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For more tips follow How To Study Quick!

What to Do When School Gets Hard (for the first time)

Total honesty time: I was a slacker in high school. I don’t mean that in the sense that I got bad grades, or that I didn’t do extracurriculars. I mean that in the sense that I was the kid who got good grades without having to try, so I never did. Try, that is. This meant that when I got to college, I got a surprise: professors want you to actually study! Like, with the textbook and everything! Needless to say, I had a rough time figuring out how to do this “studying” thing, and I know I’m probably not alone in this boat. The good thing is, I’ve figured this out, for the most part, so now you can learn from my mistakes.

Assume every class is going to be your hardest, going in. The day you don’t assume you’re going to have to put in five hours minimum studying for the first real test in a class is the day you will really regret. Until you get a feel for a certain professor, treat it like it’s super hard.

Schedule in studying time and STICK WITH IT. DO THIS. Or else you will end up like me, making friends with the other lone person who inhabits the study lounge at 1 am. Don’t be me, guys.

Never underestimate the power of teaching others. Seriously, I definitely have kinda taken advantage of my classmates, because I’m the person who tries to explain stuff and writes out the impromptu study guides. By teaching them, though, I’m actually prepping MYSELF to wreck the curve. Basically, once you know it well enough to explain it to others, you’re golden.

Do ALL the readings. The professor that assigns the most readings is also the professor who expects you to have learned the most from them, in my experience. Also, don’t just highlight stuff: write important points that you would want to highlight in your notes. Highlighting is just coloring for grownups - it’s fine, but it’s not going to help you learn. It’s just going to catch your eye later.

Don’t judge a professor’s tests by their lecture style. Imagine: a sweet little 5 foot nothing professor, dressed to the nines every day and super kind to everyone. My professor who fits this description causes about a third of her students to retake her classes every year. Bigshot business guy with a ridiculously high consulting rate and a weird robe he always wears? 98% pass his classes. Focus on the material, not the prof.

Save your homework assignments. It turns out that in college, homework is 95% of the times something that you can actually study from. Do it, do it well, then hang on to it.

Know your preferred study habitats. Do you like to study around a lot of people or by yourself? Are windows a distraction or a necessity? Is the library great or just too far away to bother with? Keep an eye on when you study best and then try to replicate it later.

Get rid of unnecessary distractions. Turn off your phone. Notifications are Bad for concentration. Close your email unless you absolutely need it. Have a drink and someone to nibble on if you use that as an excuse to avoid studying. Maybe avoid studying with that one person if you are distracted by existing near them.

Plan out regular breaks. Tell yourself every half hour you can go on Facebook, or wander down the hall and talk to someone, or read a chapter of that thing you’ve been working on. Just have something planned out that you can actively work towards. Not just having an abyss of time to fill with studying can be really useful.

As for studying itself:

Notecards, re-writing notes in a different format, having someone quiz you, making study guides, and writing practice essays about stuff have all been super useful for me in some respect or another.

Other studying help:

Seven 

Study

Moods 

Rain generator

Coffee shop chatter

How to Study

How to Study pt. II

Bullet journal guide

You’ve got this. We can study together.

4.4.16+3:50pm // 28/100 days of productivity // made a title + subheaders reference page since i needed some inspiration for my notes. hope you find it useful, too!

I’ve seen a lot of curious people wanting to dive into classical music but don’t know where to start, so I have written out a list of pieces to listen to depending on mood. I’ve only put out a few, but please add more if you want to. hope this helps y’all out. :)

stereotypical delightful classical music:

battalia a 10 in d major (biber)

brandenburg concerto no. 5

brandenburg concerto no. 3

symphony no. 45 - “farewell” (haydn)

if you need to chill:

rondo alla turca

fur elise

anitra’s dance

in the steppes of central asia (borodin) (added by viola-ology)

if you need to sleep:

moonlight sonata

swan lake

corral nocturne

if you need to wake up:

morning mood

summer (from the four seasons)

buckaroo holiday (if you’ve played this in orch you might end up screaming instead of waking up joyfully)

if you are feeling very proud:

pomp and circumstance

symphony no. 9 (beethoven; this is where ode to joy came from)

