#focusnow

[lighteyez]

01.02.2022

Zjedzone niecałe 1700 kcal

Trening Playo (430)

Ależ wieje. Ciężko wyjść z domu, nawet do auta 😅 kiedy w końcu będzie ciepłej 😠 W nocy też kiepsko spałam, córcia wstaje duzo na cyca.. Przez to wszystko nie chciało mi się nawet cwiczyc. Ale wypiłam kawę i się zmobilizowałam, jakoś dało radę. Czułabym się chyba źle sama ze sobą jakbym odpuściła. Jak bym nie karmiła małej piersią to mogłabym wypić sobie preworkout jakiś a tak to nici. 🥱

Mam nadzieję że luty również okaże się udany i tego też Wam życzę 🤗🤗🤗

[kenziejournals]

Blogmas Day 14

26: Post a photo and maybe even a review of your favourite revision resource/app/software etc.

This is a super cute pomodoro timer that I use when I have a big task or a lot of studying to do, to divide up my time and plan for breaks. It's a free ios app so it's quite simple and lacking some features that other paid apps might have, but it does the job for me. It's called FocusNow on the app store :)

[funnelzone-blog]

The trouble is, you think you have time - The Lord Buddha #Buddha #quote #dhamma #wisdom #focusnow #notime

[emmastudies]

Hi! I was wondering if you have any tips to stay focused in class?

Hi! Here are a few things:

make a commitment to yourself - write down a goal of try to stay focused for more than you usually would in one period of time. By externalising your goal, you’ll be more likely to want to complete it. If you manage, reward yourself! If you fail, you’ll have let down yourself and probably feel bad about it. Whilst feeling bad about it isn’t awesome, it’s a good way to motivate yourself to try again next time.

don’t bring your laptop unless your need it - I think everyone is tempted to go on random sites, do random stuff, just generally zone out if their laptop is in front of them. I am no different haha! Unless you absolutely need it, it might be worth trying writing your notes. If you do need a laptop, try sites like StayFocusd, FocalFilter and RescueTime. You could even add parental controls between school hours.

put your phone away - again, it’s tempting to look at it! Put it in your bag so you can’t just pick it up whenever you’re bored. Or use Forest or FocusNow apps to gamify your time management and help you stop checking your phone!

sit closer to the front - it might just force you to pay a little closer attention if the teacher is close by.

be strategic with your seating - if you get distracted by your friends, maybe move away. It can be a little awkward but if you tell them nicely “I’m just going to sit here because I’m constantly talking to you and really don’t understand this!” then hopefully they’ll understand. Something I’ve found works well in the past is sitting with someone who is a friend but not a close friend. If you’ve talked before or are close acquaintances you’ll still want to talk with them but you’re not going to be distracted as you would be with your bestie. Since you’re going to try talking, it will generally be about the work and therefore you actually take in a lot more because you’re analysing it and taking it in. I was sat next to a guy in maths that I knew but wasn’t close with and we got so much done. It was honestly the best seating arrangement I’d ever had for a maths class.

be prepared beforehand - try to get ahead of class by checking out any materials that will be coming up. Perhaps read the textbook, scroll through any powerpoints, check out the worksheets. If you’ve got an understanding, it might be more interesting to you and therefore you become more engaged. This can also mean you end up only taking the most relevant notes!

drink more water - I remember a study ages ago that measured focus/concentration of students who were drinking water vs coke. It showed that the water was so much better at keeping them engaged.

be active (even if it’s just in your mind) - write down any questions you have or answers to rhetorical questions your teachers mentions. If you’re confident enough to answer or ask questions, go ahead!

record and review the class - this could be useful for times when you’ve zoned out completely and lost whatever the teacher is talking about it. If you’ve got a copy, you can review it later. Microsoft OneNote has a great recording feature.

have a brain dump sticky note/page/laptop note - if you’re getting distracted by your own thoughts/to-dos, write them down. That way they’re out of your brain and on a piece of paper for future reference. You won’t have that “I need to remember this” feeling since you’ll have externalised what you’ve got to do in the future.

have a procrastination sticky note/page/laptop note - similar concept to the above but instead, write down everything that distracts you. (e.g. your friend, a Facebook notification, the window.) You’ll be able to review it after and work to remove them and then get your mind back to focusing.

finally, don’t multitask - yes it is so tempting but it’s going to ruin your ability to focus on the actual class. Josh Kaufman says that with multitasking, you’re basically asking your brain to bring whatever you’re doing into working memory. By multitasking, you’re making your brain load and reload contexts over and over. Diverting your attention over and over is just going to tire out your brain and therefore, equal a loss of focus.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your class! x

[wakatsukis]

I’ll just be compiling a list of tips and things I wish I did/did later in my junior college life. Regardless of which academic level you’re at, I hope some tips may be helpful for you! 

