things you will experience if you keep doing your best
actually looking forward to things and having enough energy to do everything you want to do
the fresh feeling after cleaning everything and throwing away things that were piling up since forever, including mentally
realising that you haven’t thought about someone for three days straight when you’ve been sad about them for a long time
making a new friend who genuinely likes talking to you after feeling like you don’t belong anywhere or you’re better off alone
making more time for people that really matter to you and actually love you unconditionally instead of endlessly wondering why some people left you or didn’t reciprocate
not placing your entire sense of worth on someone else because you feel happy and whole by yourself
an outward change in appearance, almost a kind of glow because you’re radiating warmth and strength from inside
good grades, making huge improvements and achieving whatever goals you have in mind
feeling calmer and not relying on external validation because you see your own worth, trust yourself fully and can accept imperfection, laugh at your own embarrassing moments, encourage yourself when you’re down and quickly forgive your own mistakes
gaining enough respect for yourself to treat yourself gently and not tolerating anyone who treats you badly
realising that you feel lighter inside and nothing is as much as a chore as it used to be
feeling yourself become less unaffected by small things that used to ruin your day
realising that you can make any changes in your life if you stopped discouraging yourself so much
realising you don’t need many superficial distractions anymore because you actually feel okay
have 3 achievable goals a day: having a laundry list of things to do everyday is super unrealistic, and you just end up feeling bad about yourself because you didn’t accomplish your goals for the day.
leave your sundays open: i love sundays because they’re my day to chill out and catch up on school work that i wasn’t able to finish during the week.
recognize when you’re at your emotional limits:forcing yourself to get work done when you are unable to comprehend your study material does not benefit anyone.
learn how to say no: people will ask you for your time and it will stretch you to the limit, whether it be at your job, in your extracurriculars, or in your personal life. know when to step back and say no.
take care of yourself physically: take breaks, go for walks, shower regularly, get enough sleep, eat healthy, see your friends
celebrate your accomplishments: go out to eat with friends after a big exam, indulge in a night off after a busy week with some netflix and wine
make a study plan beforehand:it can be daunting to see how much work you need to put in to a class or task beforehand, but this allows you to spread your work evenly so you don’t become overwhelmed.
learn how to ask for help: it is very rare that people make it through school, whether it be high school or university or any graduate program, without needing the advice of others or just a kind soul to vent to. find that person.
never forget your hobbies: you will need things that keep you sane. if you love to play music, write, play volleyball, or cook, make you sure you don’t lose these things. they will become your escape when times get tough.
log off from time to time:it is exhausting to be constantly connected to social media and your email. just physically disconnecting from these for a night to take care of yourself can really help you clear your mind.
Start early. it may seem like it is waaayy to early to start. but here’s the thing: it is never too late to start studying for an exam, so start early and start now
Make a revision guide. List all the crucial things you absolutely have to revise for. If your teacher gives you a guide, ditch it. You know more than anyone what you need to work on.
Focus on what you don’t know. I know its more comfortable doing things you already know, it gives you a nice ego boost, but the other things won’t learn themselves. i repeat: focus on what you DON’T know.
Which means study by priority. Study what you need the most help on. Do not go in order. You will run out of time to study things you actually need help on. So please don’t.
Mindmaps. These are good for subjects like history and the sciences. It is much easier to see all your notes on one page. So do yourself a favor and convert your notes into mindmaps.
Flashcards. After mindmaps comes flashcards. How I study is by first taking notes, then making a mindmap, and then putting the information into flashcards (I might make a post ;)). They don’t always work for essay based subjects so beware. But remember: flashcards only work if you frequently review them.
Past papers. These are your friends. Seriously. If you do past papers, they will help a LOT. This gives you an idea of how the real exam will be. They will mostly come in the same format, so it will help you be familiar with the layout of the papers.
Specifications. Don’t just get all your info from study guides. Most of the time they leave out some information. See what exam board you’re doing and find the spec. Try to use that as a checklist.
Ask for help. Your teachers are there to help. If you’re struggling, ask for help. See if there are extra classes. Check if your teacher can tutor you if they have time (my teacher did). Seriously. Ask. Its for your benefit.
Avoid burnout. Don’t just focus on one topic/subject. Switch it up to avoid burnout and remember to take breaks. You can’t put all the information in your brain in one go. Take care of yourself.
