booknerdphd

[booknerdphd]

Painfully accurate.

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Hello Imposter Syndrome, my old friend. 

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Rapidly losing her sanity, the PhD student is now completely unable to escape her project, even in sleep.

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as a kid, were you told you were smart or a hard worker?

back in school, when you did well on an assignment or test were you told you got that grade because you were smart or you worked hard?

📍 If you remember being told you were smart, you grew up with a fixed mindset. You were taught to believe that intelligence is something people are born with. You likely feel helpless when others do better than you because you believe they are smarter and that can’t be changed. Getting a bad grade is shameful and mistakes likely make you anxious. This probably made you a good liar.

🌱 If you remember being told you worked hard, you grew up with a growth mindset. You were taught that effort produces results and this likely influenced you to work harder. You likely love challenges and find them fun. Regardless of your grade, you care more about learning. You believe people and circumstances can change and improve which gives you a more optimistic outlook on life.

[booknerdphd]

3.12.2020

I'm finding it hard to focus today bc I have so much to do later (somehow I end up in a zoom meeting nearly every night), but I'm trying to get at least something done. I've been having trouble figuring out how to open my first chapter, but Aristotle is starting to look like a good place to start.

[booknerdphd]

Several hours into an academic paper trail, the PhD student has read much; none of it relevant. 

[booknerdphd]

A very brief intro to online learning

I've been in academia for many years, but still turn to teaching myself something from time to time, using whatever is available on the internet. It doesn't matter whether you have three degrees or none; whether you want to learn something for fun or need a new skill; whether you have plenty of time or only a handful of free hours per week - there are resources out there that can help you.

With the new terms in full swing at unis, and with the lockdowns stretching out, I thought it was a good time to put together a list of resources that I've been using in the hopes that someone may find this helpful:

1. The lords of self-education: Coursera and Edx

If you're looking for a comprehensive course on some topic (be it science or coding or art or anything at all), these two websites are a place to start. You can purchase a certificate, but you can also listen to the courses for free. And that stuff is excellent - some of the top unis in the world have courses on there. Yep. For free.

2. YouTube is a treasure-trove for lectures

Find a few well-known people from your field of interest - very likely they will have lectures and interviews recorded that you can easily find on YouTube. Excellent for science and art alike - for example, I love exploring the interviews of the writers whose books I enjoyed; and there is lots of interesting stuff from the media world as well, such as behind-the-scenes or how-its-done. Lots to explore!

3. Do not underestimate Wikipedia

Yes, this is an open-edit encyclopedia and so sometimes you have to filter out the bullsh*t, but in 99.9% of cases Wiki is a priceless source of information, and at the very least it will give you ideas of what to explore next. The number of times I used Wiki for playing around and exploring things for my Very Serious Research is, frankly, unbelievable.

4. Read the relevant news

Now, the news is probably something that should be consumed in very careful doses for the sake of our mental health, especially now. However there are specialised news resources as well - you probably already know these for your professional field, but you can go out there and explore other topics of interest as well! For example, I read the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg public health newsletter daily (marvellous resource btw, can't recommend it enough), but I also subscribe to BookRiot emails and enjoy every single one of them that comes into my inbox.

5. Explore the resources available to you

There are often things out there that you can access that aren't advertised, or that you haven't yet heard or thought about. If you're a student, search for the services and training available from your universtly, and check which magazine/service subscriptions they may have - a lot of this is easy to find, but some of it can be surprisingly obscure! Want something from your uni? Look for it. Ask for it. Google it. If you want to attend some course, go ahead and email the lecturer - in most cases they'll be happy to allow you to listen in, even if you're from a completely different field. Use the advantages of online learning - you can fit more stuff into your schedule this way!

The same applies to people in bigger companies that may provide training - if your organisation has resources, explore them and use them!

In a wider community, there are also things to explore as well. This absolutely depends on where you are in the world, but if you're lucky enough to be in the place that has libraries - use the heck out of them. Support them, and they will support you in return.

6. Google stuff

This is especially applicable for specific skills and tasks. Got a question? It doesn't matter how silly or stupid it may be - google it. I promise there will be at least twenty people who have asked this before. I found this very useful for crafts and cooking (and, like, I had to start at the level of "how to cook this vegetable". Not everything is a five-page recipe with three sauces in it - there is stuff out there for all skill levels)

7. Stay curious

There are so many things out there that I haven't mentioned here. Keep your ears open; if you look for opportunities, you're likely to find them.

And most importantly: be kind to yourself and don't push yourself too hard. Try to learn the stuff that is interesting to you, stuff that makes you happy. And if you don't have time or energy to learn a new language on Duolingo right now while all your friends are doing it - this is completely fine. Find your own rhythm.

Happy learning!

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[booknerdphd]

Congratulations! As of today, you have survived 100% of your worst days.

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[booknerdphd]

2020 quarantine challenge

Week 1, Friday

What is your favorite subject/topic to study at the moment?

As a working immigrant, I am most invested into subjects that possibly can improve my work performance and/or make my resume look outstanding. Therefore I am focused on improving my teaching skills, my English, and learning about childhood development. 

As for favorite although not practically useful at all (at least not yet) - Spanish!

[booknerdphd]

A workspace filled with recent gifts: a monogrammed notebook, a ceramic coffee scoop, a book of home-made recycled paper, double-walled glasses. I’m v lucky to have friends who understand how much I love stationery, especially considering how much time we are all going to be spending at home in the coming weeks. 🥰

[booknerdphd]

[booknerdphd]

// studyblr community challenge - a bit of a catch up

sorry for the lack of posting over the last few days, i’ve been super busy (and unmotivated to take pictures). here are all the prompts that i’ve missed: 

day twenty-five - tag someone who gives good advice

so yet another one of my ‘we don’t talk but’ tags, whenever i see @problematicprocrastinator answering an ask she’s always so sweet and thoughtful and gives great advice to those who ask 💕

day twenty-six - tag someone who you’d like to get to know

@beingxorganised we both kinda tag each other in things and you seem really sweet, i’d love to get to know you more 💖

day twenty-seven - tag someone who makes you laugh

@diabhalstudy i think you know why i’m tagging you here 😉

day twenty-eight - tag someone who you think everyone should follow

i know i’m kinda violating the ‘don’t tag the same person twice’ rule, but i couldn’t help myself..

firstly @myhoneststudyblr, sophie works so hard to make such amazing challenges, posts incredibly consistently and is such a sweet and generous person

@study-van has the most gorgeous posts, a great aesthetic, is super hard-working and an amazing human being.

@philology-studies is the queeen of aesthetic, is so friendly and lovely and ahhh her blog is just gorgeous.

when @chazza-studies-alevels is active again you should all go give her a follow because her posts are the most colourful and great for motivation!

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Clementine the Fluffy gives Les Miserables four out of five stars. Not enough of a corgi presence, but she loves a good romance. ✨✨✨

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CATS + THINGS

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24|10|2020

Day 24 of My Studyblr Community Challenge!

✨ Tag someone who posts the best text posts ✨

@sosiaalitieteet - no hesitation on this! every single text post is either hilarious or really makes me think! i think that even as i was coming up with the prompts i knew immediately that i was gonna put ana here! 

i’m posting a bit later than normal today because i needed to edit a bunch of pictures so was running behind. i also woke up really late and spent most of the morning playing dominoes with my dad’s girlfriend (i won!!!) so i haven’t been that productive today. 

pictured is part of my half term checklist for work that i need to get done!