TIPS & REMINDERS

1. Reflect on your study strategies and habits, study SMART

Evaluate your current study strategies and relevant habits. What is working for you/helping you? What isn’t working but you’re still continuing to do it? (For example, I tried making notes for Biology & Chemistry, but I found that making notes for Biology was more helpful since it was a lot of detail memorisation, while Chemistry was more conceptual and doing practice would be more beneficial.) Note: what works for you may not work for someone else!

Try different study methods and strategies for a period of time, then see what aspect of it works for you and what doesn’t. Be it flashcards, making notes or using apps like Quizlet, continue or tweak what works and discard what doesn’t. (For example, I tried making flashcards, but I didn’t like them as much as my self-made study guides for my subjects. However, I did find them useful for quick cramming before an exam, so I only took them out before a paper to study) 

If you have an exam coming up and you need to rush your studying, you need to be strategic about the order of topics you’re revising. Study those that you’re unsure of, and the topics that haven’t been tested before first, before moving on to other chapters. 

Look at the syllabus for each subject when studying for exams to make sure you’ve covered all grounds, and the syllabus often mentions the key concepts and it can be used as a checklist to figure out what you already know and what you need to read up on again.

2. Clarify any doubts ASAP

If you’re unsure of a concept or something mentioned in class, don’t leave it there and forget about it. Particularly when learning topics in J1/the earlier chapters of a subject, these form the foundation of later and more difficult chapters. Ask your teachers after the lesson, arrange a consult, or ask your peers if they understand the concept well enough.

Personally, asking the teacher right after class has worked the best for me and I highly recommend you to do that as well. Leaving doubts and unclarified basic concepts to snowball will only cause regret in the future. 

On that note, don’t feel pressured to frequently ask for consults with teachers just because your classmates are doing that. Why ask for consults when you can ask your teacher after class immediately? Arrange a consult if you have several practice questions you’re unsure of, or you know that the explanation for things you’re unsure of will take a while, or if you and a group of friends require explanations on the same thing. 

3. Mark out important information, questions to review and sections you’re unsure of

This sounds rather obvious, yet is crucial when it comes to exam revision. I tend to circle question numbers for questions that I can’t solve in tutorials, and highlight the question number in pink for questions that are important and want to revise. Also write down or keep a mental note of topics you’re not so good at, and these will be the topics you focus on first when it comes to revision. 

4. Consistency is key

It’s difficult to keep a fixed study schedule in JC from my experience, but treasure whatever spare pockets of time you have to put in a bit of revision. It’s good to read through the lecture notes on the day after the lecture, and review any tutorials done by the end of the week. 

5. Skim through your lecture notes before going for lecture

You don’t need to read in detail (if you can it’s even better), often a quick skim of headings, subheadings, diagrams and concept maps (if available) is sufficient. Even a brief idea of the topic can help tremendously.

If you have time to read in detail, mark out in pencil portions of the notes you don’t understand so you know when to pay even more attention during the lecture when the lecturer reaches that part of the topic!

6. During lectures and tutorials: LISTEN, annotate, highlight and follow point 3

Again, self-explanatory but important. Don’t sleep during lectures! Listen out for things that are emphasised, or extra but useful information that isn’t in the notes. 

Don’t end up highlighting everything, annotating is often more beneficial than highlighting. 

Personally, I tend to follow my highlighting with whatever the lecturer highlights, but that is personal preference. My line of logic is that what the lecturer highlights is important, rather than if you highlight after the lecture on your own, it may seem important to you but it may not actually be that important. 

