brain-study-blog

[brain-study-blog]

push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise.

push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable.

get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else.

stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything.

buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.

buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small.

strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. make your bed in full.

organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle.

have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck.

push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog.

message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through.

think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything.

become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends.

lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you.

[brain-study-blog]

i just have this persistent feeling of “i’m not doing enough” combined with “i don’t have the energy to do anything” and it just really fucking sucks

[brain-study-blog]

Notes taken 2 weeks ago when I was studying for my chemistry test. Luckily, memorising all the names wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

[brain-study-blog]

september 26th 2017 | 2/100 days of productivity

my quarterly exams are finally over!! woo^^ test scores come out tomorrow tho huhuhu i’m not sure how to feel about it but i think i did pretty decently! hope my grades are doing well :3

meanwhile, entrance exams are just around the corner… guess who hasnt started yet? yup that’s right! me lol 😂 tbh idk how y'all do it? share me your secrets!!

calling out any fellow procrastinators out there! wanna procrastinate together? 😂😂

what i’m currently in love with : breathe again by emily slough ( @emslough on wattpad!! she’s awesome i love her so much omg )

[brain-study-blog]

170618 // I haven’t made a post like this in a while, but I’m revising for an exam right now and it’s the last thing I want to be doing so I’m procrastinating (don’t follow my lead kids).

How I use Digital Notes

I’ll make a more detailed post about how I study at some point, but for now:

I use microsoft onenote, but you can use whatever program you feel comfortable with.

Useful features of onenote include the organisation into notebooks, sections, and tabs, search function, equation support, tagging, and formatting options (inc. different heading styles).

You can find really great posts about onenote quite easily if you’re interested in how it works (I would 100% recommend it).

Throughout the year I type up my class notes, summarising information and organising it into a sensible order.

This took a lot of discipline and I fell off the bandwagon quite a bit. I initially intended to type up my notes from the day every evening, but I found it’s more realistic to just do it as often as possible and to aim to finish each topic’s notes before I move onto the next one.

When I come to revise for exams I will rewrite and summarise my notes on paper (writing out notes helps me remember them, but this may not work for you)

When I’m doing the first few past papers I’ll have my notes with me so I can look things up until I can do a paper without them.

I find this is more effective than using the mark scheme to help as the mark scheme basically gives you the answers.

Why Make Digital Notes?

Obviously digital notes don’t work for everyone, but I find they’re much more useful to have than notes on paper, at least before you start revising.

The main benefits of digital notes are:

typing is faster than writing

search functions (depending on the program) to look up information quickly

neater and faster formatting

you can back them up somewhere else so you don’t have to worry about losing or damaging them

you can bring all your notes with you without it weighing a tonne (assuming your laptop/tablet doesn’t weigh a tonne)

copy and paste! Ofc use this as infrequently as possible, but it’s useful for quotes etc.

pictures without the effort of drawing or printing out and sticking in

cheaper as you don’t have to buy pens and paper as often

an excuse to bring your computer into school and then go online shopping and play games during really boring classes no I haven’t done this what are you talking about so you have access to google etc. to look things up whenever

Prioritising

The only reason I’ve managed to keep up with my notes throughout the year is because I don’t take any for maths and I’ve kind of fallen off the bandwagon for French (whoops). It’s a bit unrealistic to expect to keep up with all the notes for all your subjects (particularly if you’re doing gcses), so prioritise.

Subjects like maths tend to assess a skill rather than knowledge, so it’s probably more useful to do practice questions rather than make notes.

If you’re dropping a subject in a year and won’t touch it again make sure it’s actually worth making notes for the whole year.

In Class or After Class?

Whether you write notes on the computer during class or afterwards depends on the class.

I’ve got one particular teacher who flits back and forth between topics and often mentions things without going into detail because she assumes we’re too stupid to understand (not my favourite teacher ngl). So I use my laptop in her lessons so I can go back to topics we’ve already done and so I can google things to fact check (she frequently dumbs stuff down to inaccurate levels) and expand on points that she makes.

If you’ve got a teacher that tends to move super fast it might be worth having a computer with you as typing is generally much faster than writing.

If you can’t touch type learning is a really good idea, even just to improve the speed of your typing (I can’t actually touch type but I took a course until I learnt to use all my fingers when typing and now I type much faster). There’s lots of free online courses available.

Alternatively, you can just make all your class notes on paper and type up the important information when you get home.

This means you don’t have to worry about your class notes being neat enough to revise from; after you type them up you can file them or even throw them away to save space.

It also works as a review which is really good for putting the information into your long-term memory.

However it is also pretty time consuming so you’ve got to be super disciplined to keep on top of it.

In my school at a levels I’ve found it’s not too unusual to have a laptop out but it’s a bit odd to have one at gcses (idk about other schools). Obviously you shouldn’t care about what other people think, but if having your laptop/tablet with you will make you feel self-conscious and uncomfortable then leave it at home.

Also laptops and tablets are expensive and it’s understandable if you’d rather keep them safe at home.

That said, people do get used to it. Even if you’re the only one with a laptop/tablet, the novelty wears off quickly.

Some teachers don’t actually like students using laptops and tablets during class, so do check before you bring it in.

I hope this helped! Of course if you have any questions about this (or anything else) my ask is always open please ask me something

Here’s where I post this and find 56 typos :/

[brain-study-blog]

05.06.17 • day 4/30

as promised, here are the notes I did today!! will be highlighting the key words as I go about memorising them (I find that more useful for me!!!)

also realised yesterday that leaving my phone at a faraway spot really boosts my productivity & prevents me from procrastinating so I guess I will be doing that more often now （＾－＾）

[brain-study-blog]

5.16.17 // essay prep whoo

[brain-study-blog]

Handwritten with the iPad Pro and my trusty apple pencil 📚✨

[brain-study-blog]

Desk (shamble) situation late last month, probably accurately reflecting my head space. 

