4 Study Tactics That Work

After two weeks of intense day-after-day of evalutations, lab reports, and assignments, the knowledge of needing good study tactics has been even further ingrained into my head, haha. Here are 5 study tips that I try to apply every time I have a ton of things to do!

1. Interval Study

Much like interval training, interval study is when you study for a period of time (usually 30 minutes, for me) and then take a short break (5 minutes). When you have a lot of things to do, you might think the last thing you should be doing is wasting time on breaks (like who has time for that shit??) But, it is important to give your brain a bit of a breather once in a while. During your break, your brain will have time to refresh itself and process the information that you threw into it in the last 30 minutes.

An app I use for this is Forest (available on iOS and Android). Not only does this app notify  you when you finish your mini study session, it also prevents you from getting distracted by going on your phone! (Killing two birds with one stone is always the way to go!)

2. Electronics = OFF!

I've already touched on this point above with the app Forest, but guys, it is so so so important to eliminate your distractions by turning off your electronics! It sounds obvious, but you have no idea how much it can help until you actually do it. 

Sometimes, you might need to use the computer, but not the internet, in cases like that, I'd advise you to turn off the wifi. If you need the internet, then maybe look into add-ons that will ban you from using certain sites (ie. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) for a certain amount of time. Although I don't do this, an example of this type of add-on is StayFocused.

3. Have a Plan

It's a good idea to have at least a rouch idea of what you plan to accomplish every day. For me, I make a to-do list of all the things I ideally will finish every single day for a week, when I have busy weeks (eg. read chapter 12 for chemistry and finish lab report on monday). There's an actual week of my life where I did this, and it really helps! It's also a good idea to write down due dates, so you know the maximum amount of time you have to do something.

4. Lifestyle Matters

The way you live when you're super duper busy matters, too! If you're too stressed, your preformance levels will start to drop and you won't be able to do as much as you ideally could. So, to prep yourself so that you can achieve your maximum potential, get at least 6.5 hours of sleep. (I would say get a full 8 hours, but, really, who has time for that?) 

You are what you eat! Seriously! Putting junk into your body will only make you feel sluggish. Make sure you stay hydrated and fill your bodies with lots of nutrients! There are all sorts of foods that can help boost your brain power so you can get the most out of your time. Examples of these foods include avocados, blueberries, and broccoli. Read this for an explanation for what some of these foods are good for.

One last thing, IISuperwomanII recently posted a video called "5 REAL Ways to get Your Work Done" in which she outlines 5 seriously awesome strategies that we can implement into our lives when we want to get crackin'. (Seriously go watch it, it's an awesome video)

Anyways, I hope these were at least some what helpful. Do you have any tips that I didn't mention? If so, please let me know in the comments!

--J

DON'T BE SUCH A WASTE!

Hello from the other side!!! [..of midterms haha] I've actually thought about writing this post for a long, long time, but for some reason never got around to it. I think it's simply because there's so much stuff to write about that it just seems like a mammoth job. I'm gonna try to keep this short and concice though. This is a very important issue to me, and I've recently become a lot more troubled by it.. so here it goes!

I would add an image source... but I really cannot seem to find its source... so sorry!

In this day and age of mass purchasing and spending, we are wasting and throwing out more than ever! The average American makes ~4.5 pounds of garbage a day, and that's a statistic from 2007. I wouldn't be surprised if that number is much higher today.

Ever since going to university and eating university cafeteria food, I have been forced into many more situations where using reusable containers was not a choice. And as a person who hates wasting material, I feel absolutely terrible for using something for say half an hour and then throwing it out (ie. A coffee cup, or a paper plate). The campus where I go to school is home to another 12 thousand students. 12k students every day, using plastic cups, plastic utensils, paper/plastic containers, that's a huge amount of waste!

On a much bigger scale, think about how much garbage food courts make in a day just from one-use objects! And some times, you think you're putting your waste into recycling bins, however, nothing is being done. This is the case for Tim Horton's and Starbucks (at least, in Canada).

I encourage everyone to get aquainted with this topic, if they are not already. A great place to start is by watching "The Story of Stuff." To gain inspiration to start taking action, check out Mind Body Green to read the story of Lauren, an NYC girl who hasn't made any trash in two years.

Now, of course, you don't have to go to that extreme, because for many people, that kind of lifestyle is highly unattainable. But, if we all do little things collectively, we can provide a solution to a big problem. Instead of getting coffee in the traditional paper/plastic Starbucks cups, you can get your own reusable travel mug (and even get a discount!) Personally, I carry around my own set of utensils (fork and spoon) so I never have to use the plastic ones.

There's so many things we can do to put an end to this overspending on such unnecessary things that it seems silly to not do anything about it.



Thanks so much for reading,

--J