• DO NOT expect yourself to be fully accountable. you won’t be. you can’t be. think of how many times you said to yourself “i don’t want to go to class”. you cannot expect yourself to just... overcome that same amount of despair when pokemon is in another tab.
• so instead DO find people who will ACTUALLY hold you accountable. i know my mistake was just sitting a room with someone else and saying “let’s study” but we were both on instagram. find someone who is like. nope, m/w/f we are ACTUALLY doing work from 2-4. specific schedules are imperative. 
• log out of social media and then switch laptops and/or phones with this person. definitely the phones. you wanna know how not to spend hours on social media? literally don’t have access to it. & this way if you get an emergency text you can obviously act on it since your friend will see, but you’re still being kept honest. if you have to ask for your phone back, you are more accountable for what you’re doing on it.
• have punishments & rewards in place. if you ask for your phone back for non-emergencies more than 3 times, for example, or 3 minutes, you owe ur friend 5 bucks. or if two weeks of focus happens, you both get some kind of reward for each other under 10 bucks. etc.
• DO NOT assume this means u can wait until friday to learn everything, because friday’s due dates will roll around and you’ll be fucked lmao. I lie to myself and set deadlines closer than they are and bc i have adhd i just. believe the lie lmao thanks time blindness.
• DO take it seriously. otherwise next semester will fucking suck bc the other classes will be expecting knowledge you don’t have bc you cheated on the online courses. yes i know you can and do cheat. but like,,,, just don’t if you don’t have to ??? you’re paying for these classes either way, it’s just a matter of how fucked you will be if you don’t learn this stuff.
• none of us can fucking focus when it’s just words on a screen. i NEED the extra distraction of background music, but that just means spending 6 hours on youtube finding the “right” one. pre-download video game music or deep vibes etc. 
• on that note be aware of your own body’s signs of over or under stimulation. i need to be busy with my hands, i just do, and while this means taking notes when in person, online i also play extremely low-info games like cubefield. in person you have audio and visual stimulation, so i recommend when stuff is just audio or visual to... like do something else at the same time. i usually suggest video games as long as you make sure these are low-text, low rule-changing, low difficulty games so they do not overwhelm the information you’re processing. if you’re the kind who need to be doing something with your hands to listen to a podcast, this one is for u.
• read it out loud to yourself and record the reading. auditory processing WHOM! now you can listen back to your notes while reading a second time and see where you stumbled while reading out loud - probably the same places you’re not understanding the work.
• kahn academy. youtube. do not underestimate how incredibly helpful follow-along videos are.
• if you can teach it, you know it. usually around every 5 paragraphs of new information (just bc of my major and reading comp but yours can be every paragraph or every page, just keep it on the smaller side), i like to take 20 seconds to say - how would i teach it to another person? how would i explain this to someone with literally no context? this helps us establish really clear flow maps mentally of “okay to know this thing u must know this. now this new idea. which is akin to this old idea”. so instead of just a bunch of new information, you have a web of clear items and can see where it is failing.
• whenever you can be, if you can be, don’t be online. lmao. i had to print out my papers and edit them by hand bc i just WOULDNT do a good job when on google docs. if you can do it in person, do. you absolutely should be trying to take in-person (NOT typed) notes, barring obviously accommodations. typing does not encode information the way writing does and like. i know you don’t remember what you said on the discussion board bc neither do i. obviously!!! this is not always possible! but like do at least take screen breaks when you can. 
• speaking of which. like i said, i recommend really specific times, and i actually don’t recommend breaks during this time? i think neurotypical ppl probably can take breaks but my brain is like. oh we done? we done forever. instead, like i said, make a schedule where you’re hyperfocusing for however long. then take the break after (NOT before lmao you’ll never begin). read books, make art, do a tiny workout. now u can go back to screens. otherwise..... the depression (screen type)
• i also recommend really specific places. when u are doing work you’re in THIS chair or that part of the floor. i live in my bed but i work on my couch. do not make the adhd mistake of being like “today i will sit in my ‘free time’ space and then get up and go to my work space” bc you wont and we both know that and it’s okay we’re in this together. instead, while you’re procrastinating, don’t go to either space until you have the motivation to do your work first. i do not recommend beds be used for anything but sleep (seriously this is actually like super important for all people) however if you’re like me and just don’t have a lot of options, make sure you at least change the orientation of how you’re sitting before doing free time stuff. do not just sit up in bed on your phone.
• copy lecture notes, put em into word (google drive if u must but i try to go as webfree as possible), and make the font bigger and different. weirdly, and this is true, comic sans works reaLLY WELL for making shit more focused in your brain. you will glaze over 12 pt serif fonts after 6 classes. if each class has its own (READABLE) font, it weirdly helps pattern recognition of “oh this was THOSE notes”. 
• answer questions out loud first, and feel free to record your answers. while i think with my writing, there are SO many people who think by speaking (which is like. why discussion classes actually work). do not underestimate how much thinking you do out loud, even if it feels silly.
• lmao make tiktoks or other videos doing joke versions of the lecture or the notes. how would you sarcastically sum this up? congrats now you’re having fun and also learning like way better. 
• similar to the above, singing/dancing/making art of concepts feels kinda silly but helps us literally so much. yes also STEM majors even you guys.
• inertia is fucking everything. you live by this and u die by this now, she is your master. if you find the energy to take a shower, can you leave your phone charging? if you can shower, can you get dressed? can you walk the dog? can you do 1 class of work? can you do 3? if there’s a situation where you know you tend to “stop” during a normal day, take it as a hazard during these times. for example, i “stop” every time i go to unplug my phone, bc then my phone is in my hand and i can be on social media. usually, i have a very strict and helpful schedule which means i know at some point the fear of being late will make me put my phone down. without that fear, this has become a 2 hr long “stopping point”. find your stopping points and avoid them if you can, or treat them at least like bigass sandpits. go in focused on getting out asap.
• skype!! your friends!! and teach each other stuff! do the classes together! 
• put your calendars other places than just ur school’s zoom/blackboard/moodle/etc. have a physical place you can see when and where stuff is happening.
• godspeed.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

“A person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”

• illustrate this better through the words of essay markers themselves 
• encourage everyone to really engage with the feedback you get! 

