1. Write down your feelings. Let them out. Release them. Tell your notebook you hate them; tell your notebook you’re angry, tell your notebook that you feel like dying. It helps, heaps. Instead of hurting yourself, hurt your notebook instead. Let your notebook be a victim of your words.
2. Write down the opposite of what your thoughts are telling you. This is what I really love to do. When your thoughts say that you are not loved, write down that you are loved, by so many people. When your thoughts say that nobody understands you, write down that somebody will understand you. When your thoughts tell you that you are ugly, write down that you are the most beautiful person on earth. If the same thought comes back, keep writing the same thing until you are convinced. Fight fire with water.

• Bottled Water- a week’s supply minimum (One gallon daily per person)
• Non perishable items that don’t require cooking ( Tuna, nuts, fruit cups, Cereal bars, peanut butter, crackers, dried fruits, canned vegetables, chili)
• Dry pet food 
• Packaged juices 
• Powdered or canned milk 

• Manual can opener
• Toilet paper 
• Baby wipes ( this will make a great alternative for showers)
• Batteries ( AAA, AA, 6V, C, and D)
• Flash lights (if you have manual ones even better)
• Battery powered radio 
• Utility knife 
• Waterproof matches 
• 5 gallons of gas
• Tampons and pads 
• Portable phone charger fully charged)
• Sand bags (redirects water and debris flow)
• First aid kit
• Blankets 
• Rain gear - Ponchos, boots. (avoid umbrellas)
• Medications 
• Portable cooler

• A closed water proof sealed container
• Take pictures and send them to yourself in an email of the following: Drivers License, photo ID, social security numbers, medical insurance cards (of each person) 
• Take photos of everything! Insurance companies are not your friends. Email everything to yourself. 
• If you have young children and they are able to make sure they memorize your name, address, and phone number

• Before the hurricane hits fill up the bath tubs in your house (extra water for flushing the toilet) 
• Bring any ornaments from outside inside 
• Trim trees
• Board your windows
• Have a secure room that you an pile everyone ( has to have no windows) 

• Make your bed in the morning. It takes seconds, and it’s worth it.
• Reset to zero each morning. 
• Use the UFYH 20/10 system for clearing your shit. 
• Get a reed diffuser and stick it on your windowsill. 
• Have a ‘drop-zone’ box where you dump anything and everything. At the beginning/end of the day, clear it out and put that shit away.
• Roll your clothes, don’t fold them - or fold them vertically.
• Automate your chores. Have a cleaning schedule and assign 15mins daily to do whatever cleaning tasks are set for that day. Set a timer and do it - once the timer is up, finish the task you’re on and leave it for the day. 
• Fold your clothes straight out of the tumble dryer (if you use one), whilst they’re still warm. This minimises creases and eliminates the need for ironing. 
• Clean your footwear regularly and you’ll feel like a champ. 

• Learn from Eisenhower’s Importance/Urgency matrix. 
• Try out the two-minute rule and the Pomodoro technique.
• Use. A. Planner. (Or Google Calendar, if that’s more your thing.)
• Try bullet journalling.
• Keep a notebook/journal/commonplace book to dump your brain contents in on the regular. 
• Set morning alarms at two-minute intervals rather than five, and stick your alarm on the other side of the room. It’s brutal, but it works. 
• Set three main goals each day, with one of them being your #1 priority. Don’t overload your to-do list or you’ll hit overload paralysis and procrastinate. 
• If you’re in a slump, however, don’t be afraid to put things like “shower” on your to do list - that may be a big enough goal in itself, and that’s okay. 
• Have a physical inbox - a tray, a folder, whatever. If you get a piece of paper, stick it in there and sort through it at the end of the week.
• Consider utilising the GTD System, or a variation of it.
• Try timeboxing. 
• Have a morning routine, and guard that quiet time ferociously. 
• Save interesting-looking shit to instapaper. Have a set time where you read through the stuff you saved to instapaper and save the shit that you like from instapaper to evernote (or bookmark it properly). 
• During your working hours, put on your footwear, even if you’re sat on your bed. (Why?)
• Have a folder for all your important documents and letters, organised by topic (e.g. medical, bank, university, work, identification). At the front of this folder, have a sheet of paper with all the key information written on it, such as your GP’s details, your passport details, driving licence details, bank account number, insurance number(s), and so on. 
• Try using StayFocusd and RescueTime (or similar apps/extensions). (I promise, you’ll find that you’re not as busy as you think you are.)
• Schedule working time and down time alike, in the balance that works for you. 

