sapphstudies

[sapphstudies]

2.28.17 | a pink post to say goodbye to february 

ig: whitepaperairplane

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity 101/100

I didn’t post every day in january because I was so busy but I can assure anyone who cared that I did in fact complete the 100 days of productivity challenge. Today would have been the 101st day and for the first time in ages I actually did not do school work today! And I planned it that way on purpose! 100 DoP was great for motivating me at a time when I need a measureable challenge for myself and I did take care to count non-school work things that were good for me as productive but I also started to feel a bit of burnout by the end. I’m actually learning about life balance and time management for stress reduction in my managment class and it could not have come at a more serendipitous time. My new goal is to find the right balance between school work and fostering all the other aspects of my well being and try to find a daily structure that works best for me. And part of that structure is going to be taking actual days off. Planning days without school work or strenuous socializing and allowing my brain time to rest and recharge so I can stay healthy physically and mentally. I’m quite tempted to make a 100 Days of Well-being challenge but I also think that may be counterproductive. At least to begin with I’m just going to try taking things one step at a time.

[sapphstudies]

Happy New Year! 100 Days of Productivity (69-70/100)

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope it's off to a great start!!

This morning I did a little review of 2018 and set my goals and resolutions for 2019

I also really like this post of 2019 resolutions from @flowerais and I put it in my inspiration journal this morning

Day 69: I slept in yesterday then did about 2 hours of SAT studying before heading out to run some errands and then heading to my sisters to catsit where I studied a bit more but I wasn't super focused on it. I spent a lot of time playing with the cats and talking to my mom in between topics. I went home and had dinner pretty late and a big mug of mulled wine. It was pouring rain so I didn't go see the fireworks but I could see them light up the sky from my apartment window at midnight and my mom called me so I wouldn't be alone at midnight which was really sweet. Certainly not the worst way to ring in the new year! Goodbye year of the pupper! You honestly weren't too bad to me and I appreciate it.

Day 70: Welcome year of the pig!! According to my zodiac, you're going to be a good year and I have a lot of big plans to boot so I'm excited! I did some end of year bujo things this morning and now I'm going to cat sit for the final day and study! Tomorrow my J-Term class starts and the academic marathon of January begins!

[sapphstudies]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE I HOPE IT’S A GREAT ONE!!!

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (64-68/100) + January Spread

Moving into the new year!! I’m so excited for January to begin. I’m ready to say thank you to 2018 and send it off and move forward into 2019! With any luck, this year has a lot in store for me!

January is going to be a bit of a hell month for me. I’m taking a winter term class, preparing for the SAT, and preparing my transfer applications all at once and then spring semester starts on the 28th! I have a lot to get done, but my plan is to really buckle down and work hard every day this month, knowing it’s all going towards the game-changing goal of 2019: Get into Gallatin! My hope is that, if I work really hard and get everything done this month, then spring term will be fairly breezy and I can focus on keeping my GPA as high as possible.

January’s spread is pretty much the same as December, all the same components just shifted a bit to accommodate the shape of the month and slightly larger daily boxes. I tried working in colored pencil without much success but this is only my second decorative spread ever, and I learn something new every time! I’m trying a new style of daily spread in the new year, trying to keep things more streamlined and less time consuming to layout every day/week will update when I get a sense of how it’s working for me!

100 Days of Productivity update below the cut!

Day 64: The day after Christmas I started cat-sitting for my sister so I’ve been hauling all my study materials back and forth every day, but I have still been getting a lot done! I studied for the SAT with Kahn Academy’s SAT prep course for around 2 hours and then brainstormed essay ideas for my transfer applications before heading back to my neighborhood to see Bohemian Rhapsody. I was so surprised it was still showing at the theater near me and it was so good I’m so glad I got a chance to go!

