Timetobefree

studiesstudy:

STUDY TIPS MASTERPOST

Hi! So, because I reached my 400 hundred follower goal during my first month in the Studyblr community, I decided to make a master post. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted my post to be about. After thinking about it, I figured that, as this is a studyblog, a few tips about studying seemed most fit. This has probably been done a thousand times before, but I thought I’d share my ideas and way of studying. I’ll talk about how I prepare my study sessions, how I try to make the most of them and what comfort foods I eat during the sessions. Here goes :)

Preparation and task division:

Planning:

• The first thing I do is plan. I keep a bullet journal at hand wherever I go. By doing this,  I can dot down everything I need to do, whenever it pops into my mind.
  
• I use coloured pens, washi tape and pictures to make my plannings pleasing to the eye. This way I can’t stop looking at it and can’t forget that I need to get things done ;)
  
• What I do is make old-fashioned lists, with checkboxes to finish it off. I will have a growing sense of pride whenever I finish something and fill in the checkbox.
  
• I need to keep reminding myself to set realistic goals and not plan too much, because otherwise I won’t stay focused at the task at hand and just keep thinking of the things that need to be done.
  
• I tend to use time-frames to give myself a sense of urgency regarding the task.
•  Lastly, I plan my subjects over a long period of time, because studies showed that trying to memorize all you need to know in one sitting is not as effective as spreading the info out.

Environment:

• After I know what needs to be done, I create a pleasant environment for me to work in. I make sure my desk is organized properly.
  

• I also make sure that everything I need is within reach (this includes tea/coffee and brainfood).
  

• Sometimes what I need to create a good environment to work in, is go outside. To the local library for example, when I need complete silence, or a coffeeshop, when I crave background noise. This way I’m more positive and motivated to start working on assignments or to study.
  

First things first, I’m the biggest:

• I always try to finish the big projects first. Because this way I won’t have this cloud of dread above my head reminding me of it while doing other things.
  

• To stay focused, motivated and to not get scared of all the things that need to be done for this project, I divide it into smaller parts. To me, the project seems to take in less time than I expected and It’s easier for me to take a break.
  

• When the biggest/hardest task is done, I go on to the smaller ones.
  

Distractions:

I have not done this myself yet, but I’m definitely planning to: using apps that keep me from being distracted by my phone. I can’t seem to stop myself from reaching towards every five minutes. I’m thinking about using the app Offtime.  This app is for both android and iOS, and it gives you the opportunity to block certain distracting apps and filter communication. It also shows you how much you use your phone and you can certain modes like: Work, Social and Me time. This was it makes sure that you get access to the things you need, and not the things that distract you and that you don’t need. Another app is ‘Focus’, this app grows trees every 30 minutes that you don’t spent on your phone. Your goal is to create a forest. I’ve heard that it’s quite addictive, because you really want that forest to grow.  

The actual studying:

• Storytelling: This might sound very strange, but every time I study something, I try to explain it to a friend or family member in a ‘story’ kind of way. This way I won’t bore them to death with knowledge about things they don’t care about, but it is also easier for me to remember what I studied.
  
• I hear you studying: The storytelling also covers another way I sometimes try to remember things: I say it out loud. When I read the material out loud I use two of my senses. It means I mentally store the information in two ways: sight and hearing.
  
• Treat yo self: I try to treat myself every time I reach a small goal. A piece of chocolate after I’ve studied three pages. Ten minutes reading after I’ve finished a particular chapter, and so on.
  
• Companionship: I need the motivation and positive energy that studying with (certain) friends provides. I also laugh a lot when I’m with them, and laughing stimulates neurotransmitters in the brain that improves learning and increases your attention span. But because I also get distracted easily and I know that I personally get less done when studying with friends, I try to keep it to only revising material and a minimal amount of tasks. Unless it is a hard subject, where I need a little bit more of explanation and guidance.
  
• Writing it down: I don’t summarize often, because I feel this takes too many time when I don’t tend to look at the summaries again after they are made. But because I know that writing things down helps your brain memorize things, I do take as many notes as I can. To do this I use lots of arrows, short sentences and sometimes even little drawings (by no means artistic).
  
• Vary: Varying the places where you study will also reinforce the material, because it allows your brain to constantly make new associations. As I’ve mentioned before, when I ‘create’ my environment, I try not to be behind my desk for a whole week.
• Another thing I vary, are the subjects I have to study for. I can’t keep focused on one subject for a long time, and stay as focused throughout the whole process. I try to vary the subjects I cover every one or two hours.

Food for thought:

I mentioned ‘brain food’ before, this is because I looked up which foods can help you study. My favourites are:

• Nuts: Many types of nuts such as almonds, pistachios, and walnuts contain high levels of essential fatty acids that help your brain to perform optimally. As an added benefit, nuts contain a good amount of iron and also provide oxygen to the brain which increases your mental alertness and ability to retain information. A minimum of one ounce of nuts per day is recommended for optimal brain health. Since nuts are high in unsaturated fat (aka the “good” fat) and calories, they make great sources of energy as well. It’s also very easy to eat while reading/studying.
  