• Have. A. God. Damn. Budget. 
• Use a money tracker like toshl, mint, or splitwise. Enter all expenses asap! (You will forget, otherwise.)
• Have a ‘money date’ each week, where you sort through your finances from the past seven days and then add it to a spreadsheet. This will help you identify your spending patterns and whether your budget is actually working or not. 
• Pack your own frickin’ lunch like a grown-up and stop buying so many takeaway coffees. Keep snacks in your bag. 
• Go to your bank and take out £100 in £1 coins (or w/e your currency is). That shit will come in useful for all kinds of things and you’ll never be short on change for the bus or the laundry. 

• Know how to cook the basics: a starch, a protein, a vegetable, and a sauce.
• Simple, one-pot meals (“a grain, a green, and a bean”) are a godsend. 
• Dried porcini mushrooms make a fantastic stock to cook with. 
• Batch cook and freeze. Make your own ‘microwave meals’. 
• Buy dried goods to save money - rice and beans are a pittance. (Remember to soak dried beans first, though!) 
• Consider Meatless Mondays; it’s healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly.
• Learn which fruits and vegetables are cheapest at your store, and build a standard weekly menu around those. (Also remember that frozen vegetables are cheap and healthy.) 
• Learn seasoning combinations. Different seasoning, even with the exact same ingredients, can make a dish seem completely new. 
• Don’t buy shit for a one-off recipe, especially if you won’t use it all. If you really want to try out a recipe, see if a friend would be interested in making it with you, then pool for the expenses. 
• Make your own goddamned pasta sauce. Jamie Oliver has a decent recipe here, but the beauty of tomato sauce is that you can totally wing it and adapt the fuck out of it. 

• Have a stock email-writing format. 
• Want to start running, but find it boring? Try Zombies, Run!. 
• Keep a goddamn first aid kit and learn how to use it. 
• Know your OTC pain relief. 
• Update your CV regularly. 
• Keep a selection of stamps and standard envelopes for unexpected posting needs. (It happens more regularly than you would think!) 

1. Organisation is not a goal in itself, it is a tool. Don’t get caught up in the illusion of productivity and get distracted from the actual task at hand. 
2. Routines and habits will help you. Trust in them.
3. You have the potential to be an organised and productive person, just as much as anybody else. It just takes practice. 

• Memorization Tips
• Skincare 101
• Tips on Organic Chemitry
• Taking Notes in College

• Don’t simply read over your notes to study. It doesn’t work. You might pick up pieces here and there or even memorize certain things verbatim, but reading something 20 times is very inefficient. Your brain learns by making connections, so if you’re only straight reading the material you’re not making extra connections. You’re much better off going through your notes to make your own questions and quizzing yourself on them, marking down connections as you read (either in the margin or by literally connecting them in the text with a pen), or creating a study sheet (whether in text format or a mind map).
• Don’t simply highlight, either. While there is a proper way to highlight, most people I see using a highlighter are doing it wrong. If you’re the person who highlights 90% of the paragraph, I’m talking about you. Okay, so highlighting is physically more active than glancing over your notes 20 times, but it’s about equally as effective if you’re highlighting everything. I recommend instead highlighting (or marking with eraseable pencil) things you want to go back to later. But, again, highlighting and reading alone is not useful. Go back to your highlighted parts to reread something that was hard to understand the first time, a topic you want to revisit to make a review sheet, etc. Whatever you use it for, make sure the purpose is to quickly find information later, not simply so you can read those things again. Try making a study sheet, in your own words, based off of your highlighting.
• Don’t forget to write things down. And I don’t mean just in your planner when you have homework or papers due. This isn’t so much about getting absolutely everything down in terms of notes, either, I have a separate post regarding that. But in class you should always write down questions you have and the answer.  If you don’t get a chance to ask during class, ask ASAP whether it’s directly to your teacher or asking a classmate. If it’s that important, do some research on it, too. Also, make sure you write down information on due dates or paper topics. You probably already do that, but I would recommend having a piece of paper with you every day where you can write anything important down like dates and to-dos to organize all in one shot. If you simply write down “paper due” in a block in your planner before rushing to the next you may not see that reminder until close to the due date. I like to take all of the information on the piece of paper (which also has my day planned out and a to-do list) right when I get up in the morning so I’m prepared for the day and don’t forget anything.