7. Napping

I understand naps don’t work for everyone, but I do think they’re beneficial. Napping helped me so much when it came to revision. After lessons I’d often be too tired to study, and my brain tends to shut down in the late afternoon, so I use that time to nap. By napping, I have energy to continue studying at night, rather than trying to study when I’m tired and not focussing, and it ends up being highly unproductive. 

A note of caution: do not take excessively long naps - a mistake I made for an entire year. BE DISCIPLINED! I tend to just continue sleeping because I don’t want to wake up... By taking a nap that’s too long, you end up in deep sleep mode and you wake up more tired than before. 

A power nap of 30 mins to 1 hour works sufficiently. If you’re really tired and you can afford a longer nap, the maximum should be 1.5 hours. I suggest reading up on sleep cycles so you have a better understanding of why these timings!

8. Your study location(s)

Don’t feel like you have to go to a cafe, Starbucks or the like to study just because a lot of other studyblrs do it. 

Know where you are most productive: somewhere quiet, free from distractions, with sufficient table space. For me it’s the school library. 

At home: have an area dedicated for studying. Keep it neat whenever you can, I find that a neat table gives me slightly more motivation to study. For me I try to clear my table every night after my studying and before I sleep, and it’s a good practice that will become a habit over time. Can’t say the same about exam period though, my table becomes a mess during that time haha.

9. Keeping away from distractions

Ah, my mortal enemy. My phone and (especially) my laptop are my biggest distractions. I try not to turn on my laptop at all unless I absolutely have to, and there are apps available that block certain websites for you when you’re studying. As for my phone, I try to keep it out of sight (e.g. left charging outside my room), as I have an urge to check it whenever I see it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Most people use the Forest app which you have to pay for but I can recommend a free alternative, it’s called FocusNow! Use this if you absolutely need music when studying and therefore need your phone around. 

If studying at home is not conducive, refer to point 8 and find another place to study at. 

10. Mental Health

This is really really important. Your mental health comes before your grades. Several times I felt a bit depressed and wanted to give up studying. Don’t give up and I believe in you! I think just doing your best is good enough! 

Find someone to confide in about your worries. For me it was my best friend who tided me through my JC life, her being a constant listening ear to my rants and anxieties. If your grades are suffering because of it, it may be good to speak up to a trusted teacher about it. 

Practice some self care! Taking good care of yourself is important for academics too!

All the best! If there’s anything else you’d like to ask me feel free to! I’ll try to reply whenever I can :-)

[exceli]

Pocket: website | android | chrome | iOS a place to quickly save various things on the internet (news articles, blog posts, etc...) in one place, so you can check them later.

Ifttt (If This Then That):  website | android | iOS  connect your favourite apps together, save your time and energy.

Microsoft OneNote: website | android | iOS a digital notebook, planner, journal, can be used across multiple platforms.

Alternatives: Evernote: website | android | iOS a lot like OneNote, but might come as a better option for the research, because it is better at clipping content from the web, I’d suggest trying them both and see which one works better for you. SimpleNote:  website | android | iOS a super simple note taking tool, with a clean design and no fancy add-ons like on OneNote or Evernote, syncs across multiple platforms. Google Keep: website | android | iOS  good for making quick, short notes and lists, similar to one of those ‘sticky note’ apps, not really suitable for writing essays, syncs across multiple devices.

Adobe Scan:  website | android | iOS take photos (aka scan) using your phone and transform them into PDF file you can edit.

Alternatives: CamScanner:  website | android | iOS Office Lens:  windows | android | iOS

Quizlet:  website | android | iOS  

(free, but will have to enroll in a yearly subscription, if you want to get some premium features ) create your own flashcards or download decks made by other from an extensive data base. However, flashcards are not that customisable, unless you subscribe for a premium version.

Alternatives:

Anki:  website | android | iOS (£23.99) (all free, only charged for iOS version as a one-off payment) highly customisable flashcards (including cloze-deletion, pictures, videos, etc.), spaced repetition. However, quite hard to set-up and not as good at syncing across the devices. Brainscape: website | android | iOS (free, but will have to get a subscription, if you want to get some premium features) Like Anki, offers spaced repetition. Good with user interference and syncing across multiple devices. Like Quizlet offers an extensive flashcard data base. However, will have to subscribe in order to access many of its features.

