不要因为失败而觉得丢脸，从中学习，重新再来。

每天都是提升自己的机会。

Everyday is a chance to improve yourself.

慢速中文：星巴克在中国

vocab from this podcast episode

星巴克 xing1 ba1 ke4 Starbucks

作为「作為」zuo4 wei2 to act as

连锁店「連鎖店」lian2 suo3 dian4 chain store

偏远「偏遠」pian1 yuan3 remote, far from civilization

戏称「戲稱」xi4 cheng1 to jokingly call

抱怨 bao4 yuan4 to complain

否认「否認」fou3 ren4 to deny, to declare to be untrue

普及 pu3 ji2 popular, to spread extensively, widespread

融入 rong2 ru4 to blend into, to integrate, to assimilate

以往 yi3 wang3in the past, formerly

元素 yuan2 su4 element

装饰「裝飾」zhuang1 shi4 decorations

协调「協調」xie2 tiao2 to coordinate, to match (colors, etc.), harmonious

当地「當地」dang1 di4 local

独特「獨特」du2 te4 unique, distinct

纪念品「紀念品」ji4 nian4 pin3 souvenier

专心 (zhuan1 xin1) - to be attentive; focused

Eg. I have to be 专心 during my studies. Good luck back to school everyone! To be honest I’m actually pretty excited for the new semester.

03.06.19 - monday

during exams i used to get really stressed out about not having enough time to study between, so i designed myself a lil study planner that maps out my week

it has a section for events, a checklist, and a time tracker so i can tell myself to stop freaking out :) if anyone wants the pdf, lemme know!

I personally struggle with depression and anxiety, along with an eating disorder (which, believe me, can have its toll in your academic life) and chronic tiredness, so I decided to make this post to share things that have helped me. Here are some study / productivity tips!

If you are feeling burned out, take a productive, physical break. If i start feeling tired but my task isn’t done, I take a small productive break. I fold clothes, clean my brushes if I’m painting, clean your room, exercise, stretch, anything that will briefly take my mind off things. 

Don’t be too strict with your timetable: Allow yourself a 10 minute window between tasks because you might need a small break or something might come up. Have in mind that you will be doing the tasks you are planning to do, not the idealized version of yourself who doesn’t need breaks and doesn’t get tired (something I am definitely guilty of doing).

Don’t fight yourself! Your mood matters! Notice your mood and your body, how are you feeling? Are you tired, does anything hurt, are you thirsty, do you need to take a short walk? If you don’t feel like doing something very mentally taxing, you can put on a podcast, music or a YouTube video, and just organize your files, fold clothes, declutter your school folder, etc. You will thank yourself later without sacrificing your mental health even more. 

Have a place to write down distracting thoughts that you can address later. I have a recycled piece of paper taped to my desk at all times and there I scribble ideas and things I have to do. You can check the list later, just write those thoughts down and forget about them while you’re doing your task. 

Experiment with how many tasks you can do in a day. Set your priorities) and put tasks together and do a little bit of each category

Ask for help from your friends or professors! They just want you to do well and helping you or giving you a little bit more time is easy for them to give you. 

Eat the frog first. Do the most difficult thing first, the one you fear the most, the one that will take you more time and energy. I have found that some tasks seem a million times more difficult in the evening than in the morning, so I usually start with the most unpleasant tasks right when i wake up since I have more energy then. 

Break up everything in small parts. Outline a task before you start. Starting something is the hardest thing for me, once I know what i have to do everything is so much easier to do. Sketch it out, then just fill out the blanks. 

Be aware of your learning style. One of the reasons why you find studying a certain subject difficult might not have to do with the subject at all, but with how you are learning it. Here’s a test to find out your learning style 

Dedicate a whole day to one thing. This is an approach I use when I’m in a weird mood / energy fluctuation state. I just dedicate a whole day or a whole week to do something (this week is painting, I’ve gone a bit overboard), and it helps me to cram something until my desire to do that thing has gone away and then I can focus on something else. 

Force yourself to work on something for only five minutes. Only five minutes! I do this when I have tried everything else and I just cannot be bothered. Put on some music and promise yourself you only have to work on that assignment for five minutes, and then you can stop. Many times I see that it was easier than I expected and I continue working on it after the five minutes has passed. 