• Don’t take it easy at the start of the semester. To be perfectly honest, I’ve pretty much always done that, but my freshman year of college it wasn’t a huge deal since I pretty much already took those classes. Sophomore year, however, everything was new, so memorization and understanding didn’t come quite as easily. The harder your classes are, the more essential this is, especially if you actually want to sleep during finals week. The best thing you can do is start doing work before the semester even starts if you have a syllabus handy, or even just looking through your books to see what’s ahead. While everyone else is doing fun things the night of that first day, make sure you get some work done first before you have your fun. This sets the tone for the rest of the semester and gets you into the habit of working. Don’t let yourself get behind! It’s easier to stay ahead than it is to struggle catching up.
• Don’t leave your notes to rot after class. Meaning, do something with them right after class! … or at least ASAP. Mark them up, edit them, rework them, copy or type them (if your handwriting sucks like me), or, best of all, write a short summary. Take the several pages of notes you have and condense them into one or two paragraphs. Don’t worry about the details, just make sure you’re hitting on the key points. As a bonus, you can type up some questions based off of your notes to save for later studying (details are allowed here). Everything will be fresh, making this a much easier process than if you did it right before the test. At the end of the week, make a summary of your summaries and quiz yourself on the questions you made. You’ll probably want to use those questions again, so try to reword them or even combine them into bigger questions that cover many topics. That way you’re being active with the material and will actually understand what you’re answering as opposed to parroting.
• Don’t make study sheets by copying off of something else. Yes, I made this mistake. I wasn’t copying initially, but rather, using a review book as a reference to make study sheets. However, the more I was pressed for time the less I started putting things into my own words. Now, this wasn’t a big deal in terms of legality, since I kept them to myself, but it didn’t turn out to be all that helpful in the end. If you want to make study sheets, you could either take concepts you’ve been learning and put them together in different ways or make a summary in your own words. I recommend both, but whatever you do, make sure you’re actually creating something new or else you’re not going to remember it. For example, in organic chemistry I took the reactions and grouped them in different ways (by subtstrate, reactants, products, etc.) as a reference while studying. The act of sorting and looking through the reactions in order to make the sheets helped me remember them, then I had the sheets to look at while doing practice to help me memorize them further.
• Don’t save the bulk of lab work for after the lab and don’t wait to write your report. By this I’m referring to the post-lab report. Spend the extra time while prepping your pre-lab materials to start your report! You’re expected to know the theory behind your labs before you perform them, so writing the introduction to your report should not be a problem. If it is, then you’ll be glad you took the time to understand the lab before you tried actually doing it. By doing this you may also find that you have questions that can be answered by the professor before you get confused in the middle of a procedure. Also make sure you have data tables prepared (not just in your notebook, but in the report file to fill in after) and anything else you’ll need to take down data. Once the lab is finished do the report immediately. Everything you did will be fresh and you’ll be glad you finished it well ahead of the deadline. At this point you can show your lab to your professor and get any corrections fixed so you’re ashooin’ for an A!
• Don’t try to write a paper in one shot. I understand if you feel like your papers flow better if you do it all in one shot, but at least make sure you plan it out thoroughly ahead of time before you actually write it all out. But even then, you will likely benefit from splitting your paper into chunks to tackle one day at a time. If you have a research paper that’s double-digit pages then you’ll be forced to do that anyway, but be sure you’re splitting up the work for small papers, as well. It may not seem like a big deal to do a short paper in one day, but if you end up having other assignments or tests due around the same time it might up your stress if you’re crunched for time trying to finish that “insignificant” paper while juggling a few other assignments as well as some test prep.

