Self Improvement Masterpost

art by blindthesun.

windows 10 is garbage so every time i boot up the computer i have to run command prompt and enter

net.exe stop “Windows Search”

so that the shitty goddamned search/cortana feature that i never fucking use stops running in the background taking up all my fucking disk space

How to Brace Yourself for a New School Year

August is fast approaching once again! Though I’m all for “starting the year/ school year right”, I think it’s pretty much unavoidable for us to get off track. A lot. Because of that, I put together this infographic to help minimize those stressful moments in your brand new school years.

First of all, get your shit together. And I mean both physically and emotionally.

it’s a new start my friend!! detox your mind of all those negative thoughts (and people) and embrace the opportunity to start over. 

gather all the supplies you need. if you’re moving into a dormitory, make sure it’s equipped with everything you need to feel at home. 

her campus college packing list

do’s and don’ts

don’t go overboard with this step, but go get yourself some new stationery. choose wisely, and ensure that you’ll actually use it and it’s not just for purposes of aesthetic. we all want nice instagram feeds, but don’t let that be a reason for you to buy too much pretty stationery.

why not think of a note taking system before classes begin? 

the cornell system

mind mapping

flashcards

not all may find the idea of going back to school exciting, but you gotta have the motivation to keep that positive mindset in your head throughout the year! go you.

Organize your study space. You may have to stay in it much longer than usual now.

lighting is important. it’s oversaid, but never untrue. opt for natural lighting when you can, but if you can’t or you’re a night owl, get a good study lamp to brighten up those long hours of work.

I did say you’re probably gonna be staying here for some long bouts of time, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. make your desk one of your favorite places to be in. if you want to, make it really pretty. hang up some motivational posters or quotes - perhaps you even want a color scheme with that. 

desk inspiration

quote posters to get you going

quotes from writers

have an accessible stash of stationery on your desk at all times so that you don’t have to go looking for a pen and a sticky note when you need to write something down. keep pens, pencils and highlighters in a jar near you.

keep something green on your desk, like a succulent. plants are adorable and the sight of them can boost your productivity.

have a planner or a bullet journal, and make space for that too.

a bujo masterpost 

if working with music helps you, have headphones with you as well. always have a study playlist on hand. go for instrumentals or wordless tracks.

study playlist masterpost

make it a habit to keep your space in check every night before you go to bed. it really could make a big difference in how much work you’re gonna be able to do. don’t forget to stay clear of distractions!

Create a stress management system.

okay. this is what i’m telling you to brace yourself for. there are gonna be those days or those moments when you’re gonna feel really depressed or panicked. you’re gonna be okay. feel free to message me or any other studyblr - we’re here to listen =)

take some time out to practice self care and put off work, even for a bit. school is not the most important thing in the world, keeping yourself alive and healthy is. you can sleep, be kind to yourself.

self-care reminders

soothe yourself

go get some food too. you can prep some of your own if you’d prefer.

food masterpost

mood boosting food

never ever ever underestimate the power of exercise. the feeling of finishing a workout is so so so satisfying and I can guarantee you will feel better in no time.

the seven minute workout

popsugar fitness

take out your mat and do some yoga. stretch out all those muscles you held in place for so long sitting at your desk.

I find it important to always have a mini-collection of unread books. if you don’t have any, one of my favorite places to be in is a bookstore or library - and I just read whatever I find. the results can be life changing.

take time to hone your skills in your hobbies. if you can, do it everyday - do that one thing that makes you really happy daily. maybe you like singing. or playing the guitar. or painting. whatever it is, go do it.

write it down! I keep an electronic journal and it really helps to just spill your thoughts out on a notebook or your phone.

honey, please talk to someone if you need to. it won’t hurt. 