1812 overture

symphony no. 5, finale (tchaikovsky) (added by viola-ology)

american (dvořák)

if you feel really excited:

hoedown (copland)

bacchanale

spring (from the four seasons) (be careful, if you listen to this too much you’ll start hating it)

la gazza ladra

death and the maiden (schubert)

if you are angry and you want to take a baseball bat and start hitting a bush:

dance of the knights (from the romeo and juliet suite by prokofiev)

winter, mvt. 1 (from the four seasons)

symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 (shostakovich)

symphony no. 5 (beethoven)

totentanz (liszt)

quartet no. 8, mvt. 2 (shostakovich) (added by viola-ology)

young person’s guide to the orchestra, fugue (britten) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

if you want to cry for a really long time:

fantasia based on russian themes (rimsky-korsakov)

adagio for strings (barber)

violin concerto in e minor (mendelssohn)

aase’s death

andante festivo

if you want to feel like you’re on an adventure:

an american in paris (gershwin)

if you want chills:

danse macabre

russian easter overture

if you want to study:

eine kleine nachtmusik

bolero (ravel)

serenade for strings (elgar)

scheherazade (rimsky-korsakov) (added by viola-ology)

pines of rome, mvt. 4 (resphigi) (added by viola-ology)

if you really want to dance:

capriccio espagnol (rimsky-korsakov)

blue danube

le cid (massenet) (added by viola-ology)

radetzky march

if you want to start bouncing in your chair:

hopak (mussorgsky)

les toreadors (from carmen suite no.1)

if you’re about to pass out and you need energy:

hungarian dance no. 1

hungarian dance no. 5

if you want to hear suspense within music:

firebird

in the hall of the mountain king

ride of the valkyries

night on bald mountain (mussorgsky) (added by viola-ology)

if you want a jazzy/classical feel:

rhapsody in blue

if you want to feel emotional with no explanation:

introduction and rondo capriccioso

unfinished symphony (schubert)

symphony no. 7, allegretto (beethoven) (added by viola-ology)

canon in d (pachelbel)

if you want to sit back and have a nice cup of tea:

st. paul’s suite

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

l’arlésienne suite

pieces that don’t really have a valid explanation:

symphony no. 40 (mozart)

cello suite no. 1 (bach)

polovtsian dances

enigma variations (elgar) (added by viola-ology)

perpetuum mobile

pieces that just sound really cool:

scherzo tarantelle

dance of the goblins

caprice no. 24 (paganini)

new world symphony, allegro con fuoco (dvorak) (added by viola-ology​)

if you feel like listening to concertos all day (I do not recommend doing that):

concerto for two violins (bach)

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

violin concerto in a minor (vivaldi)

violin concerto (tchaikovsky) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

cello concerto in c (haydn)

piano concerto, mvt. 1 (pierne) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

harp concerto in E-flat major, mvt. 1 (added by iwillsavemyworld)

and if you really just hate classical music in general:

4′33″ (cage)

a lot of these pieces apply in multiple categories, but I sorted them by which I think they match the most. have fun exploring classical music!

also, thank you to viola-ology and iwillsavemyworld for adding on! if you would like to add on your own suggestions, please reblog and add on or message me so I can give you credit for the suggestion!

link to my study tips series (strive-for-da-best)

{how to maintain good notes}

1. Come to class with a legal pad, a pencil or pen, and a highlighter.

use only these materials to jot down lecture notes

don’t worry about formatting or how neat it looks

your notes only need to be legible and somewhat organized

you can mess up on graphs/charts/diagrams

Why? The legal pad is as simple as notebooks get. You can rip out pages, you can write upside down. One pencil and one highlighter means you won’t spend any time trying to make your notes look pretty. That doesn’t matter now. The only thing you need to focus on during a lecture is writing down the important information.