• Don’t listen to distracting music while studying. To some degree, the types of music that are considered “distracting” vary when it comes to the subject you’re studying and personal preference. However, the general rule of thumb is that you avoid any sort of music with lyrics if you’re studying a subject that involves language. Art, math, and certain sciences are an exception if you’re working with pictures or numbers, since language usually doesn’t interfere with those things in the brain. But if you’re reading anything, even if it’s worded directions to a math or science problem, lyrics will probably be distracting. Some people suggest that listening to new music with lyrics is okay because you won’t be tempted to sing along with something you don’t know while others get distracted by hearing any type of language. Again, it’s truly up to you, but genres such as classical, jazz, and nature sounds are usually recommended. Heck, if you’re a musician and get distracted by any type of music, silence or brown noise may be the better option for you. (Suggested by aslongasitsfiction)
• Don’t study in bed. Scientific studies have shown that doing anything in your bed that isn’t sleep or sex-related affects your ability to fall asleep in your bed. When your brain primarily associates your bed with sleep, it’s much easier to fall asleep. But having trouble sleeping in your bed isn’t the only part of the problem. While studying in your bed is really comfy, you’re also more likely to fall asleep if the association with sleep is strong enough. It’s generally recommended that you don’t even study in the same room as your bed, but as college students this may not be possible if you want to use your desk. So if you don’t want to make the trek out to a more secluded study space, at least try to make sure your desk doesn’t have your bed in view. Because let’s be honest, if you’re exhausted, simply seeing your bed might be enough to make you nod off. (Suggested by rare-footage and ane-mia)
• Don’t go on tumblr. Okay, this may seem obvious, but sometimes a reminder is all you need to get off your computer! I suppose it’s better that you’re looking up information to help you study, but I think we both know what the better choice would be. (Suggested by oneofakindgizibe)
• Don’t study in a place you can’t focus just because your friends are there. Us humans are social animals. We like being around other people. But this can cause you problems if you’re trying to study. Unless you’re in a productive study group, make sure you separate study time and social time. You’re probably more likely to gravitate towards fun, social things over studying, so make sure studying is a priority and you get it done before seeing your friends. If you have a roommate or two, then your dorm room is probably not the right place to study. Find a few of your focus hotspots and go there for your study time. (Suggested by fitspoforever)
• Don’t forget the little things you know you’ll need. This includes but is not limited to things such as chargers, books, snacks, and water. You don’t want to be in-the-zone and all of the sudden realize you need to run back to your dorm room to get a book. And then 10 minutes later realize you’re hungry and need to run to the cafeteria. If you don’t already have certain things that are always in your bag, simply keep a list of things you generally need to bring with you, leave it as a reminder on your desk, and check it over before you hit the library. (Suggested by fitspoforever)
• Don’t take naps while studying without setting an alarm. Or even better, avoid naps all together. If you’re like me, 15-minute naps usually turn into 2-hour events. But regardless, if you need to get some extra sleep, get the extra sleep. It’s better to take a nap when you know you need it as opposed to falling asleep on your desk unexpectedly when you have a paper you need to get done for the next day. 15-20 minutes the recommended time for a short nap, but if you need something more robust, try for 90 minutes or use sleepyti.me to figure out the right time to wake up. (Suggested by fitspoforever)
• Don’t wear uncomfortable clothes. I personally find that “dressing for success” works really well for going to lectures and virtually everything else, but terribly if you’re hitting the library for a long study session. You’ll probably wanna look cute if you’re heading somewhere public, but just make sure you’re comfortable. Yoga pants are fine for the occasion! (Suggested by fitspoforever)

i know tons of people say that rewriting notes is a form of memory retention but honestly!!! i don’t have the energy/patience for that ha! for me, the best method to memorise things (especially content-heavy chapters/subjects) would be to record yourself talking. i don’t think this is especially catered to auditory learners, because i know for a fact that i’m not an auditory learner but this still works especially well for me so!!

 i usually open up the voice recorder app and talk as if i’m teaching someone! i’d recommend you use a guidebook as reference and not the actual textbooks. guidebooks are more vague, so when you’re speaking about a particular point, you can sort of expand on the point given in the guidebook from your knowledge of the subject! this really helps for revision because you’re basically forced to remember things. you don’t necessarily need to replay your recordings. to me, the “recording” bit of this method is psychological, it makes me feel like i’m actually memorising and not just talking to myself haha.

this recording method is honestly one of the most helpful things i’ve ever started doing and i can do a more in-depth post on it if anyone asks haha

i know literally everyone has been told this tip in their lifetime but honestly!!! it’s EXTREMELY helpful, especially if you want to do timelines for history! use different colours for things like dates, people, treaties, etc!  okay but one thing about this tip that’s sort of different from others is that when you highlight dates, highlight the entire event and not just the date! so for example, instead of highlighting “28 June 1919″, highlight “The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919.” that way, you know the WHOLE event and the date and you’ll be more likely to remember both! 

i learnt this the hard way - i used to highlight dates by themselves (maybe i was just totally dumb) and i could NEVER remember what happened on the dates lmao 

it’s a bad habit of mine, but being a very last-minute person, i ALWAYS have doubts even the night before exams. since it’s too late to actually contact anyone, i usually have to rely on the internet. the internet has a myriad of wonderful wonderful resources that are so incredibly useful! 