Day 65: In the morning I saw the new Grinch movie because I still hadn’t seen it yet and I really liked it! I think I liked it better than the original even! I loved Cindy Lou Hoo and her family’s story. I might have cried a little. Then I hauled everything over to my sister’s place and wrote the first draft of my NYU essay. It was really just a brain dump more than anything and I’ll probably end up splitting it into two of the essays for the application. I studied for the SAT and started reteaching myself geometry with the Kahn Academy course as part of my SAT prep. My weakest points by far are linear algebra and geometry because I really just don’t remember all the stuff I learned in high school so I think the fastest way to bring up my math score is to just do a complete refresh for those courses.

Day 66: Friday was a bit of a shortened day. I woke up a little late and then hauled myself to my sister’s dropping of laundry on the way. I was only able to be there and study for a few hours since I had an appointment in the afternoon but I did some SAT practice and then geometry review before heading home. I had planned to do a couple errands after my appointment but most places I needed to go were closed so I ended up doing more geometry review until way too late before doing some cleaning and organizing around the apartment before bed.

Day 67: SAT Practice Test Day! After taking care of the kitties I settled in for the Practice test. I spent about 4.5 hours on it since I took breaks between sections to play with the cats and make sure they felt loved. My score was up 90 points from my first practice test and 100 points from my converted high school score so that was awesome! I probably won’t keep making such huge leaps of improvement in the next tests since once my math skills are fully refreshed it’ll come down mainly to time management during the test and general speed which improves a lot more incrementally I imagine. I’m super happy with the improvement. In the evening I just ran an errand on my way home and then took it easy.

Day 68: I took the day off from studying today! Honestly, I’ve been feeling a bit funky and out of sorts all week and after improving so much on my practice test I felt like I could afford and a day off and thought it might do me some good. I spent the day mainly on my January spread and the upcoming week’s spread. In the morning I baked some muffins and worked on my bullet journal then I headed to my sisters and played with the cats and watched youtube and read for a while. Around 5 I started nodding off so I headed home where I kept working on my journal finished some last tasks for the week. 

I’ve noticed my bujo starting to feel more like a chore and just another task I have to accomplish during the day which really isn’t the vibe I’m going for. I wanted to bujo to have more creative freedom and flexibility because I was finding that preprinted planners were boring to look at didn’t fit my needs exactly right but honestly, bujo is time-consuming!! I think the time commitment for making spreads and the full responsibility for providing an effective time management system can just feel a bit too much and too stressful when it’s meant to be fun but it might just be my off state of mind and stress over the upcoming month that’s throwing me off. I’m also still just begining and working on finding the right style that works for me. I might start moving towards more minimal spreads to save me time and brain space. My daily spreads next week are going to be a lot more minimal so I’ll see how that goes! 

It’s now 12:30 so way too late oops. So much for going to bed by 12:30 I really need to work on my sleep schedule. Somehow the evening hours just slip away from me and suddenly it’s past bedtime and I still have dishes to do and to get ready for bed and such! If you have any tips or tricks for getting to bed earlier or have any thoughts on my thoughts about bujo stress lmk! I’d definitely be interested to hear!

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (59-63/100)

Sorry I don’t have a regular schedule for these updates!

Day 59: Went to Tarrytown and did a Christmas mansion tour with my sister and then studied for my SAT for abt 2 hours

Day 60: Went Christmas grocery shopping. Cooked. Studied for my SAT (I’m doing this in approx. 2hr sessions). Did a few little errands. Filled out financial aid apps for school.

Day 61: Donated a few old coats in the morning and ran errands some other small errands. Studied more for the SAT. Set up the coming weeks daily spreads and weekly review. Definitely going to change up my daily spreads in the new year. My current one is quite time consuming and bulky/unappealing to look at. I just need to find a prettier more streamlined way to get all the info I need on one page per day.

Day 62: CHRISTMAS EVE. Studied for the SAT in the early morning. Went to the chiropractor. Met my sister and her bf for the noon showing of Aquaman. Then we baked cookies and went for drinks and dinner and opened presents.

Day 63: CHRISTMAS!! Slept in this morning because nature gave me the wonderful Christmas present of my period lol. Currently baking pie and sweet potato casserole. Going to catch up on some YT vids and maybe Doctor Who and then head over to my sister’s place around 5. Probably no studying today. It’s Christmas after all.

