Yesterday I Went To The Most Beautiful Library

READING TIME: 6.4 minutes 

Triumphant music playing. A wild Nandini jumps in front of the green-screen, donning a red cape, and strikes a Superman pose but is blinded by about a hundred ring lights being switched on.

“Andrew, MUST you ruin my cameos?”

The redhead cameraman rolls his eyes and defends himself, “Lighting is everything.” Nandini clicks her tongue, shields her eyes with the cape (yes, she’s now Red Riding Hood) and puts on an equally blinding smile towards the camera.

“Welcome to the Conquerors’ Causerie Podcast Station! Today, I’m SET to solve every student’s mystery: productivity after school. So, if you’ll please, conquerors, put on that pirate hat (because she’s indecisive and now wants to be Captain Hook), and tune that rusty radio to our channel. Let’s SAIL!”

*The wild Nandini hops onto a chair and brandishes the cape like a sword* AHOY MATEY! ALL FORWARD!

NOTE!

This is a complete system. Though it has worked tremendously well for me, it may not for you. I suggest trying this for a week, noting difficulties, and tuning the system accordingly for the future.

Since each step has been patiently explained, some of y'all might get lost in admiring the quality. For better educational retainment, I’ve included a summary of the system at the end.

Feel free to reply with ideas on improving this structure! Passengers of the Conqeranic (this ship ain’t sinking though) are always looking to better themselves!

➡ ✨ Lastly, about my taglist: I tag readers at the end of every article now, so they get notified when I upload (because Tumblr killed links). Details—if you wanna be included—are in the End Card.

Step ONE: Make a ONE TASK To-do at School.

Before getting home, decide on ONE task to work on. No, DON’T plan your entire schedule out. That’ll become a consuming task, and our mission here is to make this system as easy as possible for it to stick.

Get yourself one starting point— whether it’s a high-priority task (upcoming deadlines, assignments due tomorrow) OR a low-priority one (homework from your favourite subject, skimming couple pages of a novel). For me, it’s the commitment to write 2 paras for the latest article I’m planning. It ain’t school related, I admit, but it’s high-priority work for me, so it counts. For you, perhaps it’ll be to knock 5 problems off the weekly statistics problem set or finish 7 pages of reading for an upcoming lecture– everything works!

Whatever is it is, here are the two criterias:

Make it SPECIFIC (2 paragraphs, 5 problems, etc.)

Something that lasts 20-30 mins, because y'all will kill me if this torture goes on any longer.

Step TWO: Start When You Get Home.

THIS is where everyone goes wrong. You CANNOT let yourself slack when you get home. For the system to be a success, this is key! The star on the X-Mas tree! The daddy cherry on the daddy pie! (Edit: we need therapy. I know, sex therapy?? … yes I’m leaving)

If you need to, mentally prepare yourself for 30 mins of work as you’re coming back home. Just ½ an hour! You won’t die if you don’t eat or shower immediately, but your productivity sure will.

Soldier, understand. Here’s why: When you’re back home from school, you’re at your weakest. Temptation levels are at an all-time high and your brain’s like “Um HELLO CHILD? We already did 8 hours of shit school, time for vacation.” If you can overcome this, everything else will be smooth. Just do half an hour of work!

DON’T let yourself slack. Am I being a parental disaster here? Maybe. But just trust me, kiddos, and buckle up for one pomodoro session.

Step THREE: Bare Necessities

(I made a pun!) 30 mins of work done—the foundation for today’s success now laid—you’re allowed a nice 45 min chunk to indulge in the following 3 necessities, GO:

Shower!

Eat food!

Make a full to-do!

Fair warning: This ain’t fun time, so stop reading that smut in the bathroom. The aim of this quarter is to refresh & prime yourself for the marathon of hustle coming up (‘course it’s coming, why you surprised honey, this is team conquer) and not slack and fall into a rut. So dare I say it: WiFi isn’t allowed.

I sympathize with the entire population of Gen-Z wailing and unsubscribing, so here’s an alternative to protect your productivity— Switch off the WiFi. But keep a 20 min YouTube video and your favourite playlists downloaded. Use that instead.

Now quick, the clock’s ticking!

#1 Shower, repeat affirmations and twerk your booty while you’re at it.

#2 Eat food (and watch the downloaded video), preferably something healthy, and get right back to your Slay Station (sorry, ‘desk’ made me yawn).