Get a headstart on academics.

especially on subjects that are easier with advanced reading. if you already know what books you’re going to be tackling for english or literature, go read them.

sparknotes

shmoop

try asking upper years who used to take your classes if they still have their course outlines, or any material they were given before. this can save lives.

gonna be taking a language class? why not start learning it already?

duolingo

memrise

find textbooks and start using them!!

don’t have any idea of what you’re going to study yet? that doesn’t mean you should stop learning something new. you can listen to a ted talk or join an online course.

ted

crash course

coursera

Finally, set SMART goals for the school year. And have a concrete plan for how you’ll reach them.

what average are you aiming for? what organizations do you want to join? make your goals realistic and specific.

motivation is very important, but honestly, you can’t count on it to be with you every single day, every single moment of your life while you’re working for your goals. what will push you forward then? discipline.

building discipline

surround yourself with a community people who support you. like I said in the first step, detox all those negative people from your life. find ways to work with your friends and help each other in attaining goals.

set rewards for yourself too, not just in the long run but for the little things like finishing a good study session or passing a paper early.

study reward ideas

that being said, don’t underestimate the power of setting your short-term goals. those will be your stepping stones to pursuing the bigger picture you envision for yourself.

Tumblr and Pinterest, provided you don’t go too far in using them, can serve your daily doses of inspiration. don’t just use them for the sake of looking at aesthetically pleasing shots, though.

on a final note, don’t let academics take over your life. I hope you have a fantastic year, and good luck!

Dorm Shopping 101: Making a List

The earlier you start the better, back to school sales are not the end all be all of deals. Shopping for your dorm and college can be overwhelming, but there are ways to make it more approachable. Before you buy anything you should make a list to avoid overspending and overpacking.

 As you make your list, consult your family and older friends that went off to college. They’ll help you figure out what you really need to bring.

Another source to consult is your university, they’ll often provide floor plans, dimensions, a list of what the room comes with, and a list of banned products on their website or any housing information they sent you.

Actually write your list, it doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or the notes app on your phone, you’ll need to refer back to your list when you’re shopping

It helps if you write your list in categories like decor, bedding, lighting, toiletries, shower supplies, appliances, etc.

Look at what you use around your house to add to your list to make sure you don’t miss anything important like laundry detergent or sponges for washing dishes.  

It helps to know if you will be in a community style dorm or a suite style for things like bathroom supplies and cleaning supplies

Talk to your roommate(s) so you don’t end up with double the stuff 

Remember you can always buy more later

Note that dorm rooms are relatively small, so shop compact. We will cover how to make the most of what little space you have in future posts.

Dorm life isn’t all about making your dorm look presentable: you have to survive too if your meal plan is limited. Be prepared to shop for food and snacks that can last you through the first half of the semester until you have time to go shopping again.

Personally, I like to write my lists out by hand, it helps me remember it and keep me on task. My bullet journal is great for these things because then I know where my list is rather than trying to keep track of a random slip of paper. -  Clove

When I write a list on hardcopy paper, I have a professional black leather planner which can be used for a wide variety of things like academics and important career-related information. It may be useful to invest in one from Franklin Covey or your local office supply store. Otherwise, when you make a digital list, preferably use Google Docs where you can access it from any device. - Jasiel

I got this huge archive of cult movies and obscure videos if anybody else is sick of streaming services

what are your twenties if not an endless string of the ghosts of who you thought you would become

we love neck….we love chest… [cr. 1/2]

College Chats: Staying True to Yourself

If you’re going to college or university in the fall, you might be thinking this is your chance to reinvent yourself. However, I found during that time I learned to understand myself and be comfortable with who I am! You will go through changes and grow, but more importantly you’ll figure out who you honestly are at the core!

The first week is an ice cream swirl of emotions, you’ll have the joy of adult freedom and you’ll be overwhelmed by adult responsibilities. You’ll also be meeting a lot of new people during orientation week and figuring out where you belong. The best advice for that week: be friendly but cautious of who you trust. Whether it’s a relationship or friendship, a person needs to earn your respect before you disclose intimate information. Especially during frosh week, everyone can seem like your new best friend. However, after the high of that week goes away, you’ll get to know who makes a good friend and who’s only good for a party. 

Another reason to be honest about yourself, people easily can tell when someone’s being fake. For example, you might think being cynical and sarcastic all the time will make people think you’re cool. But if that’s not you, most will not respond to a persona you put on. Those that do, are probably not genuine people themselves. You’ve got to discover what feels natural to your personality and not force yourself to be a completely different person. 

Another way to stay true to yourself  is if the decisions you’re making are for you! If you’re scared of losing friends or a relationship by not always doing what others want you to, you need to let go of those people! Your happiness can only be fulfilled by you and should never depend on those around you!