[sapphstudies]

Merry Christmas Everyone!

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (49-58/100)

Sorry I have been gone for so long! Life has been crazy up and down and busy lately! But the holidays are around the corner and I finally (sort of?) have some time to chill out. So here's brief catch up of the productive things I’ve been doing.

Day 49: Tuesday. Dog sitting. Therapy. Final accounting test of the semester! (92.5% !!) Started the Princess Bride for fun. Dungeons and Dragons in the evening.

Day 50: Wednesday. Class day. English final exam texts discussion group. Final chapter of accounting review on break! Also did more quote picking for my English exam on break. Some crappy stuff happened in the afternoon and I had a little wobble but my sister came over and we went out for a drink and talked shit about boys and I felt much better.

Day 51: Thursday. Dog sitting. Therapy (Improved my self-confidence a lot!). Massage. Meal Planned. My friend got me a kindle for the holidays and I couldn’t believe it! So excited to use it! It’s gonna be so useful for textbooks.

Day 52: Friday. English Final Exam! I think I did pretty well! Went grocery shopping. Finally found the right size of Christmas cookie cutters! Baked dog treats! They actually tasted really good... lol 

Day 53: Saturday. Accounting Final Exam! 97% !!!! Dropped off laundry. Got more groceries. Cooked. Just kind of hung out?? I suddenly had free time and didn’t know what to do with it lol I think I just watched YT videos for a while lol

Day 54: Sunday. Picked up laundry. Baked bread. Another day of just chilling after the stress of exams and stuff. D&D in the evening. One of the guys bought everyone spell cards for their class and it was the sweetest thing ever!!

Day 55: Monday. Picked up new books from the library. Got a new coat finally! (I’ve been hanging onto an old one falling apart one for ages cause I just didn’t have the time/energy to go look for a new one). Did a bit of cleaning and organizing around the house. Went to a new chiropractor. Baked Persimmon Spice Cake.

Day 56: Tuesday. Puppy sitting. Therapy. Mailed Christmas Presents. Made some returns. Sister came over for Christmas party! Persimmon cake, mulled wine, tree decorating, dinner at a diner, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 2!

Day 57: Wednesday. Chiropractor. Puppy sitting. Sister came over to read 23andMe results. SAT Practice Test 1, 1330/1600, Goal: 1450. Mulled wine and cake for dinner as a reward!

Day 58: Thursday/Today! Last minute day off for puppy sitting. Updating 100 DoP now. Therapy and Massage later. Goals: Fill out Transfer Applications (not including essays) and Financial Aid Applications for NYU and Columbia. Stretch Goal: Study linear algebra for SAT

[sapphstudies]

smh he won’t let me read in peace

[sapphstudies]

sorry I haven’t updated in a while life’s been crazy! will update asap

[sapphstudies]

What book(s) made you a reader?

I’ve always held a love for reading but didn’t really devour books like I do now until I read Tamora Pierce’s books set in Tortall. Like ALL the series!

They stand as some of my all-time favorite books!

IG: novelknight

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (47+48/100)

Day 47: Sunday I studied for my accounting final and did a written review. I also ran some small errands and got a Christmas tree!! So excited to decorate it with my sister this weekend

Day 48: Class today and reviewed more accounting during my break. I’m so close to being finished with this class!! I’ve been feeling quite queasy and tired the past few days so I came home and just ate a little and got ready for bed. Planning that tomorrow I’ll take my final accounting test before the exam. I really hoping I do well on it!

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (46/100)

I almost forgot to write an update! Today was relatively productive I managed to do a written chapter review and three chapters of online review which took me a million years because i have such a hard time focusing on accounting but at least I did it! Which means I’m pretty much caught up on what I needed to do for the week! I have a couple of things to do tomorrow but I’m really hoping I can finish early and go get a christmas tree!!

