Study Notes - Blog Posts

10.06.2024

It was the first day of school, just got my textbooks and the whole class spent the day talking and doing nothing. Classes start tomorrow but I'm starting sooner this year. I'm keeping this as a tracker for progress so... Yeah

Read 1 chapter of Business studies and English

Completed 50% of the assignment in Economics

Revised last year's accountancy notes

Study Tip 5

When you're studying, most of you will probably focus more on the input. You'll take in loads of information. And i mean loads and loads of information. But do you still wonder, why am I not getting the grades for the amount of input I put in? Like, you study alot only to get mediocre grades?

Well, let me break it down...

Input is important but... output is more important.

Input is absorbing information. Committing it to memory. Remembering facts. It's a mental activity.

Output is how you communicate or display information.

Let's be honest, the teacher correcting your paper doesn't care if you studied the whole year or the whole night. They just care about finishing their task and whether you've answered the questions correctly. So, the way you communicate it is important.

When you study, give more focus on the output. If you're input is "x" amount of effort then your concentration and effort on output should be "2x".

How do you do that?

Well, after studying, spend a good amount of time recalling the information by giving the processed information back. Whether you do it by saying it aloud or writing it down or both. I prefer to say it aloud, write it down and then say it again and again. The main thing is...

What you learnt must be communicated.

It doesn't have to be through teaching. There are multiple ways. Notes. Drawing. Visuals. Mind maps. Audio recordings. Anything that works for you!

Written notes is probably the best because at the end of the day you are going to write the exam, even if you know the whole damn textbook, what you write in your exam is the only thing that counts.

So, here's the secret (which isn't a secret anymore) i use:- When you finish a topic:

Write the key words.

Say it out loud multiple times until you remember them.

Close the notes and recall. Aloud.

Repeat step 2 & 3 about 4-5 times.

Bonus: you can write the points without looking this time.

Basically... Write it. Say it. Recall it. Repeat it.

The first 2 steps are the means of inputs. You're getting information in.

The next three are outputs. You're getting the information out. See the emphasis on how you recall it aloud? It needs your 100% attention for you to remember the points. And when you repeat it, it's literally for you to process it. To let it sink in. You're less likely to forget it sooner too.

Remember. X input needs 2x output.

Whatever the output is. It needs to be multiplied.

Hope this helps! :D

Hey any last minute revision tips for tests/exams? I always struggle with it

Hey there Anon!

First of all, during revision, I try my level best to recall everything without actually going through the topic but it's kinda difficult so glance through the topic before you close the book and recall every single point.

Revise the chapters that you know well and are confident in first because it's better to thoroughly know some specific topics than being doubtful in every single topic.

Do not, under any circumstances, start to learn a new topic during revision (unless the topic is like really really important). It will only cause you panic.

If you find yourself distracted, move around alittle.

More distractions? Act like you're a tutor or teacher.

Don't study the whole topic line by line, recall important key words and examples.

Don't set a time limit for each topic. Set time limits for the whole syllabus. (Like, if you have 12 lessons. Think you'll complete 6 of them by the afternoon, allow 2 hours grace time and viola, you now know half the syllabus completely)

Take breaks. Both the 20 mins and 20 second breaks (-> 20 sec post)

Eat some snacks in between. I personally don't prefer meals because I get really lazy and sleepy after that.

Do not call your friends to ask how much they've revised because you'll definitely panick.

Go through your material. If you don't remember a topic which you actually have studied, write short notes just beside it.

Use past question papers and practice problems.

Quiz yourself. Say your answers out loud.

If you have no idea where to start, just go from the shortest chapters because then you'll feel like you have completed some syllabus.

Lastly, whatever you do, sleep early. Atleast before 11 pm because you need to be fresh for the exam.

Basically. Recall. Summarise. Quiz. Repeat.

Hope this helped! <3

You don't have to be great at something to start, but you have to start to be great at something.

Mistakes I made in my junior year that i don't want anyone else to repeat.

Signed up for more extra curriculars than I could handle

Not giving myself enough breaks

Sleeping late

Had increased screentime

Didn't give midterms it's dues importance

Lost my notes a couple of times so I had to rewrite them and thus, wasted time.

Thought too much about what people think

Had increased anxiety levels because i wasn't doing anything productive

Didn't study from the start

Got overconfident in the subject which was easy and ended up getting the lowest in it.

Gave too many f**ks about unimportant matters

Didn't give too many f**ks about important matters

Didn't manage my time

Got alittle too ambitious and ended up backfiring

Implemented every single piece of advice i got from teachers (didn't turn out well)

Unhealthy diet and reduced my meals

Didn't exercise.