#3 Lastly, schedule your day. Take 15 mins and plan out the next few work hours with exactly what you’ve gotta do.

That’s the student’s version of Eat, Pray, Love. (… when you plug self-help books for free, WHERE ARE MY SPONSORS)

Step FOUR: Soldier, Begin the March!

Now, warrior! You’ve must sit down at your desk, and face your biggest fears. Invest the next 2 hours in getting high quality, high priority work crossed off. For me, this usually turns out to be readings, prepping for upcoming exams and doing maths (I’m trying to turn math into a habit this year, and this turns out to be the perfect time to work without distractions).

Couple restrictions: (I know y'all wanna suffocate me with a smelly sock)

No WiFi. There’s no way you’re gonna get deep work done with you changing playlists every 5 mins, answering texts and fighting the urge to watch Netflix.

Work in chunks of 30-45 mins. In your breaks, move, read a physical book, draft a bit of an article on an offline notepad or watch a downloaded video.

Perhaps keep a mug of coffee nearby. Personally, I become a sloth during the afternoons (science, mom, it’s called an afternoon slump) and it’s an actual struggle to not fall asleep for the next 84 hours.

Step FIVE: Take A Mid-evening Break.

You’ve earned a major break! And so have I, because I’m writing this during mine! (Nobody cares but I’mma brag anyway.) Most folks prefer a lunch break, but please allow me to introduce— the Mid-Evening Break.

Here are the guidelines for a mid-evening break:

+ Allocate an entire hour (or 1½ hour, depending on how accomplished you feel).

+ Couple productive things to do, which might’ve slipped off your schedule due to an accumulation of work:

Drink a cup of tea and listen to a podcast. (I recommend Harry Potter and the Sacred texts, for it’s easy to digest and very entertaining)

Exercise! If you’re new to it, just throw in a couple squats, push-ups, mountain climbers etc, or just some stretching. Move that bod, amigo.

Read! When was the last time you read for fun? This is also a prime time to read valuable nonfiction, if you enjoy reading it.

+ Some fun things to do, to rejuvenate:

Watch videos from your Watch Later. If you let yourself scroll through cat video recommendations, you’re 10x more likely to start bingeing on meaningless crap. Your Watch Later hopefully has better videos, and that ish has been in the dust for ages anyway.

Plan out your next meal, and get yourself a snack!

Reply to messages/asks or talk to a friend.

Watch ONE Netflix episode. Harness that non-existent self-control, frendo.

Personal Example: Most days, I start off by writing a bit of a post, throw in a quick workout, and watch a few videos. I’ll end with checking socials and maybe replying to some messages.

Step SIX: Rinse and Repeat.

Round two! Obviously, don’t overworking yourself, but working on lighter projects for 1-2 hours after the break sounds cool. These include getting started on upcoming projects, working on a hobby, learning a skill, getting future readings for lectures done. Again, work in chunks, and take breaks as and when required.

Remember to stop working at a decent time, then go enjoy your entertainment without guilt! Also get to bed reasonably soon! Be kind, do good!

ALTERNATIVE:

If you’re not used to working in a strict schedule like this, which follows work work work (Riri be thriving), begin by following this for just one day per week (follow your current routine for the rest of it) and continue building on it.

This one helps me get enormous amounts of shit done, but it can get a bit extreme. Listen to yourself, and tune this accordingly. (For instance, when I’m exhausted, I’ll take my mid-evening break a bit earlier than usual to not die. Listen. To. Yourself.)

For Those Keeping Minutes, Here’s The Recap:

As you’re going back home, pick one task to start work on.

When you get back home, start work on it immediately. Spend just 20-30 mins on the task– creating your foundation for success.

Take 45 mins to do the three necessities next: shower, eat, and plan.

Hustle time! Focus, get deep work done. Knock down an essay, prep for an exam— work without distractions, and keep coffee near to fight the afternoon slump.

2 hrs later, take a mid-evening break! You’re finally allowed to use the WiFi! For the next hour, do whatever rejuvenates you. We stan healthy living.

Round two! Work for 2-3 hours again, this time on comparatively lighter projects (or that dreaded homework you’ve been procrastinating on, yikes)

Once you’re done, live your life! Party! Watch a movie! Dance, shake your booty! Brush yo teeth and get to bed on time.

