Reblog If It’s Okay To Befriend You, Ask Questions, Ask For Advice, Rant, Vent, Let Something Off Your

Words of wisdom senpai. 😊

I used to have a lot of trouble still do with procrastination and I realized that, in my new studyblr days, I didn’t know how to utilize my studyblr to help me and it was just another way for me to procrastinate and feel productive. If you can relate to this, you could probably benefit from this little dose of studyblr realness.

Don’t use your studyblr just for aesthetics: studyspo is great for inspiration and motivation, and it’s probably what drew you to the studyblr community, but it shouldn’t be what makes you stay. You won’t be able to take anything worthwhile from your blog if all you reblog is photos of beautiful notes. Mix it up with masterposts and printables and photos of “non-aesthetic” notes.

Don’t use methods that don’t work for you: if you absolutely cannot understand mindmaps but absolutely love the way they look, resist the urge to make them. You’ll only end up confusing yourself and wasting time. Only use note taking and studying methods that make sense to you. 90 percent of the time they’ll be things that you used before you made a studyblr. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t experiment with different styles and methods, but only stick to what works for you.

Discipline over motivation: imho, the study community  overstates the importance and effectiveness of motivation. Don’t get me wrong, motivation makes studying more enjoyable when you have it, but more often than not you don’t. In the end, motivation isn’t what makes you study every night, or stick with self studying a language. You have to discipline yourself to study when you don’t want to, or work when you’re tired. My old French teacher used to say “Don’t fall into the trap of waiting motiviation, and just do it” and I feel like that’s super important with this. (1, 2, 3)

Talking about studying isn’t studying: sort of related to number 3, don’t let your studyblr be another way to put off work. It’s all to easy to think “I’m blogging about studying; in being productive,” but it’s a dangerous thing to do. Studyspo is great, but don’t let scrolling through your feed become another method of procrastination.

Take photos after you study: or during, but not before. I used to spend so long taking pictures of my notes, that I wouldn’t have time to study them. I still take too long photographing my notes to take picture, so I’ve started using a pomorodo timer. After 25 minutes, I’ll use my five minute break to take photos. It’s increases my productivity so much, and I’m not sure how I ever functioned without that system.

Just get it done (and prioritize): honestly, sometime you just have to forget about trying to make your notes look pretty and just go for functionality over looks. Just let go of any studyblr ideals and do what you need to do. If you don’t have time to bullet journal and get your work finished, use an electronic calendar or don’t spend so long on your journal. Most importantly, be real with yourself. At the end of the day, you know yourself best, and you know what you need to do.

Good luck on your studyblr journeys lovelies, hope this helped!

xx

As you all know the secret to all memorization is revision. Revising can’t always be done the night before unfortunately, but has to be scheduled. Sometimes I find scheduling my studies quite hard, especially during stressful times. Here are some resources that can help you with scheduling your studies.

Making a study plan

Study plan lay out (1) (2) (3) (4)

Prepare for finals week video

Study plan by an oxbridge student

Study plan by a med student

Schedule your school calendar

Creating long term study plans

Study plan printable

Ways of planning

Bullet journal 

Passion planner

Choose the right planner

Weekly 

Daily

Monthly

To -do lists

Minimalist planning

Balancing social life and studying in your study plan

Finding time to study

Save time during the week

Organizing your life

Balancing school life and social life

Managing a heavy workload

Make the most out of your day

When you have a bad day

Useful apps/web resources for making a study plan

App plan 

Google calendar

Calendars 5

Forest

Wunderlist

Momentum

Omnifocus

Study apps

Other productivity tips

14 productivity hacks 

Time management 

Due vs do dates

Stop procrastinating

5 minutes for a more productive day

How to focus when a million things seem to happen at the same time

Productivity masterpost

The 2 minute rule

Pomodoro method

5 tips for staying productive

A question about productivity

Stay productive when you are sick

REBLOG IF I CAN MESSAGE YOU 'HEY' AND START A FRIENDSHIP.

There are a ton of masterposts like this floating around, but you can never have to much advice for baby studyblrs!

Before we start, some studyblr terms + things: studyblr=study+tumblr (your blog) studyspo=study+inspiration (photos of notes etc) studygram=study+instagram studytube=study+youtube appblr=application+tumblr (college application blog)

this post probably answers any more questions than I can answer here

Step 1: create your tumblr

The most important step, obviously. Will you make your studyblr a sideblog or a main blog? Both have their merits:

a sideblog if you already have a main and don’t want to keep switching accounts

a main blog if your studyblr will be your main focus or you don’t already have a tumblr

Step 2: your look

This is basically your URL, your theme, and your icon. None on these are set in stone, you can change them whenever you want, but I like having consistency and it makes it easy for people to find you.

Tips for your URL:

make it related to studying~you can have things like stationery items, yourname+studies, anything! (probably a given but I thought I should say it)

make it short. coffeeandpens is easier to remember that the-boy -who-studies-ancient-greek-literature-257963. Of course there’s nothing really wrong with the second one, but it’s long and a lot harder to remember than coffeeandpens

make your URL the same on all your platforms so that it’s easier to find you

check out @studyquill​‘s studyblr URL generator if you’re stuck!

Tips for your icon:

if you’ve gone through a few studyblrs, you’ll probably see that the most popular type of icons are vector icons. A ton of studyblrs have made free icons for the community (me included) and you can usually find them in the tag #studyblr icons and on @studyblr-icons​

you can also find icons on flaticon (make sure you credit them somewehere!)

but it doesn’t have to be a vector! you can use a selfie, photos of your notes, a photo of a celebrity/something from a fandom you’re in, anything!