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (45/100)

I planned to do a bunch of studying yesterday/Friday but as has been the pattern this week I got super sidetracked. My sister hurt her back pretty bad so I had to run some remands for her and help her to the doctor and stuff and then I had to puppysit and my friends invited me out for drinks and I went. Probably not the wisest decision but these friends are relatively knew and I guess this is what FOMO is??? Anyway my mom also encouraged me to go cause it’s not like I go out for drinks on a regular basis and I really want and need to make personal connections here. So I’m gonna go head say 3/10 productivity yesterday but today is a new day (46/100) and hopefully will get a lot done! Will make a post for today later.

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (44/100)

Today was full of busy errands! I still managed to review one chapter of accounting and do an initial read of my english exam long text. But I only just finished. I don’t normally work until such a late hour but I figured since I’ve been having trouble sleeping anyway might as well make use of the time especially since I didn’t get anything done today and am behind on my to-do list.

I actually had a lovely chat with a girl at a coffee shop in between appointments today. We bonded over Tamora Pierce when she saw I was reading Terrier. It’s so nice when those sorts of things happen.

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (43/100)

Class day today. I did get some studying done on my break!! Accounting review is slow going and difficult to focus on but I did my best. I got my in class essay back and got a pretty good grade on it which I’m happy about because I was really worried I did poorly on it. Timed writing is not my strong suit.

After I got home I finished the chapter review for accounting and I had other studying I wanted to do but by the time I was done I was practically falling asleep (curse you accounting text book for being so bland and technical) so I just filled out some paper work for an upcoming appointment and now I’m gonna have some dinner and get ready for bed.

I’m really behind on my To-Do list this week so, please study gods if your out there i would be super grateful for some motivation, energy, and time thanks!

[sapphstudies]

100 Days of Productivity (39-42/100)

A little disappointed with my productivity the last few day but hopefully I can turn things around for the remainder of the week!

Day 39: Saturday was actually a really fun day! I didn’t do any school work but my sister and I did the 23andMe DNA test and then went to brunch together and then we spent 4ish hours at the Met Museum, the first 2-ish hours on a guided tour of powerful women of the Met which was awesome and then we walked around afterwards then went out for drinks! It was really fun. I spent the rest of the evening answering 23andMe questions which was a HUGE time suck and I didn’t get to bed until way too late like 5am or something crazy. This has proven to be a pattern this week grrrrr gotta break it.

Day 40: Sunday. Woke up super late around 12:30 cause of Saturday night and had DnD at 5 so I basically had 3.5 hours to run around like mad getting errands done cleaning my apartment and cooking. Went to DnD and went out for drinks afterwords

Day 41: Monday. I’m really having trouble focusing this week. I did decently on my in class essay but barely got anything done during my break. I kept getting distracted with scheduling for my dog sitting job and looking up various doctors and such. I did run quite a few errands when I got home and did some stuff around the house but I let myself push off the studying I didn’t do at school until the next day. I wasted a bunch of time making a dating profile which in retrospect is an absolute waste of time. But didn’t realize that till the next day.

Day 42: Tuesday....... honestly not my best day. I discovered the enormous time suck that is dating apps. After wasting so much time on it all day without even really realizing I feel pretty shitty and I wish I’d used my time more wisely but I’m going to try really hard to be extra productive the rest of the week to make up for it. I did dog sit in the morning which is always fun I love my friends dog and it’s a really fun and low pressure job. Then I went to therapy. I was early so I called my mom and we got to talk for a while which was nice. Had therapy which has been really draining lately but my cycle and therefore emotions have been all over the place lately. After that I had a doctors appointment where they really did a doozy on my toe and that was the final nail in the coffin of productivity for the day. It hurt so much I couldn’t really focus and just gave up on school work. I managed to get in the barest amount of studying late this evening but it hardly counts. But the rest of the week is gonna be better! I deleted the dating app and I’m driven by the anxiety of encroaching exams to work harder and better and use my time more efficiently.

none of these days were completely devoid of productivity but definitely not where it needs to be right now. but i can’t change what was so I’m looking forward to the future and being better!