Amandadiamond - Thegirlwhodoesn'twannaliveanymore

Beautiful,The Arabian 1002th Night Guo Pei Haute Couture show 2010

Cary Elwes + being cute and dorky and adorable

Hi dear Lumen,

Do you have any tips on how to study more effectively and/ or memorize better because it would help a lot. Thank you🤍 Have a great day/evening!

Hi darling,

As you may know, I am a maestra at organizing, creating systems, and simplifying things in order to maximize efficiency - and that applies for studying as well. 📚

1. Learn how you learn, in order to learn better!

I often emphasize the importance of self-knowledge and working with instead of against yourself. In this case, that translates as working with your abilities instead of forcing yourself to learn in a dry, outdated, uniform manner that doesn't align with you, just because school, college, or your family says so.

Are you a visual learner (through the eyes)? Then write down your lessons in a concise, aesthetic manner, this will help you memorize easier. Add diagrams, illustrations, or even just sketches related to the lesson, as it further helps with memorizing.

Are you an auditive learner (by listening and speaking)? Then read your lessons out loud. Record yourself if it helps, play it back until you can recite it back. Ask friends to help with rehearsing for extra support.

Are you a haptic learner (by touch and feeling)? - This one's more tricky, but you can employ some activity while studying, such as braiding, tapping your fingers or feet, gesturing, etc.

There are theories of other types of learning, as mentioned here and here. If the above 3 don't apply to you, do a quick research to see what resonates with you more, in order to find a more efficient technique. It can make all the difference in your study routine.

2. Figure out a routine that works for you.

Do you study better in the evening/at night? When it’s quiet and nobody is disturbing you and your schedule is clear? You may be a night owl and it’s your natural circadian rhythm to have higher brain activity and energy towards the evening/night - if so, take advantage of it.

Do you study better in the morning? Because you feel fresh and focused? You’re likely an early bird, so arrange your study schedule to follow this rhythm accordingly, you'll be much more productive.

If you have a chaotic schedule that doesn't allow much flexibility for the above, simply work with your available schedule to the best of your ability. Move household chores and other errands around so that your peak efficiency timeframe can be used for the bulk of your studying.

3. Additional tips:

Do rewards help in completing a task? If yes, try something useful like taking a sip of water after reading 3 paragraphs, or that you can watch your favorite show after finishing studying, or going to the museum, or whatever it is that makes you excited at the moment!

Do you have a short attention span? Don’t worry about it, just divide your studying in brief intervals of 30-60 min, with a small break inbetween to keep your concentration sharp. If you start to get distracted, remember why you’re doing this (your academic goals, whatever they are), and if that doesn’t work, maybe you just need some fresh air or a cup of tea to start fresh.

If you have issues staying on track, you can ask a friend or family member to hold you accountable by checking up on you.

Don’t forget to make studying enjoyable as possible: use colorful stationary, set up a nice desk that fills you with pleasure or excitement when you see it (ie. plants, lighting, pretty decor, books organized in a satisfying way, etc), a fluffy pillow against your back, the list goes on. Get creative! This is your space.

Another way to make studying enjoyable is thinking out of the box. If you prefer a more streamlined, digital system, use an app that makes the process of studying more enjoyable - whether it’s something as basic as the native Notes app on macOS, Word docs, or a professional tool like Ulysses where you can organize everything to your heart’s content.

Visual inspiration and moodboards: you can also browse through Pinterest boards for inspiration or even follow Tumblr studyblr-ers to make studying as a process more aesthetic and appealing. There is a truth that the imagery we expose ourselves to inspires our actions; when you have your dashboard filled with pretty desks and notebooks and tidy handwriting from bookblr and studyblr content, it can boost your motivation. (Just be mindful not to fall into the trap of unhealthy perfectionism, or associating your self-worth with productivity - neither of those things will help you in any way, and will only cause anxiety, low productivity and self-worth issues.)

If you fall off track, don't be hard on yourself. It happens to the best of us. If you really want to finish what you started, just do what you can, take it one step at a time, and remember that you only fail if you stop trying. Give yourself space to do your best (even if that is 5% on some days, it's still good enough), and improve along the way. You can do this! 👏🏻👏🏽👏🏿

Hope this helps. Good luck and have a productive day/evening ahead to all ambitious ladies! 💞 ☕️

-Lumen

Life Cleanse - What I Did

Deep clean your room - I’m talking about stripping the bed, going through clothes, papers, and belongings and having no mercy. Sweeping and damp mopping the floors. Dusting surfaces. Finding new homes for those miscellaneous items that just sit there in the way.