My Study Life:  website | windows | android | chrome | iOS  free online planner, which allows you to store your classes, homework and exams in the cloud making it available on any device, wherever you are. See when your homework is due, add revision tasks for a specific exam, view all of your tasks/exams/classes laid down in a weekly or monthly calendar. 

TimeTune:  website | android a routine schedule planner. Divide your life into different parts, e.g., work, eating, shopping, sleep, and get statistics to analyze and improve your distribution of time, so you can increase your productivity. Good for building routines and habits, such us training, morning routines, studying, etc.  Routine schedules work like a calendar.

Habitica: website | android | iOS gamified habit, daily goal, and task tracker. Create an avatar, get points for every task you finish, and unlock features such as armor, pets, skills, or quests! Good for building habits as well as making to-do lists. 

Alternatives: LifeRPG:  android Do It Now: android

Loop - Habit Tracker:  android a habit tracker with a minimalistic, easy to use design .  Shows your current streak and calculates the strength of your habits. Every repetition makes your habit stronger, and every missed day makes it weaker. Unlike Habitica, doesn’t have a to-do list or daily goals’ tracker. Only good for habit tracking and development. 

Alternatives: HabitBull: website | android | iOS HabitHub: website | android | iOS

Pomotodo: website | android | chrome | iOS 3in1 app: pomodoro timer, to-do list, and app blocker. Tracks and gives you analysis of your performance.

Forest: website | android | chrome | iOS (£1.99) (All free except for iOS version. However, there is a very similar app - FocusNow for iOS, which is free) tumblr favourite, you’ve probably seen ten thousand times already. Set a timer, wait till your tree grows, repeat, grow a whole forest. Though, if you exit out of the app before the time runs out, you tree dies! 

aTimeLogger:  website | android | iOS(£4.99) track your activities. Get the history and statistics of how you spend your time.

Alternatives: Toggl: website | android | iOS

QualityTime:  website | android tracks and gives you extensive reports of your hourly, weekly, etc., app usage, as well as a list of your most used apps.

TED:  website | android | iOS  watch all the ted talks.

Curiosity: website | android | iOS read short-form, easy to comprehend, educational articles.

Podcast Player: website | android  Overcast: iOS listen to hundreds of various podcasts.

Pacifica: website | android | iOS  offers psychologist-designed tools to address stress, anxiety, and depression based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness meditation, relaxation, and mood/health tracking.     

7 Cups: website | android | iOS text-chat based app offers anonymous emotional support & counseling from trained active listeners for 24/7.

SAM: website | android | iOS self-help anxiety management app, which offers a range of self-help methods for people who want to learn to manage their anxiety. 

MindShift: website | android | iOS helps to learn how to relax, develop more helpful ways of thinking, and identify active steps that will help to take charge of the anxiety. 

What’s Up?: android | iOS utilises CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) methods to help you cope with Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Stress and more. Helps you to learn about the negative thinking patterns and how to battle them. Lets you record your thoughts and feelings in a diary, so you can recognise your thinking patterns more easily.

Moodpath: website | android | iOS interactive two-week depression, burnout, and stress test that tracks your emotional and physical well-being and your personal mental health assessment that you can discuss with therapists. 

ULTIMATE STUDYBLR GUIDE:

PART I: TAGS PART III: EDUCATION SYSTEMS PART IV: STATIONERY

Before reblogging, click here first to check for the latest update of this post.

[patchworkstudies]

tips for cramming and/or pulling all-nighters

because sometimes it’s just inevitable

before you start

clean yourself off. at the very least, wash your face and your hair. if you can, take a cold shower or bath, brush and floss your teeth, anything you can do to help you feel as squeaky clean and not-gross as possible

change into something clean. sometimes pajamas are nice, but wearing an actual outfit that you could go outside in can help keep you awake and make you feel more ready to be productive. personally, i find jeans and an oversized sweater to be a good compromise between comfort and looking (at least a little bit) put together

bonus: put on shoes. it makes you feel like you’re in school or at a library, somewhere that you’re expected to get work done, not just at home where you can slack off. also, it’s a lot harder to fall asleep with shoes on

clear out a study space. if your desk or the table that you usually work on is cluttered with stuff and you know it’ll take more than ten minutes to tidy up, don’t bother. just find a clear spot on the floor, shove everything that you’re not gonna need to the side, and settle in there