Being honest about yourself, also means recognizing when you do need to make improvements! No matter the personal issue, you need to create small steps you can commit to in order to make a big change! Don’t be afraid to ask for help and those that care about you will support you wanting to grow!

Speaking of support, an easy way to tell if a relationship is good for you is how the other person makes you feel about yourself. If a friend or significant other encourages you to want to be better and still like yourself at the same time, it’s a healthy relationship! We all deserve to relax and take a break once in awhile, but you don’t want to surround yourself with people that don’t encourage you to achieve your goals!

I hope this gives you some refreshed perspective on yourself and please check out the blogs I used gifs from! :)

HOW TO WRITE A HIGH-GRADE RESEARCH PAPER

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The first time I had to write a research paper for university was one of the most stressful experiences I’d ever had - it was so different to anything I’d ever done before and caused me so much anxiety! It turned out that I’m pretty damn good at writing research reports and I’m now looking to pursue a career in psychological research. 

I have never received less than a First (or 4.0 GPA for you American studiers) in my research papers so I thought I’d share my top tips on how to write a kick-ass, high-grade research paper.

*disclaimer: I am a psychology student, my tips are based on my personal experience of writing up psychological research (quantitative and qualitative); therefore, they may require some adaptation in order to be applied to your field of study/research*

These tips will be split up into the different sections a research paper should consist of: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion.

ABSTRACT

The aim of an abstract is to summarise your whole paper - it should be concise, include key-words, highlight the key points of your paper and be written last.

When I say concise, I mean concise! The abstract is what other students and researchers will read in order to decide whether your research is relevant their own work and essentially determines whether or not they’ll read on - they want to know the key details and don’t want to be overwhelmed with information.

I always aim to keep my abstracts under 250 words. I set myself this limit to stop myself waffling and dwelling on unimportant points, it helps me to be really selective of what I include and ensures I’m gripping the reader from the start.

Your abstract should discuss the research rationale, the methods and designs used, your results and the general conclusion(s) drawn. One or two sentences on each of these topics is enough.

Make sure you’re using key-words throughout your abstract as this will also help the reader decide whether your work is relevant to theirs. You can make key-words super obvious by highlighting them in a key at the bottom of your abstract (see below) or just used jargon consistently. Using key-words is also important if you’re looking to get your work published, these words will help people find your work using search engines.

Finally, write your abstract last! An abstract is a summary of your whole research paper which makes it practically impossible to write well first. After writing the rest of your paper, you will know your research inside and out and already have an idea of what key things you need to highlight in your abstract.

INTRODUCTION

For me, the introduction section is always the most intimidating to write because it’s like painting on a blank canvas - massively daunting and leaving you terrified to make a mistake!

The aim of an introduction is to provide the rationale for your research and justify why your work is essential in the field. In general, your introduction should start very broad and narrow down until you arrive at the niche that is your research question or hypothesis.

To start, you need to provide the reader with some background information and context. You should discuss the general principle of your paper and include some key pieces of research (or theoretical frameworks if relevant) that helps your reader get up to speed with the research field and where understanding currently lies. This section can be pretty lengthy, especially in psychological research, so make sure all of the information you’re including is vital as it can be pretty easy to get carried away.

This background should lead you onto the rationale. If you’ve never written a research paper before, the rationale is essentially the reason behind your own research. This could be building on previous findings so our understanding remains up to date, it could be picking up on weaknesses of other research and rectifying these issues or it could be delving into an unexplored aspect of the field! You should clearly state your rationale and this helps lead into the next section.

You should end your introduction by briefly discussing your current research. You need to state your research question or hypothesis, how you plan on investigating the question/hypothesis, the sample you plan on using and the analysis you plan to carry out. You should also mention any limitations you anticipate to crop up so you can address these in your discussion.

In psychology, references are huge in research introductions so it is important to use an accurate (and modern as possible) reference for each statement you are making. You can then use these same references in your discussion to show where your research fits into the current understanding of the topic!

METHODS

Your methods section should make use of subheadings and tables where necessary and should be written in past tense. This can make the (potentially) lengthy section easier to navigate for the reader. I usually use the following headings: participants, materials, design, procedure.