• Apples: Apparently these help you improve your study habits and academic performances. The peel of the apple includes a powerful antioxidant called quercetin that enhances memory function.
  
• Spinach: Spinach is chock full of folic acid and has even been shown to reverse memory loss. I use spinach a lot in smoothies, because I love smoothies and it masks the flavor.
  
• Dark Chocolate: How awesome that this makes the ‘brain food list’ ? This delicious food of heaven does not only improve memory, it also increases blood flow to the brain, which in turn increases alertness and clarity. The darker the chocolate, the more benefits your brain will receive.
  
• Berries: Another delicious fruit. It might not keep the doctor away, but the do have significant health effects directly related to brain function. They also reduce the level of toxins in your bloodstream, but they also contain phytonutrients and antioxidants that improve blood flow to the brain and enhance neural activity.
  

So this is how I study. It probably wasn’t revolutionary, but I hope I helped someone a little :)

culturenlifestyle:

Street Art Couple Composes Meaningful Lovers Illustration

Vienna-based street artist duo Jana and JS creates romantic graffiti art painted onto urban street elements such as discarded rocks, benches and rusted metal bodies. From the train stations of Salzburg in Austria, to the wall murals in France, Italy and beyond, the French-Austrian couple have left traces of romantic memories through their street art all across Europe.

Continuar a ler

(via culturenlifestyle)

verisci:

This post contains condensed notes made from Marty Lobdell’s 1 hour long lecture (link’s here), which features many effective study techniques and tips.

1. TAKE BREAKS.

25-30 min of studying, followed by 5 min break (a.k.a. pomodoro technique). Once you get used to the load of studying, you can increase your time of one study session, just follow this rule:

“The moment you start to slide, you’re shovelling against the tide, what you need to do is what? Take a break.”

2. REWARD YOURSELF AFTER EVERY STUDY SESSION.

”Things that are reinforced, we tend to do more of. Things that are punished or ignored, we tend to do less of.”

To put it simply, rewarding yourself after every study session will make you more likely to study later.

3. GET A STUDY ENVIRONMENT.

Everybody has special rooms for sleeping, food making, bathing, etc., but who has a room for studying?? Not many. Well, obviously, not everyone can afford one, but there’re some tricks, which will help you to create a study environment.

• Get a study lamp. ONLY turn it on while studying. DO NOT use it for other purposes.
  
• If you’re studying in a room, which has bed (bedrooms, dorm rooms…), turn your desk away from your bed to face a blank wall.

The context provided by environmental cues largely determines your behavior, so create a study environment, which encourages you to study. Distracting cues’ examples: bedroom - sleeping cues (bed), kitchen - food cues, living room - TV, radio, people, etc. All these distractions prevent you from studying!!

4. KNOW THE CONCEPTS, NOT THE FACTS.

For example, it is like knowing the words of a song but not knowing what a song is about. FACTS = song lyrics, CONCEPT = song meaning.  
Facts can easily be looked up if needed.

5. USE STUDY GROUPS.

6. NO HIGHLIGHTING.

Or at least no highlighting after reading a text once.

7. TAKE NOTES.

Take notes during your class/lecture/etc.. After the class is finished, take out your notes the first free moment you’ve got and expand everything you’ve written. Give it some depth. If you do that like 2 (or more) hours after the class, you will have forgotten much of what you had written. So do this as soon as possible.

8. TEACH. TALK OUT LOUD.

One study showed that best way of studying is to do 80% of reciting and 20% of reading. So, teach others what you’ve learnt or dialogue with empty chairs if you have no one to teach. What you can teach, that you understand.

9. STUDY TEXTBOOKS USING SQ3R METHOD

Survey - go through an entire chapter, look at the pictures, graphs, questions…
Question - While surveying, you might get some questions. If not, then ask yourself questions like: “What’s this?”, “What does this graph mean?”, etc. This will cause you to look for answers and “if you intend to find something, you find it.”
Read - (20% of time)
Recite -  (80% of time)
Review - after some time has passed.

10. USE MNEMONICS FOR FACT MEMORIZATION.

Because sometimes concept learning is not enough. :(  Make acronyms, coined sayings, or interacting image associations  to help yourself remember the facts. The weirder, the better.

(via studytip)

caffeinequeenstudies:

Hello everyone! I decided to make another collection of playlists! (My other one is here.) This is a study edition! Because, well, I am a studyblr! :) I hope you enjoy this! These are my favorite mixes! They’re listed according to the title of the mix.

• for studying
  
• for studying 2.0 
  
• jazz for the afternoon
  
• falling in love at a coffee shop
  
• s t u d y
  
• aim for the sky
  
• arise
  
• classical to the core
  
• if french girls studied
  
• i work 
  
• lysogeny
  
• don’t give up yet
  
• mercury cafe
  
• je ne sais pas
  
• with two sugars, please
  

Aaaand that’s all for now! I really hope you enjoy this! Happy studyin’. 

P.S. This photo belongs to the awesome @jasmine-and-totoro ; I adjusted the photo and added the text! x

(via duodenalis)

(via aurora11x)