if you need to use your electronics, use an app like selfcontrol or cold turkey to block distracting sites so you don’t spend time procrastinating. if you’re worried about your phone, you can place it somewhere you can’t easily reach, put it in a box, or use an app like forest that punishes you if you use your phone (focusnow is a good free alternative)

get together everything you’re going to need for the night

textbooks, notebooks, folders, binders, and whatever else you’ll actually be working on. if you have online assignments, download them to your computer, or print them out and keep them next to you for reference

keep a stack of scrap paper or a dry-erase board next to you, along with your favorite pens, highlighters, pencils, a pencil sharpener and an eraser. if you have a magnifying glass or glasses, get those too. they make reading a lot easier when your eyes start to tire out

electronics and chargers. try to get an extension cord or chargers long enough that they can reach to where you’re sitting (especially if you have a computer). you might want to keep your phone out of reach so you’re not distracted, but it can be helpful to ask friends for help or clarify the details of your assignments. if you have a speaker, get that too. it’ll come in handy later

water. not only will it keep you hydrated, reduce the risk of sleep deprivation or stress related headaches, and make you feel less sluggish, it’ll keep you up and moving if you have to go the bathroom every few hours. if you can, keep a cup next to you and fill up a pitcher with water that you can keep nearby, so you don’t have to keep getting up for refills

you’re already depriving yourself of sleep, so you have to make sure that you’re keeping your body fueled with plenty of food. check out this post for a list of study snacks that you can keep near you while you work

now get to work, and for the love of god, don’t fall asleep

keep the lights on as bright as you can, so it feels more like daytime. if you feel really sluggish, spend a few seconds staring directly into a light (bonus points if it’s blue). it helps signal to your brain that it’s time to be waking up and doing things, not time to go to sleep

turn on your speakers and play some music (or if you can’t, put on headphones and keep it on low volume). i like to start out the night with something motivational and move on to 80′s classic rock, or throwback 2000′s and 2010′s hits if you really want to have fun and sing along

if the lyrics are too distracting, try instrumental music or songs with vocals in a language that you don’t speak. if you want something that’s a bit more energetic or familiar, listen to vitamin string quartet, or 8bit covers if you need something a bit more electronic

if you want, set an alarm on your phone to go off every 30 minutes or so. it’s a good reminder to take a break, refill your water, use the bathroom, or switch subjects, and if you accidentally fall asleep, it’ll wake you up

try to move around a bit on your breaks. personally, i like to turn on a throwback hit or a song i really like and dance around the room for a few minutes, but even just walking to the bathroom or standing up and stretching can make a big difference

if you get all of your work done and still have time left, you might want to take a nap. it’s definitely a good idea if you have a few hours, so that you can get through a full cycle of sleep. if it’s only half an hour or so, it could be nice to lay down for a few minutes and rest, but it could also make you feel more sluggish. personally, i like using the time to make myself a good breakfast, have a cup of tea, meditate, or take a cold shower

these are things that have been helpful to me in the past, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going to work for you. everybody is different, and the most important thing is that you take care of yourself and stay safe

[vanesastudies]

Productive Studying Resources

Beating Procrastination

15 Ways to Beat Procrastination

What Type of Procrastinator are You?

The 2-Minute Rule

How to Not Procrastinate on Your Shit

5 Strategies to Defeat Procrastination (From Cal Newport’s How to Be a Straight-A Student)

Productivity Techniques

How to Bullet Journal (1, 2, 3)

Pomodoro Technique

Pomotodo [Windows / Mac, Chrome, Android / iOS]

Strict Workflow [Chrome]

The Ivy Lee Method for Peak Productivity

5 Best Revision Methods

The Ultimate Guide for Productivity for Students

The “Secret” to Getting Ahead in School

16 Simple Motivation Tips to Get More Done

Effective studying

Staying Focused

Block distractions

Computer programs/apps

Stayfocusd [Chrome] 

SelfControl / Focus [Mac]

Cold Turkey [Windows / Mac]

Phone apps

OFFTIME [Android / iOS] - I have been using this app for a little over a year now and it has been very good at keeping me off my phone. I use the paid version and I highly recommend it.

