MEMORIZE SMARTLY

失败原因有多种，坐失良机首当其冲。

There are a lot ways to become a failure, but never taking a chance is the most unsuccessful.

I personally struggle with depression and anxiety, along with an eating disorder (which, believe me, can have its toll in your academic life) and chronic tiredness, so I decided to make this post to share things that have helped me. Here are some study / productivity tips!

If you are feeling burned out, take a productive, physical break. If i start feeling tired but my task isn’t done, I take a small productive break. I fold clothes, clean my brushes if I’m painting, clean your room, exercise, stretch, anything that will briefly take my mind off things. 

Don’t be too strict with your timetable: Allow yourself a 10 minute window between tasks because you might need a small break or something might come up. Have in mind that you will be doing the tasks you are planning to do, not the idealized version of yourself who doesn’t need breaks and doesn’t get tired (something I am definitely guilty of doing).

Don’t fight yourself! Your mood matters! Notice your mood and your body, how are you feeling? Are you tired, does anything hurt, are you thirsty, do you need to take a short walk? If you don’t feel like doing something very mentally taxing, you can put on a podcast, music or a YouTube video, and just organize your files, fold clothes, declutter your school folder, etc. You will thank yourself later without sacrificing your mental health even more. 

Have a place to write down distracting thoughts that you can address later. I have a recycled piece of paper taped to my desk at all times and there I scribble ideas and things I have to do. You can check the list later, just write those thoughts down and forget about them while you’re doing your task. 

Experiment with how many tasks you can do in a day. Set your priorities) and put tasks together and do a little bit of each category

Ask for help from your friends or professors! They just want you to do well and helping you or giving you a little bit more time is easy for them to give you. 

Eat the frog first. Do the most difficult thing first, the one you fear the most, the one that will take you more time and energy. I have found that some tasks seem a million times more difficult in the evening than in the morning, so I usually start with the most unpleasant tasks right when i wake up since I have more energy then. 

Break up everything in small parts. Outline a task before you start. Starting something is the hardest thing for me, once I know what i have to do everything is so much easier to do. Sketch it out, then just fill out the blanks. 

Be aware of your learning style. One of the reasons why you find studying a certain subject difficult might not have to do with the subject at all, but with how you are learning it. Here’s a test to find out your learning style 

Dedicate a whole day to one thing. This is an approach I use when I’m in a weird mood / energy fluctuation state. I just dedicate a whole day or a whole week to do something (this week is painting, I’ve gone a bit overboard), and it helps me to cram something until my desire to do that thing has gone away and then I can focus on something else. 

Force yourself to work on something for only five minutes. Only five minutes! I do this when I have tried everything else and I just cannot be bothered. Put on some music and promise yourself you only have to work on that assignment for five minutes, and then you can stop. Many times I see that it was easier than I expected and I continue working on it after the five minutes has passed. 

If you get bored easily, try multitasking with tasks that don’t require a lot of brain power. This is for my ADHD folks. I personally don’t have ADHD but here are some study tips from people who actually do: link one link two 

Put the deadline a few days earlier so you have time to ask for help if you need it. This is a very common study tip but definitely helps if you struggle with time management. 

Change the location or study with someone

Have multiple schedules: I personally have a high energy schedule and a low energy schedule. Both are necessary and I have found that they create a great balance. I can do a post on this later if you guys want! 

Build an automatic routine and group habits together. This might be good for forgetful folks. Have a morning/afternoon/night routine and group tasks that you tend to forget. Organize it around an even (before going to class, after a meal) to make it impossible to forget it. It will become automatic in no time and then you won’t have to worry about that stuff. 

Here are some reminders if you’re feeling discouraged. 

想象的力量，给予我们无限可能。 The power of imagination makes us infinite.

Turns and Steps, Explained (2/2)

Hey guys *cheerful wave* Wimbledon is over so my tennis obligation is done with and now I’ll resume my full-time figure skating follower status. I’ll kick things off with the second part of this turns and steps explanation. This post will touch on a couple of concepts we’ve discussed in the first part so you might want to check that one out before diving in: here it is.

The ISU technical handbook defines 6 types of steps: toe step, chassé, mohawk, choctaw, change of edge, and cross roll. Out of these 6, the only step that is considered difficult is the choctaw. Now if you recall from the previous post, the ISU also defines 6 types of turns (twizzle, bracket, loop, counter, rocker, three-turn). Among these 6, only the three-turn is considered basic, the other 5 are all counted as difficult. At this point I guess you’re naturally wondering why there is such an imbalance between turns and steps. Well, that is because a turn, by definition, must be done on one foot, while a step would normally involve two-footed skating, and that is something we don’t want to see too much of. In fact, the ratio of one-footed to two-footed movements is one of the most reliable indicators of a skater’s skating skills.

That said, let us check out what each of the 6 types of steps looks like. This time, to switch things up a bit, I’m going to use Seimei as illustration.

Keep reading

努力工作直到有一天你不再需要自我介绍。

Work until you no longer have to introduce yourself.

好好活、多多爱、常常笑。

Live well, love much, laugh often.

And things are not always okay but even from rock bottom I can still see the sky I can still see the stars.