• This is where your notes come in. Make sure you know most/all the major claims the main theorist(s) make, all the bullet points, caveats, exceptions, assumptions, and rebuttals. 
• Most good lecturers and teachers would have already given you some, and your classes should have dealt with them as well. The rest you can get from google searches/thinking about these things yourself. 
• In the actual essay/exam, having about 3-4 points covering all of these would suffice. You know them as your topic sentences, but the key here is not to treat them as just topic sentences, but as points in the whole flow of your essay that are all interrelated in some way. 
• Some people say that each topic sentence should directly answer the question - to some extent yes, but in more complex essays it’s hard to structure it as such, e.g. when some of your paragraphs are in dialogue with one another and not necessarily the thesis statement. As long as you know why you’re arguing and what for at all times, it’s all good.

• Many profs warn against having too many references, but you have to understand why - a lot of them are tired of people just quoting 2 words from a vaguely related article and then slapping them into the bibliography. A lot of people take this warning and do maybe 3-5 sources for each essay; I use a minimum of 7-10 for 1500 word essays, and easily go above 20 for longer ones. 
• The key here is not to find as many as you can and insert them for the sake of having the numbers; I reach 20 by accident through comprehensive research and making sure that the sources are in dialogue with one another. 
• Have a controversial/famous source as an essential reading? Perfect - seek out who has something bad to say about this (a published scholar/article please). Find the key academics in opposition to each other, e.g. most Durkheim, Weberian and Marxist concepts can be pitted against each other. Find the theorists who defined a particular topic, even if the question doesn’t explicitly deal with them: e.g. you can’t talk about intersectionality without Kimberlé Crenshaw, or the sex/gender divide without Judith Butler. 
• Even within a particular theorist’s body of work, there is an evolution of ideas and writing, and you can chart that - this is easily 3-4 sources from a single writer. Pierre Bourdieu developed his theory of practice across a few works, and talking about this evolution is going to show sophisticated thinking and true engagement with the readings. Recognise the theorists as people with opinions, the academic world as a bunch of constantly evolving opinions being pitted against each other, and find the tension. Find the nuance. 

• A perennial question - how do I cover as much theoretical ground and have many sources…and still have an original response? Two methods: use original examples, and coming up with interesting points and angles. 
• Use reputable news outlets as sources. A lot of my essays centre around contemporary issues, e.g. I once analysed Trump’s rise to power using Weber’s theory of legitimacy. Articles in the NYT, the Guardian, the Atlantic are terrific sources of modern examples to substantiate your otherwise purely theoretical arguments. 
• These are original examples that score higher points than using the examples from the sources themselves. 

• Method two: coming up with interesting points/angles. Think about the basic points that most people will come up with (e.g. because they were mentioned in the lecture), and find your own spin on it. If you’re writing an essay on social class, for example, bring in intersectionality with race/gender theory. 
• Devote at least one point challenging your supporting arguments without directly contradicting them (or else that’s a whole other problem). Always find a qualification or a caveat. Challenge the dichotomies/the assumptions that are inherent in all questions. 

• A lot of people know not to underestimate the power of feedback, but I feel that there are many who neglect the power of mentorship and learning through examples. Find people who are fantastic at essays, read their work, and see if you can learn their secret from just reading. It’ll be great if they tell you explicit tips, but honestly a lot of it is just learnt through practice and instinct. 
• I was - and still am - fortunate to be friends with a veritable essay goddess when I was 17-18 years old, and managed to shoot from 24/40 to 35/40 when I obsessively studied the “model essays” for my literature class (my teacher always scanned for us after each assignment). 
• E.g. when my teacher told me that I was being overly descriptive in my essays, I read my friend’s essay and figured out the trick between describing and using the book/poem/play quotations to make an argument. Find your weaknesses, then read their essays; you’ll get it. And once you get the hang of it, this skill will stick with you for life. 

• Sometimes, profs and teachers just aren’t in the habit of giving out high marks - I can quote one prof in particular who said “there’s no point” in asking her how to get an A.
• In these situations, even the highest grade will still be a 2:1 or a B, so don’t be too demoralised. When you get your essay back, focus on these things in this order: reread your essay, read the comments, look at the essay criteria, and then finally the mark you got. 
• (Ha kidding, there’s nothing wrong with looking at your mark first, but you should be concentrating on it the least.) 
• Single out the things that you can improve on, and then figure out how to make it better, either through consultations with your teachers or googling. 
• I struggled with getting the top band for my conclusions for a few of my essays in first year, straight up asked my teacher why, and then found out that I didn’t devote enough space to talk about broader implications of my conclusions - that is, why should this argument even matter? After that, it was all smooth sailing. 

• I’m sorry that most of my examples are all sociology-related; it’s what I’m familiar with most since that’s my major, but these should definitely be apt for most other qualitative subjects. And if you find a way to adapt them, let me know in the replies/reblogs so everyone can see! 
• I hope I don’t come across as too cocky; there’s only so much editing that can downplay what I’m really saying. I’m proud of my skills so far, but I’m far from perfect, and I’m still improving. These are just things that have served me well all this while, and are things that I’ll continue to build on. And note that I’m cherrypicking the really important ones to take note of. What I really want is to be able to share what I’ve learnt so far, and hopefully help you guys - and also to get some feedback/additional tips if you guys have any!