(For both my reference and yours. I have definitely thought about how I can improve in my last and final year of highschool based on this and thought that this might help someone else too.)

I will succeed. Not immediately. But definitely.

Study until you think you are perfect and then study some more because you are never perfect.

You're not always going to be motivated. So you must learn to be disciplined.

Success is 1% plan. 99% action. Don't. Forget. That.

Study Tip - 4

When you're studying, it is advisable to take a break. I don't mean breaks which last around 5-15 mins. I mean breaks that last for 20 seconds.

Why 20 seconds?

Recently, i have discovered that when you're studying for long hours or even short, our brains are exhausted by the time we complete even a single chapter. It has too much of information to actually process it so i always use this method.

When you complete a topic, small or big. Just close your eyes for 20-30 seconds and lean back on your chair and calm your breathing. Process the information. Let everything sink in. Take out the tension. DO NOT TAKE YOUR PHONE. And then after those 20-30 seconds, just glance through the topic before moving to the next one.

How does this help?

Boosts attention.

Allows you to calm down from overwhelming emotions

Helps you process better.

You're likely to remember it more.

Helps you to study for longer hours.

Hope it helps! :)

Dreams don't work until you do.

You're getting distracted again. You've got dreams to chase. Not people to impress. Wake up.

You need to do it yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.

Using multiple senses for studying

So, what do I mean by using multiple senses?  These senses usually employ in multisensory learning as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile – VAKT (i.e. seeing, hearing, doing, and touching)

Some may like to say the words out loud, some may like to hear them and many would prefer to write it down, some like getting hands on work and of course, depending on how you learn, they'll work for you but recently I've been using this method to study and it's so damn helpful.

The method I use is something that is applicable to mostly all subjects except maths and other subjects like physics or chemistry .

All you have to do is first you'll read the content then by looking at the content, you'll make notes about it. Draw small doodles related to it or draw a cycle of the content. Visualize the material! Then, you'll listen to the lecture notes or any videos about the content. And write more notes about it if you've missed any points! Then when you get the grasp of the material, you'll close the notes and you'll explain it to yourself aloud. Your voice needs to be loud and clear so you can hear it yourself. Then repeat! The more times you repeat explaining it to yourself, the better. Do it until you feel like you know the material well enough!

How does this help?

It uses the three main senses used for studying together which creates stronger connections in the brain

You're likely to remember the content for a longer period

Information will come rushing back in a matter of minutes if you had paid attention to it.

It helps you to remember main keywords easily

Enhances creativity

Is an active study method so you need to pay attention otherwise you won't be able to do this.

Hope this helps! Feel free to change this according to your needs. These methods can be experimented with! :)

Math Tips

(Pictures are not mine)

Well, let me tell you, we all have this love-hate relationship with this subject, right? The worst part is that when you don't know what the heck is going on, so, as a girl who studied maths (2 Volumes/textbooks) on her own during the year she was homeschooled, here are some tips and tricks that I did to get an A+ in my math finals!

Get your syllabus together

In the beginning I had no damn idea what was going on and it was just confusing. I had to do the first thing I did was taken my index/table of contents and mark the chapters which i knew very well and the ones I had no clue about. And then i arranged them with the marking scheme, like which one carries the most marks etc etc and study accordingly.

Complete lessons/chapters that you already know

When you finish off the things you already know then that's gonna give you the confidence you need even if you know only 1-2 chapters, learn it throughout and make sure that you'll get the answer no matter how twisted the sum is. If you're doubtful about the whole textbook like any normal person.... Start with the easy ones. (I know there are literally really no "easy" chapters, spare me)

Harder chapters need hard work

Most chapters like Trigonometry proofs, Geometry proofs, Algebra, Graphs, Mensuration and Calculus etc need more than minimum effort but here's a trick, what is the common thing in this? Yes, they're all formulae and theorem based which goes to my next point. These chapters are completely based on how much you've understood your basics.

Formulae and theorem cheatsheets

Make a list of all formulae and the theorem used in the book, write them chapter wise and no printouts or digital notes. Take a paper and write it down, no excuses. It helps you while you're practicing, revising and in the last minute review, it helped me damn much. Remember, maths is a sport. The basic formulae must come to you like reflexes.

YouTube is your best friend.

For every single chapter, go and watch the basics and how a sum is done step by step. A recommendation for this is Organic Chemistry Tutor who literally is one of the reasons i passed. He has videos from basic geometry, trigonometry, statistics to calculus. Search for your own YouTubers and be clear with concepts.

Math is fully memorization

Memorize formulae and theorems with the back of your hand, you should be able to recall them within seconds. Be thorough.