Paper production line, sorting books, road testing frames, crap accumulation. 

[brain-study-blog]

06/01/16 || Bullet journal spread. Got a lot of studying to do today 👊🏼📚

[brain-study-blog]

july 22, 2016 | 5:41 pm | (5/100)

my biology test was returned yesterday and i didn’t expect to actually get a good mark, but i did! yaay 🤓  here are my cosmology notes for today’s test 💫🌎🌟☄🌞🌛  one of the few tests i had to think through rather than rely on definitions, facts and other information! i hope u all have a productive weekend!!! 🤗💓

[brain-study-blog]

yeah chem, its not like i have a social status to live up to. 112115.

[brain-study-blog]

some of the most recent posts on my studygram!

[brain-study-blog]

My newest set of handwritten astrophysics notes ✨💕 It’s only been 2 months but thank you to all 5k of you who have followed me & supported me ✨☄😭

[brain-study-blog]

170618 // I haven’t made a post like this in a while, but I’m revising for an exam right now and it’s the last thing I want to be doing so I’m procrastinating (don’t follow my lead kids).

How I use Digital Notes

I’ll make a more detailed post about how I study at some point, but for now:

I use microsoft onenote, but you can use whatever program you feel comfortable with.

Useful features of onenote include the organisation into notebooks, sections, and tabs, search function, equation support, tagging, and formatting options (inc. different heading styles).

You can find really great posts about onenote quite easily if you’re interested in how it works (I would 100% recommend it).

Throughout the year I type up my class notes, summarising information and organising it into a sensible order.

This took a lot of discipline and I fell off the bandwagon quite a bit. I initially intended to type up my notes from the day every evening, but I found it’s more realistic to just do it as often as possible and to aim to finish each topic’s notes before I move onto the next one.

When I come to revise for exams I will rewrite and summarise my notes on paper (writing out notes helps me remember them, but this may not work for you)

When I’m doing the first few past papers I’ll have my notes with me so I can look things up until I can do a paper without them.

I find this is more effective than using the mark scheme to help as the mark scheme basically gives you the answers.

Why Make Digital Notes?

Obviously digital notes don’t work for everyone, but I find they’re much more useful to have than notes on paper, at least before you start revising.

The main benefits of digital notes are:

typing is faster than writing

search functions (depending on the program) to look up information quickly

neater and faster formatting

you can back them up somewhere else so you don’t have to worry about losing or damaging them

you can bring all your notes with you without it weighing a tonne (assuming your laptop/tablet doesn’t weigh a tonne)

copy and paste! Ofc use this as infrequently as possible, but it’s useful for quotes etc.

pictures without the effort of drawing or printing out and sticking in

cheaper as you don’t have to buy pens and paper as often

an excuse to bring your computer into school and then go online shopping and play games during really boring classes no I haven’t done this what are you talking about so you have access to google etc. to look things up whenever

Prioritising

The only reason I’ve managed to keep up with my notes throughout the year is because I don’t take any for maths and I’ve kind of fallen off the bandwagon for French (whoops). It’s a bit unrealistic to expect to keep up with all the notes for all your subjects (particularly if you’re doing gcses), so prioritise.

Subjects like maths tend to assess a skill rather than knowledge, so it’s probably more useful to do practice questions rather than make notes.

If you’re dropping a subject in a year and won’t touch it again make sure it’s actually worth making notes for the whole year.

In Class or After Class?

Whether you write notes on the computer during class or afterwards depends on the class.

I’ve got one particular teacher who flits back and forth between topics and often mentions things without going into detail because she assumes we’re too stupid to understand (not my favourite teacher ngl). So I use my laptop in her lessons so I can go back to topics we’ve already done and so I can google things to fact check (she frequently dumbs stuff down to inaccurate levels) and expand on points that she makes.

If you’ve got a teacher that tends to move super fast it might be worth having a computer with you as typing is generally much faster than writing.

If you can’t touch type learning is a really good idea, even just to improve the speed of your typing (I can’t actually touch type but I took a course until I learnt to use all my fingers when typing and now I type much faster). There’s lots of free online courses available.

Alternatively, you can just make all your class notes on paper and type up the important information when you get home.

This means you don’t have to worry about your class notes being neat enough to revise from; after you type them up you can file them or even throw them away to save space.

It also works as a review which is really good for putting the information into your long-term memory.

However it is also pretty time consuming so you’ve got to be super disciplined to keep on top of it.

In my school at a levels I’ve found it’s not too unusual to have a laptop out but it’s a bit odd to have one at gcses (idk about other schools). Obviously you shouldn’t care about what other people think, but if having your laptop/tablet with you will make you feel self-conscious and uncomfortable then leave it at home.

Also laptops and tablets are expensive and it’s understandable if you’d rather keep them safe at home.

That said, people do get used to it. Even if you’re the only one with a laptop/tablet, the novelty wears off quickly.

Some teachers don’t actually like students using laptops and tablets during class, so do check before you bring it in.

I hope this helped! Of course if you have any questions about this (or anything else) my ask is always open please ask me something

Here’s where I post this and find 56 typos :/

[brain-study-blog]

Oxford, UK 🇬🇧

[brain-study-blog]

I’m constantly torn between “if it’s meant to be, it will be” and “if you want it, go and get it.”