

how to remove distractions

types of procrastination and how to deal with them

how to study more effectively

good habits to implement

how to study (my method)

how to stick to a schedule

how to study during the semester

over-coming self doubt

advice for the first day

things (personal, academic, etc) to do every week

Good luck! xx

[memyselfandcats]

I believe in free education, one that’s available to everyone; no matter their race, gender, age, wealth, etc… This masterpost was created for every knowledge hungry individual out there. I hope it will serve you well. Enjoy!

FREE ONLINE COURSES (here are listed websites that provide huge variety of courses)

Alison 

Coursera

FutureLearn

open2study

Khan Academy

edX

P2P U

Academic Earth

iversity

Stanford Online

MIT Open Courseware

Open Yale Courses

BBC Learning

OpenLearn

Carnegie Mellon University OLI

University of Reddit

Saylor

IDEAS, INSPIRATION & NEWS (websites which deliver educational content meant to entertain you and stimulate your brain)

TED

FORA

Big Think 

99u

BBC Future

Seriously Amazing

How Stuff Works

Discovery News

National Geographic

Science News

Popular Science

IFLScience

YouTube Edu

NewScientist

DIY & HOW-TO’S (Don’t know how to do that? Want to learn how to do it yourself? Here are some great websites.)

wikiHow

Wonder How To

instructables

eHow

Howcast

MAKE

Do it yourself

FREE TEXTBOOKS & E-BOOKS

OpenStax CNX

Open Textbooks

Bookboon

Textbook Revolution

E-books Directory

FullBooks

Books Should Be Free

Classic Reader

Read Print

Project Gutenberg

AudioBooks For Free

LibriVox

Poem Hunter

Bartleby

MIT Classics

Many Books

Open Textbooks BCcampus

Open Textbook Library

WikiBooks

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES & JOURNALS

Directory of Open Access Journals

Scitable

PLOS

Wiley Open Access

Springer Open

Oxford Open

Elsevier Open Access

ArXiv

Open Access Library

LEARN:

1. LANGUAGES

Duolingo

BBC Languages

Learn A Language

101languages

Memrise

Livemocha

Foreign Services Institute

My Languages

Surface Languages

Lingualia

OmniGlot

OpenCulture’s Language links

2. COMPUTER SCIENCE & PROGRAMMING

Codecademy

Programmr

GA Dash

CodeHS

w3schools

Code Avengers

Codelearn

The Code Player

Code School

Code.org

Programming Motherf*?$%#

Bento

Bucky’s room

WiBit

Learn Code the Hard Way

Mozilla Developer Network

Microsoft Virtual Academy

3. YOGA & MEDITATION

Learning Yoga

Learn Meditation

Yome

Free Meditation

Online Meditation

Do Yoga With Me

Yoga Learning Center

4. PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMMAKING

Exposure Guide

The Bastards Book of Photography

Cambridge in Color

Best Photo Lessons

Photography Course

Production Now

nyvs

Learn About Film

Film School Online

5. DRAWING & PAINTING

Enliighten

Ctrl+Paint

ArtGraphica

Google Cultural Institute

Drawspace

DragoArt

WetCanvas

6. INSTRUMENTS & MUSIC THEORY

Music Theory

Teoria

Music Theory Videos

Furmanczyk Academy of Music

Dave Conservatoire

Petrucci Music Library

Justin Guitar

Guitar Lessons

Piano Lessons

Zebra Keys

Play Bass Now

7. OTHER UNCATEGORIZED SKILLS

Investopedia

The Chess Website

Chesscademy

Chess.com

Spreeder

ReadSpeeder

First Aid for Free

First Aid Web

NHS Choices

Wolfram Demonstrations Project

Please feel free to add more learning focused websites. 

*There are a lot more learning websites out there, but I picked the ones that are, as far as I’m aware, completely free and in my opinion the best/ most useful.