Memorize basic math values (if calculator isn't allowed)

Do this if you have a majority of chapters like Statistics, Mensuration, Profit/loss calculation etc, where large numbers are concerned. Memorize the first 10 square, cube, decimal and multiplication values. It may be dry but there are literally songs available for these things, I'm serious, i learnt the first 10 cube roots by listening to Senorita xD Search for rhymes and they'll definitely be many!!

Work it out!!!!!!

Can't stress this enough, atleast 30-40 mins is the minimum for maths. I'm serious, work out each sum, don't ever think it's a waste, you'll see the results. Practice makes perfect. Work out every single sum, from examples to exercise ones cause let's be honest, our examiners love to take problems from every nook and cranny of the book.

Whiteboard method

So, I made this up and it actually works, if you have a whiteboard or anything else, once you completed a chapter, take a random page and whatever sums you have on those two pages, you need to complete within a given time limit. It helps you to identify your weak points and where the hell you're losing both time and effort and not to mention that it gives you confidence boost up.

Hope this helps :))

Study Tip - 3

Something I've seen quite a lot nowadays is people studying with timers, like, I still don't understand it... I've asked many people and they're like "It helps us to finish the goal while managing time and we complete our revision sooner"

But the main thing is, they don't remember it for more than a few hours or days... for me the goal is to complete the task perfectly and not to complete it faster than anyone.

Because when you keep looking at the clock, you're worried more about the time than the work. You're more excited about getting a break after that specific time than the actual studying. That is why, when i study, I face towards an empty wall and I can easily work without worrying about the time.

Don't set a time limit for any work, you'll realise how much work you'll actually get done when you're not looking at the clock.

Of course, this doesn't have to work for you but I think that this could help you expand your average study time.

No harm trying it :)

Introduction :)

I know I'm doing this kinda late but it's fine, let's start. Generally I'm a very boring person so anyways xD

About myself:

Isabelle

She/Her

17

English Major

INFP-T

Hobbies:

Reading

Writing

Theatre

Art

Code

Interests:

Literature. Books. Poetry. Quotes. Languages. Miraculous. TV shows (only some). Classics. Jewelry (only black). Nature. Coffee. Photography. Journaling. Cats. Roses. Fan fiction.

Reason for this blog?

I needed motivation to study, and it looked like a good way to monitor my day-to-day progress, hence the name "study-diaries". No promises about being consistent T-T

What can you find here?

Study tips, study progress, techniques, ranting, mental health reminders, books, languages, quotes, motivation etc etc... In short, anything related to studying, languages, books and literature, mental health and self-care.

Note: Whatever pictures I use are not mine unless I specify that they are mine! Most of them are from Pinterest and credits go to their original owner.

Tips for understanding complex topics

I've struggled with this but I'm adapting, you know? So here are some of my tips I use for this :)

If you can't understand it at once, do not think that it is hard

Many times, the topic itself if simple but the way the textbook has described it is complex so go and search for related videos and Google about it until you've got a hint about what it is.

If it's complicated, divide the sentence.

When you find yourself getting completely lost in a topic while banging your head against the wall because it's so confusing.... separate each part of the sentence while you write each part as you say it out loud. It'll help you to atleast get a short idea about the subject.

Read! Read! Read!

Read it over and over again and underline the words you think are important, write them down, explain it to yourself, draw small diagrams around your notes, connect them through visual representation. The more you use different types of senses, the better you understand it.

Give yourself time.

Let yourself grasp what the whole topic is about, do not under any circumstances have a time limit for difficult topics. I took days just to understand how Javascript loops work and I'm still not fully clear about it but i can explain the general, very basic purpose of it.

Explain it to someone or yourself

The best way to learn is to teach, this actually does work. It helps you to put your understanding in words and clear any underlying questions. And lastly...

Handwritten notes!

I cannot stress this enough but things that you've written down generally stay in your memory for longer durations. I also prefer handwritten notes to digital ones cause personally it works better.

Hope this helps! :D

The one thing that school definitely did -> Mess up my sleep schedule.

A Reminder To Those Who Need It.

I got this question a lot and I'm absolutely tired of hearing it...

"What are you doing in college?", "What are your plans after senior year?"

Like, I don't even know what I'm gonna do over the break or the next whole year, so, i thought maybe it's like this for everyone. People are expected to decide everything like it won't actually impact their life. Most of my class is damn sure about what they wanna do while me? I just wanna pass senior year with good grades and think about it slowly and with a clearer head.

For me, the main thing that matters is that i shouldn't regret taking something i don't like and I don't wanna rush the whole decision up. And i just got like such judgy eyes... ugh... Like, I don't know what i want... Why is that not okay nowadays? Why is taking time to figure it out not alright?