Forest [Android / iOS]

FocusNow [iOS]

Study sounds

MyNoise

Coffitivity

White noise generator

Ambient sounds

“study with me” on YouTube

#study sounds on my blog

How to Stay Focused: Train Your Brain

5 Ways to Build Focus [video]

Why you shouldn’t multitask

Types of Study Breaks for Every Situation

How to Succeed with ADHD / Bad Study Habits

How to Stop Being Tired All the Time [video]

Efficiency

Track your time

Why track your time?

RescueTime

Toggl

ATracker [Android / iOS]

How to find your most productive time of day [video]

How to finish homework FAST [video]

[eintsein]

Hello, for the person who is on their phone a lot, if they have an iPhone maybe try one of these apps: Forest or FocusNow. Basically you set it to an amount of time you don't want to be using your phone and it starts to grow a tree and have a forest, if you use your phone before the set time your tree dies? I don't know it worked for me! :-) I use Forest but it costs £1.99, FocusNow is free but I preferred Forest !!

thank you!

this is for the person who asked how to reduce phone addiction

[sunstudiess]

30+ Essential Apps

Here is a list of our favourite apps that we’ve tried and some that we haven’t tried but we’ve seen good reviews. We tried to get an array of apps for both iOS and Android and we provided links for all the apps because most have a mobile and desktop version so you can choose which one you’d like. Organization/ Reminders: • MinimaList • Wunderlist • Swipes iOS | Android • MyHomework Student Planner • Todoist • Any.do • MeisterTask • Minimalist (different from first) Notetaking: • Evernote • Onenote Studying: • Quizlet • Tinycards • Duolingo • Studyblue • Photomath • Khan Academy Productivity: • Forest Mobile | Extention • FocusNow • Productive • Grammarly • Goconqr • Sloth • Habitica • Be Focused • Tide

Health and Fitness • Sworkit • Calm • Relax Melodies • Nike+ Training Club • Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock • Rain Rain • Plant Nanny Here’s another similar masterpost by @mujistudies: http://mujistudies.tumblr.com/post/142342424799/a-compilation-of-chrome-extensions-and-ios

[academiceve]

Personal Study Tips: For a Productive Study Session

1. Find a study space.

Finding a study space that helps you to sit down, focus and do work is crucial in college! For some, it could be a desk in their room, for others a coffee shop or a quiet library. I always preferred studying in my room, except for when I lived in the dorms (I chose the peace of the library, as I was living with 3 other people in a very tiny room) or if I had free time in between my lectures. Having a nice study space can motivate you to just sit down and do work and that is really important!

2. Have a study to-do list.

I always recommend creating a to-do list for your homework. I would write down everything I had to do for the week for every course, for example, anatomy chapter reading 5, personality online quiz, personality journal entry, etc. I would use a notepad, like THIS ONE to write down my to-do list, but you can do that in your bullet journal (which you can read more about HERE) or online via TRELLO - which I’m currently using + loving! 

3. Avoid distractions.

Distractions feed procrastination. So turn off your phone and block your web browser. I would recommend turning your phone on silent and placing it away from your work area (either in another room, on your bed or in your bag). I would also recommend using Pomidoro apps, like FOCUSNOW (which is a FREE version of a very popular app called Forest). It’s great because you set a timer for the amount of time you would like to focus on work/studying and if you leave the app the tomato plant will be killed. Additionally, I use a SELFCONTROL web browser extension that allows you to block social media pages (or any other website), such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc. where you waste a lot of your time procrastinating. You can also turn on a ‘Distraction Free Mode’, which prevents you from removing blocked sites from the app for a fixed amount of time. I highly recommend using both apps to stay focused!

4. Work on smaller assignments first.

I have found that crossing the small assignments off my to-do list first motivated me to keep studying. I could never write down things like “study anatomy for 2 hours”, as it is too broad and general of a task to complete. If you divide your tasks, especially working on bigger assignments, when you start crossing things off your list it can motivate you to complete your to-do list for the day. For example, when working on a term paper, I would divide the tasks into researching the topic by reading journal articles, creating an outline, writing an introduction, writing two to four arguments, writing a conclusion, creating a bibliography, formatting, etc. This tip helps make dreadful assignments seem more approachable!