Delete old contacts - I went from having maybe 30-40 contacts to 14. In other words, delete contacts you haven’t messaged or called in the last two weeks to a month (if so long). If they text you don’t be afraid or feel guilty for asking who it is.

Go through your music library - Play all your songs and if you skip a song delete it without hesitation. The next time you hit shuffle on your playlist you won’t even notice it’s gone. What if you get in the mood for the song? That’s what YouTube is for my friend… or just add the song back onto your phone.

Go through clothes - That dress you haven’t worn once in the past year- toss it. The shirt you swear fits if you don’t raise your arms- get rid of it. Those worn out clothes- dump them. *Of course there can be exceptions but within reason.

Journal - Write down any thoughts to cleanse your mind. Any ideas you might have. Good things that happened that day. Bad things that happened. Things you’re grateful for. It helps so much. Try it for at least three days straight and you’ll notice how much better you feel. Problems might not disappear completely but it’ll give you the strength to get through another day.

Don’t try to force things to work out - It’s so hard and it can be upsetting when things don’t, but sometimes the best thing you can do for you is accept the way (some)things are.

Don’t be hard on yourself for messing up -  It can be easy to physically or mentally punish yourself for making a mistake no matter how big or small, but I’ve learned that doing things like starving yourself, beating yourself  up (literally), or just scolding yourself repeatedly doesn’t improve the situation and it doesn’t improve yourself.

Cut toxic people off - Remove them from your life physically (which sometimes takes time). Unfriend them from social media. Remove prominent traces of them from your life. It’s like suddenly a weight comes off of your shoulders.

Practice self love -  I write/say this so often and sometimes I feel like it’s so hard to do sometimes but it’s not. I’m talking about taking a break when you need to. Drinking water. Moisturising your skin. Getting enough sleep. It’s the little things like that that count as self love.

Don’t runaway from your problems - It’s tempting and hard but it’s important to face any problems you’re facing. No one is saying you have to be strong 24/7, only that you should try.

Delete old files - Go through you computer, tablet, phone, USB drive etc. Delete old unimportant documents, old photos, music, apps and more.

Promo: Like or interested in my tips and want to contribute yourself? Check out my new project Illuminate! Even if you don’t apply, please pass it along to those you think would be interested. Thank you!

So, it’s that time of the year again, back to school. And right now, some of you are probably panicking a little because, let’s face it, school starts soon and you have not glanced at your to-do list since June. But don’t be afraid, lots of us are in the same boat. I myself ambitiously drafted out a long list of things to do this summer, including studying C++, studying Chinese, preparing for new course work, studying quiz bowl, and exercising. However, I was abroad for five weeks, spent lots of weekends at the beach, slept in, and generally slacked off. Now, it’s not too late to pick up the pace and get into the study grind to get a good start this school year. Below are some useful tips!

Academic Tips:

Print off your new school schedule immediately and build your personal schedule around that. (Figure out which time blocks are for studying, exercise, sleep, mealtime, extracurriculars, and chill time.)

Buy a planner and start using it. It doesn’t have to be personalized or fancy, just make sure it suits your taste and is usable. Even though you may not have classwork right now, start using it to complete tasks and get in the habit of writing in it.

Search up your teachers/professors on RateMyProfessor to (kinda) know what you’re in for. Obviously, those reviews are a little skewed so read them with a grain of salt, but know which professors are lecture heavy and which classes rely on the textbook. This really helped me last year.

Get in the habit of reading and writing a bit everyday. That way, your first assignment won’t be nearly as painful. Just write a little in a journal or read some NYT articles to critically engage your brain. 

Look over the first chapter of your textbooks. The first chapter and introduction in books really explain what the course is about, so if you’re afraid of feeling stranded in class, read them.

If you have questions or concerns about your courses, email your professors or teachers. They want to help their students.

Map out where you have to go for each class. Whether it’s changing floor in the same building or booking it across campus, make sure you know where you’re going the first week of class. Highlight your routes on a map of the school if you need.