You can do this. I believe in you, you can do anything if you put your mind to it. just remember to breathe and take care of your health. It’s more important than anything. Trust me, you can do this :)
● seize time opportunities. If I have 15 minutes until your next class, I sit down and do homework in the hallway. If I have a long commute, I’ll do flashcards. This works because you most likely won’t have anything else to do anyways, so it’s easier to get your work done.
● start something. When I get a lab report assignment, the first thing I do is pull up the directions and at least start the cover page and pull up some research links. It takes 5 minutes but it gets the ball rolling and makes it more likely that you’ll finish what you started.
● auto-mode. When I procrastinating, it’s usually because I’m too busy thinking about what I’m going to do. Instead, I like to pretend I’m in “auto-mode” and just get started as fast as I can. auto-mode means shutting out distracting thoughts or pleas to watch one more funny cat video and forcing your hands to open your textbook. Works every time.
● personally, creating time schedules don’t work for me because if I fall out of time, the whole schedule falls apart and I usually give up. Instead I use time games. I’ll tell myself something like “work as hard as you can until 11:00 sharp and if you finish, you can have a break”. This is great for developing self discipline because it’s in the moment so you can be more realistic and flexible.
● i don’t like writing down earlier due dates in my planner because it’s confusing so instead, it’s good to have some sort of mental rule. for example, my mental rule is to finish everything at least two days before the due date. following through with that will keep you on track.
● do a little bit every day. If you have a big project, chip at it within a week rather than stressing out 2 days before it’s due. the same goes for studying for an exam. if you review lecture notes and attend office hours after class + work on flashcards throughout the week, then do a final review at the end, you’ll be well prepared and won’t need to cram. It’s a good habit and you won’t get stressed. Two birds with one stone.
● use mornings too. I’m not really an early bird, but using mornings to get some work / chores done is great because it gives you a productive start to the day, which makes you feel proud of yourself for knocking out half of your tasks in the a.m.
a. Lay out your lecture notes / worksheets on the table the night before and open your work tabs on your computer so they’ll be the first thing you see when you turn on your computer.
b. Put your computer far away from your work space and go to sleep.
c. When you wake up, the first thing that you’ll see is your ‘paper’ work, so get it done first. then start on your ‘screen’ work (you’ll be less likely to get distracted if you do your ‘paper’ work first). when you open your laptop the first thing you’ll see are the work tabs you opened the night before. Your job is to go on auto-mode and get started.
Good luck with self-discipline. You’ll do great. - hana from thoughtscholar
Iโve been going to a therapist for about two months now, and sheโs taught me something about being a writer (or an artist in general) that Iโll never forget.
After I told her all about my abandoned projects and often losing interest in the middle of writing, she told me that there are two types of creative people: those motivated by the outcome and those motivated by the process.
Those motivated by the outcome will more often than not finish their work because the idea of having a finished manuscript/drawing/artwork is what drives them in the first place. Seeing their work completed excites them more than the process of creating it.
Now if youโre like me, youโre one of those people motivated by the process. Itโs the process of writing that creates fulfilment, and itโs very often the case that the mind simply feels fulfilled after you write a couple of chapters. Or, you may choose to write your favourite scenes first, and leave the transition bits and the less interesting chapters for later โ only you never actually write those because your brain has already gotten what it wanted, and you entirely lose your interest in the project.
Being the second type of writer, life often sucks. But there is always a way to improve things and my therapist said that to keep yourself on track you basically have to do two things:
1. Try to focus your mind on the goal, which is the finished manuscript/artwork. And donโt be afraid to be bold. Imagine yourself getting the first copies of your printed book in mail. Imagine seeing the cover for the first time. Hell, imagine winning an award, getting thousands of tweets and messages from your fans, imagine seeing your name appear in the end credits of the movie adaptation. Anything to focus on the goal, and anything to get excited about it.
2. Do your best to get excited about the less interesting parts of getting the work done. Create moodboards, doodles, playlists, talk to fellow writers. The excitement that comes out of these activities and interactions will sustain you throughout writing the less โexcitingโ scenes. And always keep in mind that some of these bits that you find boring might be exactly what resonates with your reader. One of my favourite scenes that Iโve read in a book has a gang member standing by a window, looking out to the city and thinking. Nothing more than that, and yet it was one of my favourite moments in the novel.
So thatโs my little advice today that I thought I would share with you. It might not work with everyone, but it works with me so I wanted to pass it on. Have a great Monday, friends!
Hey! Here are a whole heap of links :-) I’d also go through my /tagged/q for more answers (or emmastudies.com/archive and filtering by ask, since I haven’t tagged things for a while).
