This 30-Day Challenge Will Transform Your Posture

This 30-Day Challenge Will Transform Your Posture

It’s not just the problem of rounded shoulders and chins jutting forward that you’d expect from staring at screens in every waking moment — posture affects your whole body. “When the whole top of the body is forward, the butt has to stick out, then the calves get tight, and you’re out of whack,” says Charleene O’Connor, a postural alignment and muscle biomechanics specialist. So, how can you whip yourself back into shape? 

How to Study Like a Harvard Student

Taken from Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, daughter of the Tiger Mother

Preliminary Steps 1. Choose classes that interest you. That way studying doesn’t feel like slave labor. If you don’t want to learn, then I can’t help you. 2. Make some friends. See steps 12, 13, 23, 24. General Principles 3. Study less, but study better. 4. Avoid Autopilot Brain at all costs. 5. Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 6. Write it down. 7. Suck it up, buckle down, get it done. Plan of Attack Phase I: Class 8. Show up. Everything will make a lot more sense that way, and you will save yourself a lot of time in the long run. 9. Take notes by hand. I don’t know the science behind it, but doing anything by hand is a way of carving it into your memory. Also, if you get bored you will doodle, which is still a thousand times better than ending up on stumbleupon or something. Phase II: Study Time 10. Get out of the library. The sheer fact of being in a library doesn’t fill you with knowledge. Eight hours of Facebooking in the library is still eight hours of Facebooking. Also, people who bring food and blankets to the library and just stay there during finals week start to smell weird. Go home and bathe. You can quiz yourself while you wash your hair. 11. Do a little every day, but don’t let it be your whole day. “This afternoon, I will read a chapter of something and do half a problem set. Then, I will watch an episode of South Park and go to the gym” ALWAYS BEATS “Starting right now, I am going to read as much as I possibly can…oh wow, now it’s midnight, I’m on page five, and my room reeks of ramen and dysfunction.” 12. Give yourself incentive. There’s nothing worse than a gaping abyss of study time. If you know you’re going out in six hours, you’re more likely to get something done. 13. Allow friends to confiscate your phone when they catch you playing Angry Birds. Oh and if you think you need a break, you probably don’t. Phase III: Assignments 14. Stop highlighting. Underlining is supposed to keep you focused, but it’s actually a one-way ticket to Autopilot Brain. You zone out, look down, and suddenly you have five pages of neon green that you don’t remember reading. Write notes in the margins instead. 15. Do all your own work. You get nothing out of copying a problem set. It’s also shady. 16. Read as much as you can. No way around it. Stop trying to cheat with Sparknotes. 17. Be a smart reader, not a robot (lol). Ask yourself: What is the author trying to prove? What is the logical progression of the argument? You can usually answer these questions by reading the introduction and conclusion of every chapter. Then, pick any two examples/anecdotes and commit them to memory (write them down). They will help you reconstruct the author’s argument later on. 18. Don’t read everything, but understand everything that you read. Better to have a deep understanding of a limited amount of material, than to have a vague understanding of an entire course. Once again: Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 19. Bullet points. For essays, summarizing, everything. Phase IV: Reading Period (Review Week) 20. Once again: do not move into the library. Eat, sleep, and bathe. 21. If you don’t understand it, it will definitely be on the exam. Solution: textbooks; the internet. 22. Do all the practice problems. This one is totally tiger mom. 23. People are often contemptuous of rote learning. Newsflash: even at great intellectual bastions like Harvard, you will be required to memorize formulas, names and dates. To memorize effectively: stop reading your list over and over again. It doesn’t work. Say it out loud, write it down. Remember how you made friends? Have them quiz you, then return the favor. 24. Again with the friends: ask them to listen while you explain a difficult concept to them. This forces you to articulate your understanding. Remember, vague is bad. 25. Go for the big picture. Try to figure out where a specific concept fits into the course as a whole. This will help you tap into Big Themes – every class has Big Themes – which will streamline what you need to know. You can learn a million facts, but until you understand how they fit together, you’re missing the point. Phase V: Exam Day 26. Crush exam. Get A.