So, to everyone who's in a situation like me...

You don't have to have everything figured out, if you don't know what you're gonna do, that's completely fine. Take your time, it's not a race.

Honestly, it can be quite confusing and you may feel like you might be kinda lax about it but honestly, it's definitely okay :)

You're not obliged to rush your decisions just because another person has already made theirs.

Just wanted to say that... okay, bye.

Study Tip - 2

Writing practice and i don't mean time management. By writing practice, I mean, no matter how well you know your content, if you can't put it in words appropriately then you won't get your grades.

Now, it's hard to remember every single thing so here's a technique...

What? When? Who? Why? How? What's the use?

The basic information for any topic would be the answer to these questions. I'll take an example, suppose you have to write a short note on computer.

The points would be:

What is it? An electronic device.

When was it invented?  Between 1833 and 1871.

Who invented it? Charles Babbage

Why did they invent it? To perform calculations

How does it work? (Input-Process-Output)

What's the main use? Storing, receiving and processing data

The more questions you answer, the more points you get. This can be applied generally, if you take your textbook and observe how many points each topic has, many might answer to the above questions.

So when you're writing the exam and you don't know how to continue, just think about what questions you've missed and answer to them.

Note: Change questions according to the topic/ subject and do not change the main keywords.

Bonus: Write all the general questions related to each lesson at the starting of the lesson or your notes. So, while revising, you'll know your order.

25.03.24

Day 8/ Day 8

I know it was a 9 day thing but it was because I had to go to school tomorrow but now I don't need to cause I just dropped by picked up my things and certificates etc etc... so my break starts here!!

The exam was alright, kinda unexpected paper but it's done now!

So what am i gonna do for 2 whole months?

Finish a course that I've been ignoring for way too long

Read as much as I can

Post some study related content here

I'll be posting a weekly reading challenge later on, like cause I wanna actually see how i complete it xD

24.03.24

Day 7/ Day 9

Okay, only 1 more day until suffering kinda ends for like 2 months? Anyway, it was a productive day but I still have a ton of stuff to revise.

Completed:

Part IV of 17 lessons out of like 33 (T-T)

Revised MCQs

Need to revise:

Part IV of 16 more lessons

Gonna be a long night

Total hours of study: 6 hours and still counting (Updated: 8 hours)

23.03.24

Day 6/ Day 9

It was a really productive day to be honest, i completed:

Part I - III in about 29 lessons

Revised notes

Wrote some new notes

(An overall, we have 4 parts in each lesson and totally we have about 33 lessons T-T)

Total hours of study: 8 hours {I shocked myself too, I'm damn tired}

Discussion after an exam:-

Friend 1: You know, for the first four MCQs we got only C! Friend 2: I got D for everything.... Me: uh... I got an A,B,D,C *The three of us staring at each other realising we are in deep trouble* A classmate: I got A,B, A, B *Silence*

22.03.24

Day 5/ Day 9

Not a very productive day but I did:

Glance through the important questions and case studies

Revised MCQs

Total hours of studying: 1 hour 30 mins

21.03.24

Day 4/ Day 9

I completed my exam today and nothing else unless reading an extremely cringey e-book counts xD

So yeah... and my exam was meh... not too good, not too bad. I still have like one exam left and then I'm done with junior year!

20.03.24

Day 3/ Day 9... It's the night before my 2nd last exam, gosh, I want to get it done T-T

Despite my exam being tomorrow, I ended up reading an e-book for the majority of the time but nevertheless i revised quite a lot...

Things i completed today:

Finished almost the whole textbook

Revised MCQs

Watched an hour of lectures covering important topics

Need to complete:

Review the notes one last time today (✓)

Revising MCQs again (will complete early in the morning)

Revising 4 important lessons again (✓)

Review 8 important questions/topics (✓)

Total hours of study (still counting): 4 hours

Updated: Total hours of study- 6 hours

19.03.24

Today was a lazy day, I just slept and studied for only sometime... But Day 2 is done!

Day 2/Day 9

Today i completed:

Two lessons in accounts

Revised MCQs

Reviewed notes

Total hours of study: 2 hours

18.03.24

I'm gonna start a countdown till my last working day of junior year which is 26.03.24 so...

Day 1/Day 9

Over-all, a productive day, i studied for six hours (still counting) and completed:

Revised 7 lessons in Business Studies

Revised some important questions

Did some previous year questions in Accounts

Reviewed notes

Things I have to complete in Accounts:

Review more notes (✓)

Revise 3-4 lessons (✓)

Revise MCQs (do not have the energy T-T)

Updated:

Total hours of study: 7 hours 30 mins