[memyselfandcats]

7 Apps for Studying and Time Management

Companion video: link

►Memorigi

Android [FREE]: link iPhone: [NOT AVAILABLE] Similar app: Wunderlist [FREE] link

Memorigi is a really easy to use time management app where you can log in all of your tasks for the day, week and month. You can use a color code to track your tasks by theme or by subject so you can understand what your workload will be for the next few days. I really like this app’s simple layout and the fact that you can chose between different views, namely between a daily view or a three-days view. It also lets you set an alarm to remind you that your tasks and events are coming up. Other similar apps to consider are Google Calendar and Evernote.

►Duolingo Android [FREE]: link iPhone [FREE]: link

Duolingo is an app that lets you learn languages through an array of mini games and exercises that you can complete daily, increasing your fluency and mastery step by step. Each language comes with dozens of different themed levels that teach you different aspects of vocabulary and grammar so you can build up your knowledge on that language. Each level recycles what you’ve learned in past levels to make sure that you still remember that you have learned before. You can also use the training icon to get a personalized lesson with your weakest words, so you can really tackle whatever you are having a difficult time with, before moving on with the learning process. I also enjoy the fact that the levels are short and you aren’t required to speak or listen, so it’s the perfect way to spend some idle time during commuting to school.

►Forest: Android [FREE]: link iPhone [1,99$]: link

Another app that I always talk about is Forest, and for me it’s the best way to use the Pomodoro Technique whilst having a true visual experience of your productivity levels. The concept is quite simple: for each block of time you spend studying, you plant a virtual tree. While that tree grows, you cannot use other app in your phone, less you get distracted. When the timer reaches zero, you will have planted a tree in your forest. The more trees you have, the more productive you were during that day.

►Loop - Habit Tracker Android [FREE]: link iPhone: NOT AVAILABLE HabitBull [FREE], similar app: link

Habits is an habit tracker app that lets you follow up on those small daily tasks that we sometimes forget, like drinking enough water, taking medication or taking a walk outside. It’s very simple to use – all you have to do is insert which tasks you want to track and just press the small cross to mark it for that day. As time goes by, you will build a graphic that tells you how many times you’ve forgotten certain tasks and where you should improve. I usually do this by hand in my bullet journal but I think that tracking your habits with an app should please everyone who prefers to manage their time with their phone and doesn’t like to carry a notebook around.

►SaveMyTime Android [FREE]: link iPhone: NOT AVAILABLE Similar app: link

Still on the time management theme, I think that everyone should try at least once in their life to really understand how they are spending their time. A time wheel lets you do this – you basically input how you have been spending your time during the day, with transportation, sleeping, eating, studying and taking classes and you will be baffled by how little time you can actually spend at your own will. This app lets you do exactly this, you just insert the amount of time you have been doing something and it will build a time wheel for you, so you can reflect where you have been wasting your time and re-organize your schedule. I think this is a great challenge to keep up with during a week and just reflect on how you are actually living your life. Basically, it sets a tracking time and when you unlock your phone, the app will ask you what you have been doing for the past fifteen minutes so you can build your time wheel gradually during the day without even noticing it.

►Quizlet Android [FREE]: link iPhone [FREE]: link

A great app to save paper, ink and time is quizlet. It basically replaces all of your physical flash cards and lets you keep entire sets of questions and answers in your phone under your personal account. You can then export these to your computer and share them with your friends. I think this is an amazing app for anyone who relies on definition based classes and tests and is something great to use on idle times or when you need to study but only have your phone around. It has tons of different ways to test your knowledge on a subject and it can even read your cards out loud as if you were being questioned by your professor.

►Timetable Android [FREE]: link iPhone [NOT AVAILABLE] Similar app: Class Timetable [FREE]: link

Finally, and this is one of my favorites, there is a widget timetable app so you can place your school timetable in your homescreen and never skip a class again. I usually never know where I am going to have class and sometimes it’s not really useful to take out your planner and look at your schedule so having it right on your homescreen is really useful.

You can insert all data related to your class in this widget, like the name of the class, the location, participants and total duration. You can always assign a color to a certain class. Afterwards, you just tap the screen to assign your class to a certain timeblock and there you have it.