• Drink more water (Plant Nanny and a cute water bottle help!) 
• Get more sleep (Sleep Cycle changed my life) 
• Go to bed and wake up at a consistent time 
• Stop using electronic devices before you go to bed 
• Work out more regularly (Try Seven) 
• Go out on walks (Map My Walk)
• Eat less junk food (Or drink less soda, at least)
• Cook for yourself more (Start here)
• Take your medication regularly (Medisafe Reminder) 
• Take off your makeup every day, if you wear it 
• Wear sunscreen every day (This one’s my favorite)
• Moisturize 
• Clean your makeup brushes regularly 
• Change your pillowcases regularly (it helps prevent breakouts!)
• Practice mindfulness (Smiling Mind is a good place to start)

• Consider starting a bullet journal
• Use a planner (Passion Planner, anyone? Or Todoist if you prefer digital)
• Start a reading challenge 
• Sit closer to the front in class 
• Raise your hand more often 
• Start assignments closer to the date it was assigned rather than the due date (Some tips on beating procrastination here)
• Get to know your teachers 
• Stay updated on current events (Try The Daily Skimm)
• Learn vocabulary in another language (Mango Languages) 
• Learn vocabulary in your own language (Here’s one for English)  

• Talk to someone you wouldn’t normally
• Call someone you haven’t talked to in a while (Mom? Dad? Friend who lives on the other side of the country?) 
• Tell your loved ones “I love you” more often 
• Make plans to see friends occasionally 
• Make plans to have a day all to yourself occasionally 
• Clean your room regularly 
• Or just make your bed every day 
• Track your spending (Mint)
• Write that novel you’ve been planning (Here’s a start) 
• Keep a personal journal (Day One is easy to get into)
• Spend some time reflecting on yourself once in a while 
• Take 20 minutes a day to draw/write/get the creative juices flowing 
• Spend time with your pets 
• Smile more 

Hey guys! So I’ve been receiving questions regarding my note-taking style and strategy for quite some time now but I believe I have never answered them in detail. The good news is, I finally decided to make a post about this (plus, I had fun making the graphics :D). Note that I am a visual learner, so my note-taking methods may not be effective for some of you, but I hope you can all learn something.

I only use one notebook for all my class notes, an A4 grid notebook whose pages I divide into two columns.

I use the outline method for in-class notes, which means I write information chronologically, in the order that they are taught. Some teachers do not have properly structured presentations/lessons (good thing my physics teacher does) so when in need, I use arrows to connect related information.

Abbreviations to me are one of the most important things to master when taking notes. I personally make them up as I go along. Some examples of abbreviations I use are:

• w/c - which
• w/ - with
• cpd - compound
• envt - environment
• digenz - digestive enzyme

It might be confusing, but to me, knowing the context and part of speech are enough for all abbreviations to be comprehended.

Here’s an example: ‘Indonesia’s tsunami pre-warning system is made up of two types of components’ could become ‘Indo’s snmi pre-warn sys 2 type comp’.

The first thing I would do is highlight keywords and terminology (and sometimes formulas). For physics, since my teacher is relatively succinct, I don’t really highlight, but for humanities and biology, I look for words that would be expected by a mark scheme, words that are crucial to the understanding of each particular piece of information.

I would then check if the material taught coincides with the syllabus, and if not, note down any points that are missing or have yet to be taught. You could write these on a post it or on the syllabus itself, but I prefer to highlight the syllabus’ pdf file.

My rewritten notes are arranged based on the order they appear in the syllabus unless there are pieces of information that are related to more than one topic.

I use a black pen for rewriting notes as well as colored pens to write keywords and terminology only. I know some people who write whole sentences in colored pens but to me that is ineffective; we all have our own learning styles. When making tables, I usually use different colors for different columns (see the table for different types of radiation above) which is most often the color I associate with each word. For example, water would be blue, ocean would be a darker shade, ice would be a lighter shade, and water vapor would be purple.

I still abbreviate words in my rewritten notes, but they’re not as condensed as the ones in my class notes. Another thing I find helpful is leaving a bit of space between separate points especially if the page doesn’t have a lot of diagrams. I can’t think linearly, so I can’t remember super lengthy bullet points.

I use mildliners and a drawing pen to make my diagrams (more of these in my biology notes) but I only start with pencil if it’s a complex diagram. I rarely highlight my rewritten notes, but even if I do, it’s usually only the headings and formulas.

I don’t have a rough draft for my notes, but I try to visualize the layout. I try to alternate between words and pictures/diagrams so that when I’m sitting for an exam, all I have to do is imagine that I’m looking at that page and I can remember where everything is.