:) Thanks for joining the Conquerors’ Causerie Podcast! Try this out— and lemme know how it goes, #team conquer, ayo. Productivity is a routine, it doesn’t magically happen one sunny day. So give this shit a try!

🌿 The End Card For Love & Plugging

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Have something to say? I treasure all feedback! If this post inspired you to do something, or you wanna throw some love/constructive criticism at me, hop into my ask box, or reply to this post itself!

Thanks for dropping by! New posts come out every Thursday, and so do my wins, journal entries, philo rants & photos of my plant babies throughout the week, so follow me if you’re into conquering life. I promise to be your loudest cheer woman. ✧

Sending you love and good energy, talk soon.

— Nandini 💌 (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

✨ TAGLIST:

Thank you to these folks for supporting my content! I love you, hope y'all are doing well. ⬇

Keep reading

sometimes, you don’t magically improve how you want to. sometimes, instead of getting an a in that class you worked really hard in, you get a c. but going from a fail to a c is so much progress in itself, and you should be proud of yourself for that. glorifying getting a’s is great and all, but we all need to see more posts glorifying real progress, whatever that looks like. you had failed that test completely but now you scraped a pass? progress! you got a d in that class last year and now it’s gone up to a c or a b? progress! a’s are wonderful and all, but sometimes you’ve got to cherish the other, less typically celebrated moments. no one goes from a fail to a 100 overnight. give yourself some credit.

The greatest witch of her age didn’t become great by sitting on tumblr all day

in case you needed motivation

This gave me a reason to smile when I didn’t think I had one

The choreography in “Rewrite the Stars” is honestly genius.

The whole scene is staged in such a way that for the first half of the song, Phillip is continuously trying to pull Anne back to him each time she tries to pull away. He’s trying to hold her in place at his level, on the ground. Even when she soars up into the air, he keeps trying to literally pull her back down: grabbing on to her hand, her waist, the rope, her hoop. Anything to keep her in place with him. 

But for the second half of the song, Phillip stops trying to hold her down and instead follows after her into the air, basically saying through the choreography, “If we can’t be together in my world, can we be together in yours?”

And only once they’re both in the air - the space that reflects the freedom the circus gives them - does Anne allow herself to consider the idea that they could actually be together. Phillip stops waiting for her to stay on the ground with him and puts in the work to be with her, literally scaling the walls of the theater to reach her. In more ways than one, they end up finding a balance and supporting each other’s weight for the rest of the song.

What I’m trying to say is that the choreography in The Greatest Showman is not only absolutely gorgeous, it’s also incredibly deliberate and tells a story through movement and I love it so much. 

Chapter 1 page 1. Long night ahead.

All of my creature comforts are back from their long voyage across the ocean so naturally the first thing I did was reread Pride and Prejudice while eating breakfast and taking a bubble bath. You know, just to get it all out of my system at once.

The 5 Best Revisions Methods I Want to Start Using

Hi, guys! Whilst planning my next few months to do well on my final exams, I started researching and found a few great study techniques that are a bit underrated. Thus, I compiled a post with information about each one and all the materials you need to put them to use. These are most useful if you’ve already studied the material and are now starting to revise.

A. Feynman Technique

This method was coined by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman. This system works by writing down everything you remember about the topic you’re currently revising in a blank piece of paper. When you get stuck, go back to your study materials. The gaps in your knowledge should be blatant after you finish. Review and simplify. Keep repeating until you know for certain that there’s nothing left out and you’ve successfully learned the topic. :-)

For this method you will need:

Blank piece of paper

Pen/Pencil

B. Spaced Repetition

This method has been gaining traction for the past few years but it still doesn’t get the recognition it should. It’s fairly simple. It consists of time intervals between study sessions, which allows you store information better in your long-term memory. While there aren’t set times for when to do your next revision session, I’d recommend the one by Piotr Wozniak:

First repetition: 1 day

Second repetition: 7 days

Third repetition: 16 days

Fourth repetition: 35 days

This method can be used both through an analog system and a digital one. 

One of the simplest techniques to implement spaced repetition while using paper flashcards is the Leitner system. First, you decide how many boxes you need for your system. Each of your boxes represents a different study time interval:

Every flashcard starts out in Box 1. When you get a flashcard right, it passes to the next box. If you get a card wrong, it goes back to Box 1 – even if it was on Box 4. This makes sure you are constantly reviewing the materials. Remember to devise a calendar with the dates and boxes you need to revise each day. 