Lifestyle Tips:

It’s nice to sleep in over summer break, but start waking yourself up earlier. Figure out what time you need to wake up, factor in the 7-8 hours of sleep you need, and determine the ideal bedtime. Set an alarm and start slowly winding back your wake up time. For example, if I need to get up at 7:00 AM for school, I’ll sleep until 8:30 for one week. Then I’ll wake up at 8:00 the next week, and 7:30 the week after that so my body can slowly adjust to the earlier mornings.

On a similar note, start going to bed at the appropriate time. It may be frustrating to do so when it’s still bright out at night, but this really helps your body adjust. The lights from devices keep you up, so get accustomed to ditching the electronics before you get in bed.

Make sure your outfits are school ready. I know my math lecture is in a really chilly old building, so I’m pulling out a few sweaters to bring with me to class. If your school has a dress code (which can be annoying) or uniform, make sure your outfits comply.

Get your bag and supplies ready. This is fun for me, because I usually end up shopping and getting some new cute accessories and stationery.

Start a new healthy habit with the school year. This is a good time to try to stick in something new. Get a reusable water bottle and try to drink 8 cups a day, or add meditation to your night routine. You won’t regret it!

Now, most of these tips are applicable to both high school and college, but if you want high school or college specific tips, let me know in my messages or ask box and I’ll make another post. Have an amazing school year!

– studyboba (Janet)

Study in a brain-friendly way: Making a week plan

Write down all study appointments. For example: Lectures, work groups, seminars, deadlines for essays and exams. 

Write down the already planned and important social appointments. For example: Working hours for a (voluntary) job, sports, important parties, dinner appointments. 

Write down necessary time to relax. We recommend keeping at least one day free of study of study tasks, for example in the weekend. Also, take into consideration: Mornings after a late-night activity, and evenings after a long day of work. 

Write down self-study time. When will you be able to study? Study appointments + self-study should comprise about a full-time job (40 hours per week). What will you do during this study time? When will you have breaks? 

Now write down some buffer time. Life is full of surpries. In all lives unexpected events will occur. So, it’s absolutely necessary to plan in buffer time. In the time you plan in ‘in reserve’ you can complete tasks that have been delayed. If there is no (study) delay, buffer times becomes free time. 

Think about the time-slots that are still empty. Are there specific things you would like to do in this time? If not, name them: ‘free time’. Especially if you’re a perfectionistic person, it’s good to also make your ‘free time’ SMART so you know when you are NOT going to worry about your studies. 

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Orange is the happiest color. 🍊🌺🍁 -Frank Sinatra

24 Invaluable Skills To Learn For Free Online This Year

Here’s an easy resolution: This stuff is all free as long as you have access to a computer, and the skills you learn will be invaluable in your career, and/or life in general. 

1. Become awesome at Excel.

Chandoo is one of many gracious Excel experts who wants to share their knowledge with the world. Excel excellence is one of those skills that will improve your chances of getting a good job instantly, and it will continue to prove invaluable over the course of your career. What are you waiting for?

2. Learn how to code.

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Perhaps no other skill you can learn for free online has as much potential to lead to a lucrative career. Want to build a site for your startup? Want to build the next big app? Want to get hired at a place like BuzzFeed? You should learn to code. There are a lot of places that offer free or cheap online coding tutorials, but I recommend Code Academy for their breadth and innovative program. If you want to try a more traditional route, Harvard offers its excellent Introduction to Computer Science course online for free.

3. Make a dynamic website.

You could use a pre-existing template or blogging service, or you could learn Ruby on Rails and probably change your life forever. Here’s an extremely helpful long list of free Ruby learning tools that includes everything from Rails for Zombies to Learn Ruby The Hard Way. Go! Ruby! Some basic programming experience, like one of the courses above, might be helpful (but not necessarily required if you’re patient with yourself).

4. Learn to make a mobile game.

If you’re not interested in coding anything other than fun game apps, you could trythis course from the University of Reading. It promises to teach you how to build a game in Java, even if you don’t have programming experience! If you want to make a truly great game, you might want to read/listen up on Game Theory first.

5. Start reading faster.

Spreeder is a free online program that will improve your reading skill and comprehension no matter how old you are. With enough practice, you could learn to double, triple, or even quadruple the speed at which you read passages currently, which is basically like adding years to your life.

6. Learn a language!

With Duolingo, you can learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or English (from any of the above or more). There’s a mobile app and a website, and the extensive courses are completely free.

Full disclosure: BuzzFeed and other websites are in a partnership with DuoLingo, but they did not pay or ask for this placement.