Check out these posts for more icon tips: 1 | 2 | 3

Your blog theme:

I prefer 1 column themes over multiple columns because it’s easier to read masterposts when they aren’t in super thin columns

don’t make your text super small (it doesn’t need to be huge but anything under 9px I think is too small for body font)

@roxiestheme

@neonbikethemes

@sorrism

@enchantedthemes

@acuite

or you can check out @theme-hunter and they have a million amazing themes!

Step 3: your content

Creating original content is hands down the best way to gain followers, but don’t refrain from posting because your notes aren’t aesthetic enough. No one will laugh or judge, and don’t be discouraged if your posts don’t immediately start getting notes. Post whatever you’re interested in and whatever you’re studying. There are (roughly) three types of posts to create for your blog: studyspo, masterposts, and graphics (and printables). Check out my studyspo, masterpost, and graphics/printables tags if you need inspiration.

Check out these posts for studyspo tips: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Look at this masterpost for masterpost tips

Step 4: getting noticed

Here’s the deal: we all want our posts and blogs to get noticed. It’s nice to get notes and followers, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That being said, it’s frustrating when your blog doesn’t grow as quickly as you expected, so hopefully these tips will help you:

the first post a lot of people make is an introduction post (check out intro posts I was tagged in for format ideas). They serve as a little about me and I love reblogging them!

a lot of studyblrs have tags that they track so if you use their tag (for examble #rhubarbstudies) they’ll see it and reblog it (look at this list for some studyblrs to tag)

use popular studyblr tags: #studyblr, #studyspo, #studyinspo, #new studyblr

post consistently. Posting every day will eventually add up to notes and followers, trust me.

Step 5: making friends

My studyblr friends are a huge reason why the study community has been so enjoyable for me. Making friends can be daunting, but it’s totally worth it

some networks: @homework-help-network @smallstudyblrsunite @studyblrindex @k-studynet @sapphicstudynet

my advice is to join a network with a theme and/or a group chat instead on just an index if you really want to meet people

some more posts like this: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Lastly:

Don’t be intimidated by the studyblrs with super aesthetic posts that get thousands of notes, they all started as new studyblrs. And maybe they’ve had their blogs for years, but literally every single studyblr has started off with 0 followers. What’s more, you don’t have to aspire to be those blogs at all. Perfect lettering and crisp lighting and a multitude of stationery is lovely, but don’t worry if you don’t have content like that. Your studyblr is about you and your journey. Good luck!

📖

(via http://jiteshkhanna.tumblr.com)

the night won’t sleep much longer a vanishing shadow stills the heart it’s a long way up the heavens a long way down another flight

Mao Asada - Manuel de Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance

Hey, there! Someone recently asked me, “How do you make a moodboard?” It’s a tough question to answer, actually, because I wasn’t sure if the person meant conceptually (the process of conceiving one) or technically (the process of putting it together on a computer). So, I thought I’d make a masterpost covering both, as well as some tips on aesthetics.

Step 1: Conceiving of your moodboard

Sometimes people will make requests, and half the work will be done for you. They’ll request “Hufflepuff, doodles, tea, INFP, Virgo, travel” and you’ll know that these are themes/motifs/images that you should try to include. Alternately, you may have a more general feeling that you are trying to evoke through images: melancholy, for example. You may also have a specific aesthetic that you’re trying to achieve. ~Aesthetic~ is a tricky word and can mean several different things in varying contexts. “Brooding sad girl lyfe” could be an aesthetic, a cohesive visual goal. In this case, all the components of the moodboard would be contributing to this notion of a brooding sad girl and her lyfe.

Step 2: Finding pictures

Once you have an idea of where you want to go with your moodboard, it’s time to hunt for images! I like to surf the tags on Tumblr, and if I can’t find something that suits my needs there, I’ll turn to Google images. Remember to keep track of where you find your pics so you can give credit later (or even better: ask permission to use them).

Step 3: Making the thing

You can compose a moodboard by simply uploading photos to Tumblr and moving them around, or you could use graphic design software. I like to use Canva because it’s easy and free. It also allows you to save the moodboard as a single image. I’ll briefly go through making a moodboard with Canva.

First choose a size by clicking “Use Custom Dimensions”: 900 x 900 pixels is standard for square moodboards. You can also set the size using inches instead of pixels.

Then you choose a layout from the lefthand menu. 

Next, load your pictures by clicking “Upload” in the lefthand menu. Once they’re uploaded, you can begin dragging them over to the cells. Double clicking a picture allows you to adjust its positioning in the cell.

When positioning the photos, I always like to keep in mind balance: of light and dark, of colors, of subject matter. I wouldn’t want two pictures of teacups next to each other. I wouldn’t want two pictures of text next to each other either. Balance is key. Glancing over it quickly, you should get a sense of a flow of images, with nothing too jarring or standing out. This will make for a cohesive moodboard.

My personal style is a little busier than most, meaning the images are more crowded and cramped. I find this gives the moodboard more texture and makes it more visually interesting. This is just my opinion. I still find minimal moodboards to be beautiful, too.

Step 4: Posting the thing

Always give credit where and when you can. And the more credit you give the better: if you know the photographer’s name–awesome! If not, then the blog where you found it should suffice. Some people believe you should ask permission before posting a photo to a moodboard, but often this won’t work in the interest of time. It’s actually a little bit of a controversial subject; many people practice crediting in different ways. This is just my suggestion. I also usually offer to take down a photo if the owner objects. I used all my own images for this masterpost and blurred out others to save myself the trouble :) You really should credit the owners, though.

I hope this was helpful. Message me with any questions or feel free to add on!

Reading "The Great Gatsby" today. It has me very intrigued.