If you get bored easily, try multitasking with tasks that don’t require a lot of brain power. This is for my ADHD folks. I personally don’t have ADHD but here are some study tips from people who actually do: link one link two 

Put the deadline a few days earlier so you have time to ask for help if you need it. This is a very common study tip but definitely helps if you struggle with time management. 

Change the location or study with someone

Have multiple schedules: I personally have a high energy schedule and a low energy schedule. Both are necessary and I have found that they create a great balance. I can do a post on this later if you guys want! 

Build an automatic routine and group habits together. This might be good for forgetful folks. Have a morning/afternoon/night routine and group tasks that you tend to forget. Organize it around an even (before going to class, after a meal) to make it impossible to forget it. It will become automatic in no time and then you won’t have to worry about that stuff. 

Here are some reminders if you’re feeling discouraged. 

如果你不花时间去创造你想要的生活，你终究得被迫花更多时间去应付你不想要的生活。 If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.

别让那些不懂珍惜你的人来衡量你的价值。

Don’t let someone who doesn’t know your value tell you how much you’re worth.

真正的朋友愿意理解你的过去，相信你的未来，接受你的现在。

A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.

🌼🌻study smarter🌻🌼

(here are some study tips straight from my psych notes)

1. interest: the brain prioritizes by meaning, value, and relevance so u remember things better if ur interested

find a study partner

do extra practice or research

teach it to someone else (this works so well!)

2. intent: be actively paying attention. very little learning actually takes place without attention

use a concentration check sheet (every time u get distracted, put a check on ur sheet. this is supposed to program ur mind to pay attention)

while u read, talk back to the author

ask questions during lectures (this is scary ik!! but do it!)

3. basic background: make connections to what u already know

preview and skim the material before u read it. or google it!

write out a list of vocab words before a lecture and leave some spaces between them to fill in during the lecture

read ahead of lectures

watch crashcourse tbh

4. selectivity: start by studying whats important

look for bolded words, graphics, pictures, chapter review questions in ur readings

listen for verbal clues like emphasis and repetition during lectures

make urself a study guide as u read and write down questions for urself to answer later as review (kinda like cornell notes)

5. meaningful organization: u can learn/rmr better if u group ideas into diff categories

apply vocab words to ur life

make flashcards and sort them (try not to have more than seven items in one category!)

use mnemonics

6. recitation: saying ideas aloud in ur own words strengthens synaptic connections! when u say something aloud u r forcing urself to pay attention

after u read, ask urself questions

talk abt what u learned w/ classmates outside of class

again, teach someone else

7. visualization: ur brain’s quickest and longest-lasting response is to images

convert info into a chart or graph

draw it out

make a mental video of a process

look at picture/video examples

8. association: memory is increased when facts are consciously associated w something u already know. memory = making neural connections

ask urself: is this something i already know?

9. consolidation: give ur brain some time to establish a neural pathway

make a list of what u remember from class

review notes at the end of the day, every day

stop after reading each prg to write a question in ur notes

make ur own practice quiz

10. distributed practice: we all know cramming doesnt work but we do it anyway! but yeah short and frequent study sections work better

make a daily/weekly study schedule

create a time budget/time tracker (track everything ur doing for a week and see how u can be more efficient w/ the time u waste)

divide the reading/vocab by the number of days before an exam and do a little bit each day (u can use sticky notes to divide ur reading)

other tips:

stop stressing! this sounds stupid and it isnt going to be easy, but anxiety causes u to lose focus. try ur best to think positively. sleep a lot. minimize ur caffeine intake. take a walk maybe

when u need to remember something, look upward or close ur eyes (when ur eyes are open ur using visual parts of ur brain that u might not need to be using)

find a rival! (like the person right above u in class rank) secretly compete w/ them (envy can improve mental persistence bc it makes u focus more intensely) but dont overdo it! 

walking and sleeping build memory storage in ur brain

eat flavonoids! (grapes, berries, tea leaves, cocoa beans make neurons in the brain more capable of forming new memories + increase blood flow to the brain)

obstacles force ur brain to try harder, so space learning lessons apart or create a puzzle to solve or change ur physical setting

不要降低你的梦想为了屈服现实。增加你的信念去匹配你的命运。

Don’t downgrade your dream just to fit your reality. Upgrade your conviction to match your destiny.