zo-gu

[zo-gu]

Took me until about halfway through college before I realized “study” means “play with the material in a variety of ways until you understand it” and not just “read the assigned chapters and do the homework” and I think that probably should have been discussed at some point prior to that.

[zo-gu]

For when you're too anxious to study

it's kind of common sense but I had to hear it from my therapist to genuinely get that if you look at something that you do not understand (or don't want to understand) for 10 minutes a day, every day, you will get used to it and it will eventually enter your brain.

it's like how kids learn new words or how to do stuff; just repeating stuff without the pressure of HAVING to learn it asap. just spending time with the material. kids don't take notes or write flashcards.

AND; if you learn a definition or a way to solve a math problem by heart, you will have "crutches" during the exam.

things that are gonna feel as obvious as someone going "what are you sitting on" and you going "chair" and that will make you feel good during your exam! :)

if you've been procrastinating a lot and think you'll fail the exam anyways, then you have nothing to lose; try to see how well you can do as a silly little experiment, no high expectations. take care of yourself <3 you deserve good things and you deserve a nice exam experience because you CARE! else you wouldn't have read this entire post. things are meant to work out in your favor

[zo-gu]

Hey. Your brain needs to de-frag. Literally it needs you to sit there and space out.

If you want your memory or executive function to improve, stare out a window at the skyline or sidewalk or trees or birds on the electrical wires for like 20+ minutes per day. (With no other stimulation like a podcast or TV if you can manage but hey baby steps innit). If you're fortunate enough to have safe outside with any bits of nature, go stare closely at a 1 meter square of grass and trip out on the bugs and shapes of grasses and stuff.

Literally this will make you smarter. Our brains HAVE TO HAVE this zone out time to do important stuff behind the scenes. This does not happen during sleep, it's something else.

That weird pressurized feeling you get sometimes might be your brain on no defrag.

Give your brain a Daily Dose Of De-Frag.

[zo-gu]

By the way, if you're ever having an anxiety or panic attack

One of the best ways I've personally found to stop that shit in its tracks is to hop in an ice cold shower for a minute.

I'm sure there's some biological stuff going on but to me it's like your brain just goes "oh FUCK we have something more important to worry about" and the panic just stops.

Then you get out and warm up, minus one sudden panic spiral.

[zo-gu]

NEW HOBBY? HELL YEAH

quick reminder that it’s okay to buy the items that you need for that new hobby secondhand! or just consider buying cheaper versions of the items.

for example you can get 2 wool thingies instead of 10 when you just started crocheting. and if you wanna get into playing an instrument you dont have to get the most expensive one! maybe you think that you’ll stick to the hobby more likely if you invest more in it but that’s unfortunately not how it works.

get the cheaper things just in case! and have tons of fun at your new hobby!

[zo-gu]

children don't take notes and pressure themselves to learn something by heart when they learn new words, the knowledge just sort of spawns into their heads right??

nonchalantly looking at your notes/slides a few times, then closing them and putting them far away from you to do something that you actually enjoy- every day for like 10mins (or 5 minutes that's even hotter) and you're gonna find yourself understanding it better. just spend a bit of time with the material, no strings attached and no expectations. warm up to it? (is that an expression? I dunno)

without pressure and guilt because you ARE smart

and you have the drive and what it takes to pass those exams. because else you wouldn't be reading this post. you want this, so it already is yours <3

[zo-gu]

DOING LIKE 5 MINUTES OF THE THING YOURE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING IS BETTER THAN NOT DOING THE THING AT ALL!!!

IT CAN BE UGLY!! IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE PERFECT!!

IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE GOOD!!!

JUST DO IT AS BADLY AS YOU CAN JUST DO IT FOR LIKE 5 MINUTES MESSY STYLE

OR DO IT FOR 2 MINUTES THATS EVEN SICKER

and then you can decide whether you want to continue... if not you can do it another time!! just do 2 minutes now

[zo-gu]

got diagnosed with ADD and everything makes sense now I want to cry for 574954 days straight I'm so relieved but like how do I fix my life now the damage is kinda done