5. Time your study sessions. 

If you’re not in the mood to study but have a lot of homework to complete, I recommend dedicating a certain amount of time out of your day for studying. I would usually take an hour long break after my last lecture before I would start doing homework. This allows you to take a short break, eat + relax before getting work done. I would also plan a certain amount of hours that I would like to spend studying, as it gives you something to look forward to! Use a Pomidoro timer, like the one that I mentioned earlier to time your study sessions and incorporating short breaks. This will help you to focus to do work, take consistent breaks and finish all of your homework!

I hope these tips will help to have more productive study sessions, as I’m sure that most of you already started a new school year + studying! 

If you would like to read more from me, click HERE to see other blog posts! You can also follow my studygram HERE for some inspiration! 

[rosegoldwitchcraft]

Witchy Studying Tips

As I’m currently studying for finals, I thought I’d share some of my favorite witchy ways to encourage myself to stay focused and avoid procrastinating while studying. Hopefully something here can help you out too!

✨Charm something that you will use while studying! This could be a specific pen, mug, or even a piece of jewelry! I do this by holding the object and filling it with energies that will be the most useful to my studying, such as focus, concentration, clear-mindedness, calmness, etc. You can do this with crystals, sigils, or just through channeling your own energy. I find it most effective to charge the object beforehand, and then when it’s time to study you’ll be able quickly boost those helpful energies!

✨Keep some crystals near you as you work! Here are some of my personal favorites to use while studying...

Sodalite: For intellect, logic, understanding, and efficiency. Sodalite also helps with communication, so it’s perfect when preparing for a speech or presentation! 

Quartz: For mental clarity and to enhance the properties of the other stones.

Tiger’s Eye: For keeping you focused by filtering out distractions, strengthening willpower, and helping you make practical sense of your work. 

Turquoise: For relieving stress

Citrine: For energy -- I consider it my “caffeine crystal!”

Of course, you should use the correspondences and crystals that work best for you, these are just some ideas!  

✨Light some candles! Again, use the correspondences that work for you, but here’s my method! Because I’m not meditating or focusing on the candle itself, I’ll usually burn a scented candle rather than choosing the most relevant colored candle. The scent I choose will depend on the type of studying I’m doing. For anything requiring more creativity (like writing a paper), I use warmer, comforting scents, such as cinnamon and vanilla, and for more intense studying I’ll burn cool scents such as citrus, morning breeze, or pine. If you prefer to use color correspondences, I’d recommend either blue (wisdom, focus, calm), yellow (intellect, memory), or white (clarity)!

✨Connect with nature! Fresh air and the sounds of nature are one of the best ways for me to relax, focus, and concentrate on my work. Of course, the most obvious answer is to work outside, but that’s not always the most practical solution. Even just opening a window and getting as much natural light as possible (in daytime, of course) works wonders! If my neighbors are being too loud for this to work, I’ll sometimes pull up a nature sounds playlist on Spotify, or an atmospheric nature video on YouTube.

✨Try using the Forest app! Okay, I’ll admit this one is definitely not specifically witchy, but I find it very useful so I thought I’d mention it. Basically, it’s a productivity app where you specify an amount of time you want to stay focused, choose a tree species, and then while that tree is growing you can’t use your phone (there’s also a Chrome extension!). The virtual “coins” you earn by staying focused can even be used to plant real trees through Trees for the Future. It’s a super cute, nature-themed way to stay on task, and I think there’s a lot of potential there for other witchy things like setting intentions, meditation, etc. This app does cost money (I think it’s $0.99?), but there is a similar free app called FocusNow, I just personally prefer Forest!

I hope you found at least some of this was helpful, and good luck with your studying! 💕

[allthestudying]

Another productive day at the library 🤓 I’m really enjoying being strict with myself about getting work done and having a routine lately! The FocusNow app is a really good motivator for me too, and my goal is to ‘grow’ at least 10 plants everyday from studying 🌳

[studying-blues]

Heyyyyyy a mini fan over here ,may i know like do u get productive everyday? Cause went i am unproductive i think the everyone is productive except for me HAHAH I KNOW IT IS WEIRD and how to u get yourslf motivate if u are rlly tired OMG I CANNOT STOP MY PHONE (probably one of the reason i am here now HAHAHAHAH)

hello!!! no way, of course not! its impossible for anyone to be productive every single day. we all get lazy and procrastinate, it's something that happens to everyone, so dont worry about it! I’m super addicted to my phone as well, I always get distracted and end up texting for like a few hours HAHAHH One thing that works for me, is the FocusNow app that prevents you from using your phone. It stops me from exiting my app cause i dont want my plant to die !! you can try that and hopefully, it will help make you more productive! i hope this helps! :-)

[emmastudies]

hi Emma! I was just wondering if you have any tips on staying focused in lectures. I always tell myself to focus, but by the end of class I realise I've been daydreaming the whole time and it's starting to affect the information I'm taking in :( thanks!