Michelle K. (via thelovejournals)

Adjectives

顽固 (wángù)-stubborn

用功 (yònggōng)-diligent;studious

胖 (pàng)-fat

漂亮 (piàoliang)-pretty

聪明 (cōngming)-smart

笨 (bèn)-stupid

帅 (shuài)-handsome

矮 (ǎi)-short

高 (gāo)-tall

懒 (lǎn)-lazy

丑 (chǒu)-ugly

开通 (kāitong)-open minded; liberal

大 (dà)-big

小 (xiǎo)-small; young

老 (lǎo)-old(used w/ people)

新 (xīn)-new

旧 (jiù)-old(used w/ objects)

如果你不花时间去创造你想要的生活，你终究得被迫花更多时间去应付你不想要的生活。 If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.

Final Exam Tips

If you couldn’t tell by the things I’ve been reposting lately, finals week has arrived. My first exam is at 8am tomorrow (wish me luck), and I wanted to share some tips and things I’ve learned over the years. Most of this applies to both college and high school, but everyone’s method is gonna be a little different. You do you boo. 

Self Care

This is super important. It may seem like you don’t have time to worry about these things but your body is just as important as your mind. Nurture it. 

Make your bed. Every morning. If you have to wake up early to give yourself more time, do it. Someone somewhere once said “the state of your bed is the state of your head.”

Brush your teeth. Floss if you can. I know it’s a pain in the ass but it’s literally 2 minutes of your time. 

Put on chap-stick. Bring it everywhere, to all your exams, leave some in your car, in your pocket. It’s never fun to have chapped lips. 

Wash your face. Morning and night, depending on skin type, etc. This is super important to wash away all of the dirt, makeup, and toxins your skin is exposed to. It also helps to wake you up and get you started. And if you’re anything like me, stress breakouts are always a possibility.

Moisturize. Your face, your arms, your legs, etc. A good facial moisturizer and body lotion can do wonders for your skin and your mood. Do a face mask too, if you really wanna pamper yourself. 

Keep your space clean. Where you sleep, where you get ready for bed, and especially where you study. This goes back to making your bed, your surroundings play an important role in your mood and state of mind. 

Eat Healthy. Don’t skip meals, your brain needs good nutrition to function. Take it easy on the sugar, you might be on a high for a little while but the crash is real. 

Drink. Water. Lots of it. I’m terrible when it comes to this, but I find that keeping a refillable water bottle on me, one that’s easy to take quick sips from, helps a lot. You need to be hydrated in order to function properly. Drink juice to help you stay awake if you’re not a fan of coffee or tea (Idk why but this really helps). 

Stay active. Keep moving, get that blood circulating. Whether it’s running, yoga, or a walk in the park, the movement is sure to clear your mind and get those endorphins kicking. 

SLEEP. 7-8 hours, ideally. No all-nighters. Don’t even think about it. I limit myself to one all-nighter a semester, and never on the night before an exam. Your brain works to learn and memorize at night, so get your rest and study in the process.Take catnaps between study sessions if you get tired during the day, but don’t sacrifice that sacred sleep for a few extra hours of studying that will haunt you the entire next day. 

Studying

Now that you’re all zenned out, you can fill your brain with all that dope knowledge. 

Go to review days. Your teacher should explain what’s on the exam and what she expects of you, and if you skip you could miss out on important details like room and time. It may seem like skipping gives you more time to study, but you’ll be at a disadvantage in the end.

Summarize. Outline/summarize/prep class content expected on the exam. Being able to summarize content and place it in an order that makes sense shows understanding, and it’ll help you figure out what you need to work on most.  

Find study stations. Coffee shops, the campus library, bookstores, diners, you name it. Study anywhere but home, at least not alone. I sometimes crash at my friend’s place and we’ll have silent study sessions, keeping each other in check. 

Use a time management tool. I use the app Forest, or the chrome extension. When you use the timer, you plant a tree or a bush and it grows until the timer is up. I like it because when I use it on my phone, I set the timer for 25 minutes and I can’t exit the app or the tree dies. On chrome, you can blacklist certain websites that distract you, and if you visit that website during your study session, the tree dies. Don’t kill trees people. 

Prioritize. What exam do you have first? How prepared are you for it? Which exam will be the hardest/are you least prepared for? Use your sessions wisely and focus on the material you don’t know as well. 

Method. What works for you? Are you an auditory learner? Record your notes and listen to them in the car or while you work out. Kinesthetic? Rewrite your notes, make models, etc. Visual? Find good pictoral representations of your content and try drawing diagrams. It’s super important to find a study method that works for you, and everyone’s is gonna be a little different.

Come prepared. Buy pencils, scantrons, and erasers beforehand and come to your exam with everything you need (i.e. calculator). Hand lotion, chap-stick, and deep breathing are great ways to calm yourself before an exam. If you’re religious - pray, spiritual - meditate/center yourself, non of the above - have faith in yourself and your abilities. 

Dress comfy. If sweats are the way you roll, then go with it. If you feel more productive dressing a little nicer, have at it. 

Trust yourself. Stop second guessing yourself. Trust in your work. Honestly, we doubt ourselves way more than we should. Don’t underestimate yourself, love. You show that exam who’s boss. 

Celebrate. You’re done! Congrats on another exam finished, another day slayed, and another semester behind you.