The participants section should describe the sample that took part in your research. Age, gender, nationality and other relevant demographic information should be provided as well as the sampling technique. Personally, I use a table (see below) alongside my continuous prose as an alternative way of viewing my sample population. Please note, if you’re using a table make sure it adheres to your university guidelines.

The materials section of your methods should include any equipment, resources (i.e. images, books, diagrams) or any other materials used in your data collection. You should also reference the program that helped you conduct your analysis. For example, if you are writing a qualitative research paper, you may want to include Microsoft Word in your materials if you use the program to transcribe interviews.

You should then describe the design used in your research. All variables should be identified in this paragraph, if relevant. You should also discuss whether your research is within-groups or between-groups, again only if relevant.

Last is your procedure section - the most important one! You must write this section with enough detail so that anybody could pick it up, read it and conduct the same experiment with ease. You should describe what participants were required to do, how data was collected and it should be written in chronological order! While it’s important to provide enough information, try not to overwhelm the reader with lengthy sentences and unnecessary information.

RESULTS

Your results section’s sole purpose is to provide the reader with the data from your study. It should be the second shortest section (abstract being first) in your research paper and should stick to the relevant guidelines in regards to reporting figures, tables and diagrams. Your goal is to relay results in the most objective and concise way possible.

Your results section serves to act as evidence for the claims you’ll go on to make during your discussion but you must not be biased in the results you report. You should report enough data to sufficiently justify your conclusions but must also include data that doesn’t support your original hypothesis or research question. 

Reporting data is most easily done through tables and figures as they’re easy to look at and select relevant information. If you’re using tables and figures you should always make sure you’re stating effect sizes and p values and to a consistent decimal place. Illustrative tables and figures should always be followed by supporting summary text consisting of a couple of sentences relaying the key statistical findings in continuous prose.

DISCUSSION

The discussion section should take the opposite approach to your introduction! You should start discussing your own research and broaden the discussion until you’re talking about the general research field.

You should start by stating the major findings of your study and relating them back to your hypothesis or research questions. You must must must explicitly state whether you reject or accept your experimental hypothesis, if you have one. After stating your key findings you should explain the meaning, why they’re important and where they fit into the existing literature. It’s here that you should bring back the research you discussed in your introduction, you should relate your findings to the current understanding and state the new insight your research provides.

You should then state the clinical relevance of your research. Think about how your findings could be applied to real-life situations and discuss one or two practical applications.

After this, discuss the limitations of your research. Limitations could include sample size and general sample population and how this effects generalisability of findings, it could include methodological problems or research bias! These limitations will allow you to discuss how further research should be conducted. Suggest ways in which these limitations could be rectified in future research and also discuss the implications this could have on findings and conclusions drawn.

Finally, you need to give the reader a take-home message. A sentence or two to justify (again) the need for your research and how it contributes to current understanding in the field. This is the last thing your audience will read so make it punchy!

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That’s it folks! My tips for writing a kick-ass, high-grade research paper based on my personal experience. If you have any questions regarding things I’ve missed or didn’t provide enough detail of, then please just send me an ask!

Also, if any of you would like to read any of my past research papers I would be more than happy to provide you with them :-))

Korean Mythology [pt. 1]

안녕하세요! This post was requested by lunax02, who suggested that I talk about Korean Mythological Creatures as a way to incorporate more Korean culture into my blog! This ask is brilliant and I appreciate all requests made to me (especially if you guys are super interested in it)! In order to tell you about Mythological Creatures in Korea, you first need to know where they come from! This is crucial for understanding their history and why they are an important part of Korean culture! 

This is also very exciting to me as this post (and future Korean Mythology posts) will be a collab with my friend / mutual, @patrooocle​! Dare I say, the queen of giving us Korean culture blogs. She has been so kind as to share her notes and help me through this process, so if you don’t follow her already please please do!

patrooocle’s blog // patrooocle’s twitter // patrooocle’s IG

WARNING: This post will be very long! 

*for this post, I will be using some Hanja ( 한자 // 漢字 ), anything written by me is open to criticism as I am still learning how to make it more natural and the correct stroke order and would love all the help I can get

I am using Hanja as a way to incorporate a deeper understanding of the Korean characters and their origins! It is a way to break down the literal meaning of the Korean words so we can have a better understanding of their history!

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