some youtube channels that have helped me are khanacademy (literally anything), mathbff (math), keith hughes (history), j brierly (literature) 

i also recommend watching documentaries (for history/social studies) because even though it’s a more in-depth version of what you have to learn, it’ll help you understand everything better + make your essay stand out :) 

a good study space is probably the first thing you should ensure if you want to get anything done at all. i usually never study at home, simply because i’m always distracted by trivial things such as “i’m hungry, i’m gonna get food” or “i’m so tired i’m going to sleep for five minutes”. 

when i started studying outside (usually at starbucks/the library), my productivity level increased so much it blew my mind a little. even though it’s a bit troublesome because you may not be completely sure what materials to bring, you’ll still get a lot done trust me on this lmao

i find it really taxing to plan out my entire day down to the hour, so i usually just set a certain number of things i want to complete for that day, and just let things naturally flow from there.

for example, i write the things i want to do on my calendar (finish a set of math papers, read a chapter of lit, etc.) and then i just get everything done on that day w/o planning the exact time i’m going to do it! it makes things less stressful in my opinion :)

i’ve tried planning things by hour but it usually never works out so i just stopped doing it and honestly it’s not necessary! what’s important about planning is just knowing what you need to do and then getting it done. 

writing your notes by hand triggers your memory more effectively than typing them out. even though i’m tempted to type out notes since i’m the laziest person in existence, i still try (most of the time) to write notes because at the end of the day, you’ll be more proud of your handwritten notes than your boring typed out ones :)

this is a rather…shady….method of learning but honestly!!! when you know how the top students function, you can learn from them as well! 

i’ve discovered that top students usually perform so well because they review their content regularly, unlike people like me who wait three days before the exam to start cramming everything into my brain.

keep some pictures of your notes or some flashcards with you, so that when you have pockets of time (eg. waiting for a friend, waiting for the bus, etc), you can whip them out and start reviewing :) 

these people also act as tutors, so you can clarify your doubts with them and it’ll be less awkward as compared to asking an actual teacher. i know i prefer asking classmates than teachers hahaha.

• food masterpost
• stress relief
• self-care tag
• infused waters
• staying healthy in college
• some exercise for weight loss
• cheap food to make
• bad days
• feel better
• got sick?
• studying with a cold
• studying sick
• periods
• study munchies
• managing stress during finals
• getting up early
• self-care reminders
• overcoming burnout
• getting better rest
• getting enough sleep
• wake up early
• reduce exam stress
• avoiding burnout
• manage and reduce stress
• getting a good night’s sleep
• food
• study breaks (1)
• study breaks (2)
• make the most of your day
• time to sleep
• it’s coffee o’clock
• it’s time for tea
• how to have a good morning
• staying awake w/o caffeine
• what to eat while studying
• waking up early and refreshed

• ace the individual oral presentation
• make a great powerpoint
• class presentations + public speaking
• public speaking tips
• how to rock public speaking
• how to do presentations when you suck at them
• how to: public speaking
• debate tips

• my 8tracks
• my spotify
• melodic studying
• ambient noise
• music according to your mood
• filling silence
• study sounds (1)
• study sounds (2)
• harry potter study music
• study music

• how to stay productive during holidays
• summer productivity (1)
• summer productivity (2)
• keep your brain working on holidays
• make the most of christmas holidays
• planning for breaks/holidays
• stay productive during winter break

• travel journals
• bullet journals (1)
• bullet journals (2)
• bullet journals (3)
• bullet journaling (1)
• bullet journaling (2)
• bullet journal tips
• bullet journals vs. planners
• bullet journals vs. diary planners
• bullet journal page/list ideas
• what to do w/ notebooks (1)
• what to do w/ notebooks (2)
• why it’s good to keep a journal
• the everything book
• diy notebooks

• really great apps
• best iphone apps
• useful school websites
• subjects + problems website
• learn things for free
• 15 websites that will make you smarter
• a website that grades your essays
• wallpaper
• wallpaper masterpost
• educational youtube channels
• online courses + a guide
• succeeding in online classes
• apps everyone should have
• printables tag
• printables mp
• useful websites to help you study
• planning + to-do apps
• study apps
• apps for studying
• study apps + extensions
• 30 websites to kill boredom

• what do i do with my life?
• jobs tag
• get your life back on track
• things no one tells you about getting an apartment
• organisation
• get organised
• money
• jobs + careers
• things i wish i knew before i started ‘adulting’
• save money on food in college
• diy!
• discounts for your student id
• how to take studyblr photos
• how to choose a career
• making masterposts
• college students
• muslim studyblr masterpost