For this method you will need:

Boxes or simply different colored rubbers to differentiate the piles

Flashcards

Pen/Pencil

If however, you prefer a digital method, Anki is the best option for you. It is available online, on both Windows & Mac and there’s also an incredible practical app. It uses the spaced repetition method while taking the trouble of having to hand write hundreds of flashcards and remembering when to study each one.

Simply create an account, then a deck in which you’ll add your flashcards. The app and website allow you to add images and/or sounds to the flashcards. Customize them all you want. Once you’ve finished, save them and check the app every day to revise the flashcards of the day.

For this method you will need:

Anki app (iOS, Android) and/or website

C. Past Papers

I’ve been guilty in the past for not using this method. I got so caught up in my perfectionism that I didn’t even want to try. I learned, though, that getting things wrong is not a sign of failure and that persisting until you get it right is the real strength (and discipline) you ought to have. Do not let your procrastination and/or perfectionism prevent you from learning your weaknesses on a topic and not reach the grade you were hoping for.

Time yourself while taking the test and then correct your answers with a different colored pencil/pen so you can differentiate between correct and wrong answers.

For this method you will need:

Past papers

Pen/Pencil

D. Teach someone

This method is really helpful if you have oral assessments and/or your professor uses the Socratic method in class. You can practice your speech and knowledge all at the same time. Find someone who’s willing to listen to you talk about the topic you’re studying. Even if no one’s willing, you can still explain the matter to an object in the house. Don’t get embarrassed by this! While speaking, you’re organising your thoughts and only when explaining to someone else can you really assess your knowledge.

For this method you will need:

Your voice

Someone/Something who loves you very much

E. Proper sleep & exercise

Yes, I know, these aren’t revisions methods. But as helpful as the previous systems were, they won’t work if you aren’t sane in body and spirit. It’s incredibly important that you rest. Teenagers (13 to 17 years old) ought to sleep from 8 to 10 hours every day, while young adults (18 to 25) only need 7 to 9. You should also get fresh air and exercise. This helps with mental alertness, concentration, an efficient memory and a positive mood. Stay hydrated throughout the day. & please, don’t skip meals! 

For this method you will need:

Proper sleep (x, x, x, x, x)

Exercise (x, x, x)

Healthy diet (x, x, x, x)

It’s 2017. You need motivation? No, what you need is discipline.  IT’S TIME TO FOCUS. Force yourself to do things. Force yourself to get up early, make your bed, go get ready, and go. Force yourself to make plans for the day, and follow through with all those plans. Force yourself to get to class early so you can look over the material. Force yourself to pay attention in class and turn off your phone or at least put it on silent. Stop texting your friends and going on Instagram in class. You are wasting your time, so why even bother going to class if your are going to be distracted? Be selfish. Stop giving your time to people that do not matter. YOUR TIME IS SO SO PRECIOUS. STOP WASTING IT! This is the most important thing that you can do right now, take care of you and your education. Stop being distracted by the world and it’s never ending problems. This is the time that you need to put toward yourself because you are the greatest investment of your life. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. EVERYDAY is a chance to wake up and give your 150%. EXHAUST yourself. That is the only way to give your all. At the end of the day, you should be exhausted from working so much, from reading so much, from exercising so much. Don’t go home because you are tired. Do whatever you need to get done and don’t come home until it’s all done. Stay late at the library. You feel tired? Good. That is how you know you are giving it your best. Go to the gym, and give your work out your all. When you go home, you should feel like you are drained. You should feel like you have nothing left to give because you gave it your all. Because then, you can be proud of yourself and everything you have achieved. Giving it your all is what matters. Give your all every single day. Discipline your mind and your body and you will become successful. You fall back one day? That is O.K., try the next day. You are human, so accept your mistakes. However, love yourself enough to know that you will never give up working on yourself and your dreams. THIS IS IT. THIS IS YOUR LIFE. Right now, no matter what circumstances we are all in, is what matters. Take advantage of today. Write down your dreams and force yourself to work toward them, one day at a time.  IT’S TIME TO FOCUS. THIS is your year. This is your life. One day at a time baby. One day at a time. Go ahead and don’t stop.

(via not-now-im-studying)

You know what feels good? Getting into the university and stream of your choice and being surrounded by wonderful people ✨

Taken from my studygram: @equaticnss