7. Pickle your own vegetables.

Tired of your farmer’s market haul going bad before you use it all? Or do you just love tangy pickled veggies? You too can pickle like a pro thanks to SkillShare and Travis Grillo.

8. Improve your public speaking skills.

You can take the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking for free online. Once you learn a few tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to go into situations like being asked to present at a company meeting or giving a presentation in class without nearly as much fear and loathing.

9. Get a basic handle of statistics.

UC Berkeley put a stats intro class on iTunes. Once you know how to understand the numbers yourself, you’ll never read a biased “news” article the same way again — 100% of authors of this post agree!

10. Understand basic psychology.

Knowing the basics of psych will bring context to your understanding of yourself, the dynamics of your family and friendships, what’s really going on with your coworkers, and the woes and wonders of society in general. Yale University has its Intro to Psychology lectures online for free.

11. Make your own music.

Step one: Learn how to play guitar: Justin Guitar is a fine and free place to start learning chords and the basic skills you’ll need to be able to play guitar — from there, it’s up to you, but once you know the basics, just looking up tabs for your favorite songs and learning them on your own is how many young guitar players get their start (plus it’s an excellent party trick).

Step two: A delightful free voice lesson from Berklee College Of Music.

Step three: Have you always thought you had an inner TSwift? Berklee College of Music offers an Introduction to Songwriting course completely for free online. The course is six weeks long, and by the end of the lesson you’ll have at least one completed song.

Step four: Lifehacker’s basics of music production will help you put it all together once you have the skills down! You’ll be recording your own music, ready to share with your valentine or the entire world, in no time!

12. Learn to negotiate.

Let Stanford’s Stan Christensen explain how to negotiate in business and your personal life, managing relationships for your personal gain and not letting yourself be steamrolled. There are a lot of football metaphors and it’s great.

13. Stop hating math.

If you struggled with math throughout school and now have trouble applying it in real-world situations when it crops up, try Saylor.org’s Real World Math course. It will reteach you basic math skills as they apply IRL. Very helpful!

14. Start drawing!

All kids draw — so why do we become so afraid of it as adults? Everyone should feel comfortable with a sketchbook and pencil, and sketching is a wonderful way to express your creativity. DrawSpace is a great place to start. (I also highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain if you can drop a few dollars for a used copy.)

15. Make your own animated GIF.

BuzzFeed’s own Katie Notopoulos has a great, simple guide to making an animated GIF without Photoshop. This is all you need to be the king or queen of Tumblr or your favorite email chains.

16. Appreciate jazz.

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Have you never really “gotten” jazz? If you want to be able to participate in conversations at fancy parties and/or just add some context to your appreciation of all music, try this free online course from UT Austin.

17. Write well.

Macalester College’s lecture series is excellent. If you’re more interested in journalism, try Wikiversity’s course selection.

18. Get better at using Photoshop.

Another invaluable skill that will get you places in your career, learning Photoshop can be as fun as watching the hilarious videos on You Suck At Photoshop or as serious as this extensive Udemy training course (focused on photo retouching).

19. Take decent pictures.

Lifehacker’s basics of photography might be a good place to start. Learn how your camera works, the basic of composition, and editing images in post-production. If you finish that and you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a short course on displaying and sharing your digital photographs.

20. Learn to knit.

Instructables has a great course by a woman who is herself an online-taught knitter. You’ll be making baby hats and cute scarves before this winter’s over!

21. Get started with investing in stocks.

If you are lucky enough to have a regular income, you should start learning about savings and investment now. Investopedia has a ton of online resources, including this free stocks basics course. Invest away!

22. Clean your house in a short amount of time.

Unf$#k Your Habitat has a great emergency cleaning guide for when your mother-in-law springs a surprise visit on you. While you’re over there, the entire blog is good for getting organized and clean in the long term, not just in “emergencies.” You’ll be happier for it.

23. Start practicing yoga.

Most cities have free community classes (try just searching Google or inquiring at your local yoga studio), or if you’re more comfortable trying yoga at home, YogaGlohas a great 15-day trial and Yome is a compendium of 100% free yoga videos. If you’re already familiar with basic yoga positions but you need an easy way to practice at home, I recommend YogaTailor’s free trial as well.

24. Tie your shoelaces more efficiently.

It’s simple and just imagine the minutes of your life you’ll save!

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