Hey! Here are a few things you could try:

make a commitment to yourself - write down a goal of try to stay focused for more than you usually would in one period of time. By externalising your goal, you’ll be more likely to want to complete it. If you manage, reward yourself! If you fail, you’ll have let down yourself and probably feel bad about it. Whilst feeling bad about it isn’t awesome, it’s a good way to motivate yourself to try again next time.

don’t bring your laptop unless your need it - I think everyone is tempted to go on random sites, do random stuff, just generally zone out if their laptop is in front of them. I am no different haha! Unless you absolutely need it, it might be worth trying writing your notes. If you do need a laptop, try sites like StayFocusd, FocalFilter and RescueTime. You could even add parental controls between school hours.

put your phone away - again, it’s tempting to look at it! Put it in your bag so you can’t just pick it up whenever you’re bored. Or use Forest or FocusNow apps to gamify your time management and help you stop checking your phone!

sit closer to the front - it might just force you to pay a little closer attention if the teacher is close by.

be strategic with your seating - if you get distracted by your friends, maybe move away. It can be a little awkward but if you tell them nicely “I’m just going to sit here because I’m constantly talking to you and really don’t understand this!” then hopefully they’ll understand. Something I’ve found works well in the past is sitting with someone who is a friend but not a close friend. If you’ve talked before or are close acquaintances you’ll still want to talk with them but you’re not going to be distracted as you would be with your bestie. Since you’re going to try talking, it will generally be about the work and therefore you actually take in a lot more because you’re analysing it and taking it in. I was sat next to a guy in maths that I knew but wasn’t close with and we got so much done. It was honestly the best seating arrangement I’d ever had for a maths class.

be prepared beforehand - try to get ahead of class by checking out any materials that will be coming up. Perhaps read the textbook, scroll through any powerpoints, check out the worksheets. If you’ve got an understanding, it might be more interesting to you and therefore you become more engaged. This can also mean you end up only taking the most relevant notes!

drink more water - I remember a study ages ago that measured focus/concentration of students who were drinking water vs coke. It showed that the water was so much better at keeping them engaged.

be active (even if it’s just in your mind) - write down any questions you have or answers to rhetorical questions your teachers mentions. If you’re confident enough to answer or ask questions, go ahead!

record and review the class - this could be useful for times when you’ve zoned out completely and lost whatever the teacher is talking about it. If you’ve got a copy, you can review it later. Microsoft OneNote has a great recording feature.

have a brain dump sticky note/page/laptop note - if you’re getting distracted by your own thoughts/to-dos, write them down. That way they’re out of your brain and on a piece of paper for future reference. You won’t have that “I need to remember this” feeling since you’ll have externalised what you’ve got to do in the future.

have a procrastination sticky note/page/laptop note - similar concept to the above but instead, write down everything that distracts you. (e.g. your friend, a Facebook notification, the window.) You’ll be able to review it after and work to remove them and then get your mind back to focusing.

finally, don’t multitask - yes it is so tempting but it’s going to ruin your ability to focus on the actual class. Josh Kaufman says that with multitasking, you’re basically asking your brain to bring whatever you’re doing into working memory. By multitasking, you’re making your brain load and reload contexts over and over. Diverting your attention over and over is just going to tire out your brain and therefore, equal a loss of focus.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your class! x

[studyquill]

Hey Jasmine, I love your videos and I was wondering how you stay so motivated and don't get distracted by your phone or anything. I know this sounds like a simple question, but I've tried everything I could possibly think of and it doesn't seem to work and just end up procrastinating. Thank you I could use all the help I can get.

When I’m studying I’m usually recording myself on my phone, so I can’t use it! You can also use the apps Forest, FocusNow, or MinimaList to prevent you from opening your phone for a certain work period.