2. After class, revisit your notes and copy it into your notebook.

you have as much time as you need to format your notes exactly how you want

writing something down twice helps you remember it later

seeing the same thing a second time makes you ask questions about the material

helps you study now so that you have less review to do at exams

Why? I know many of you are perfectionists, so when you make a mistake on a diagram, you feel compelled to rip out the page or quit all together. Copying it into a nice notebook forces you to find the best way to format your notes and digest the lecture materials. You will have an organized notebook to refer back to when studying for exams and finals.

3. Create a table of contents and number the pages.

4. Print charts/graphs/diagrams and paste them into your notes.

excellent precision and accuracy

on scratch paper (or your legal pad!) try to recreate the diagrams as best as possible – use this to study

I hope these tips will help you keep your notebook neat and organized!

hey, everyone!! because this community has so much to offer in the way of advice, i decided to compile some of my favorite posts so they’re easily accessible and they can help all of you guys :))

(these are all original content from amazing studyblrs and i claim credit for none)

+general school advice

everything you need masterpost for students

everything you need to succeed in school

things top students do

ultimate school masterpost

university success tips

5 things to do at the end of a semester

+notetaking

a guide to the cornell note-taking system

annotating books

guide to pretty notes

how to effectively take notes

how to take notes

how to take notes from a textbook

mindmaps

notebook organization

notetaking system

notetaking 101

taking lecture notes

tips for notetaking

+organization

how to keep your school bag organized

how to organize

student organization tips

+printables

form your habits

printables masterlist

5 page study & revision planner

+studying

all-nighters

behind in school? get back on track in one day

exam masterpost

finals week masterpost

finals week masterpost 2

find your study spot

guide to happy(ish) revision

guide to kicking booty on exams

homemade textbook studying

homework completion tips

how to go through your readings

how to highlight

how to study

how to study (from the lazy perspective)

lazy study tips

online tools for studying

secret study tips

study tips for auditory, visual, and tactile learners

study tips masterpost

study tips review

study tips to actually get shit done

the 5-day study plan

tips on staying focused

5 things to do the morning of an exam

8 tips on getting started

2015 uni study tips

+supplies/stationery

journal & planner masterpost

journal/sketchbook resource masterpost

supply masterlist w/ reviews

another supply masterlist

studyblr alternatives (inexpensive stationery)

7 school supplies that make studying easier

+time management & productivity

how to beat laziness

how to manage time through post-it notes

how to stick to your schedule

productivity tips

time + task management

timeful

the science of procrastination and how to beat it

+writing

how to actually write an essay in an actual nutshell

how to: lab report

how to organize essay notes

how to plan and write literature papers

how to write an essay

+self-care

getting a good night’s sleep

how to relax before studying

5 things to do to enjoy life

+misc

friendly reminders

how to learn languages

♫ - Sunday morning by maroon 5

Sunday is a rest day for a lot of people, but for others it’s the busiest day of the week. It might be hard to control yourself and not procrastinate, right? Here are some things you can do (as a student) on Sundays to help boost your productivity but staying relaxed at the same time!

morning

go for a run/ walk/ do some yoga

have a brunch

make some freshly squeezed orange juice

take a long shower/ bath

read a book

make your to-do list for the day

make a Sunday rewards list

clean and tidy your room

complete the smaller tasks on your list

afternoon

look for a good playlist

sort out all your work

get all your study materials

get a head start on next week’s homework/ assignments

start working on the bigger tasks

take breaks regularly (exercise, get some snacks, hang out with friends)

motivate yourself with those rewards

find the balance between work and relaxation

evening

pack your bag for the next day

make your lunch for the next day (tips)

pick out your outfit for Monday - socks and undies too!

take a shower if you haven’t already

read over your notes again

read a book/ listen to an audiobook/ watch some videos

change your sheets

go to bed earlier than usual: you’ve got a whole week ahead of you!

It isn’t easy to find that balance between work and relaxation, but it’s oh so important! Sunday should be the day that, at the end of it, you feel like you’ve done enough work but that you’ve also rested enough. Good luck!

+ more posts

upgrade your notes!

how to start studying infographic

handy apps for economics students

five easy steps to becoming a better you

feed yo’ brain

dealing with lazy groupmembers

studying and gaming: playlists and soundtracks

how to be less prickly when stressedpractice tests

xoxo Lou