How to Create and Organize Your Study Space

As finals are approaching, getting a good study environment is essential for you to be prepared for your exams. We all know how motivating it feels to have a good study environment. Here are some tips on creating a good study space for yourself.

Enhance your productivity

A Pomodoro timer: this can simply be a timer, or your phone or you laptop with the Pomodoro app installed. This is going to help you be free of distractions and focus on learning during the 25 minutes study time.

Your study plan: placing your study plan on your desk/wall can act as a visual reminder for you. You may also cross out things that you have studied so that you can visually envisage your progress. It also helps you to plan.

Motivational quotes and pictures: studying can be very stressful, especially with all the deadlines and exams. Keeping a positive mindset is the most important long-term strategy. A great way to instill positivity is by sticking some motivational quotes and pictures on the wall, whether it be a picture of your dream school, or of your family.

Create a comfortable learning environment

Adequate lighting: lighting is essential since it can directly affect your performance. I personally would prefer natural lighting – because it feels more energizing, and that you will have the motivation to complete everything before the evening. Another tip, you may want to place your desk in a way so that the source of light should come from your left hand side if you are right-handed. This way the light won’t be blocked by your writing hand.

Scents: scent can do wonders, and you can alter the scents to suit your needs. For example,

pine, lavender, jasmine can alleviate stress

citrus can make you feel more energized

peppermint, lemon can boost concentration

rosemary can improve memory retention

Snacks: Some people may find it easier to concentrate when they snack while studying. Snacking on brain food, like almonds and nuts, may even boost memory and have a lot of health benefits.

Water: Similarly, water can boost concentration. Try adding lemon to your water, it not only detox body and skin but also boosts energy and mood.

Music: If you are the kind of person who loves studying with music, you may want to get a speaker and play some classical or piano tracks. One thing I love to do is to go on 8tracks and search for study playlists.

Plants: air quality can affect your productivity, too. While some may prefer having an air purifier in your study space, plants are definitely a good and cheaper alternative. Investing in a low-maintenance household plant may be a good choice.

Click here to read the article, which includes some special study techniques utilizing the study space and my DIY planner board!

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Is it bad to study on the bed? -D

I don’t because 1) I’m on the top bunk and there’s no way I’m taking my laptop up there; 2) I need a hard surface to write on; and 3) I’d probably fall asleep.  Sometimes I do curl up on the couch if I’m just reading something but I honestly think that, for me, working at a table helps me focus and be more productive.  I don’t think it’s bad, per se, and it does depend on the person.  So if it relaxes you and makes homework more enjoyable, go ahead and study on your bed! 

hey guys! Back by unpopular demand: me, with another printable.  I have my first physics exam of the semester on Monday, and I’m determined to do well.  So I made this little printable to get myself organized re: the millions of equations I have to understand.

For most classes, you won’t have to actually memorize formulas and equations.  But you will be expected to understand what they mean and how to use them. That’s where this formula sheet comes in.  Laying out each equation will help you see how they relate to each other and which situation to use each equation in.

Use this sheet for any class that involves a lot of formulas: physics, chemistry, math, statistics, underwater basket weaving, etc.

download here! [ 9 rows | 12 rows | 15 rows ]

General Tips for Studying for Math or Physics

Make a list of all the topics that will be on the exam.  Circle or highlight the ones that have been the most difficult for you.  Focus your time on these topics instead of spending too much time reviewing the easier topics.

Use the formula sheet printable to organize all of the equations you have to deal with.

Go over old homework, focusing on all the problems you got wrong.

If your teacher has posted review problems, work on those.  If not, find extra practice problems in your textbook or online.  The best thing you can do is practice, practice, practice.

Make a cheat sheet (not to, you know, actually cheat.  Just a sheet or mind map that organizes all the major topics and details.  Make it as pretty as you want.)

Do more practice problems.

Sleep (super duper important!!) and eat a good breakfast.  You’ve got this.

More Free Printables Than You Should Ever Need

Monthly

2015 Colorful Monthly Calendars

Snapfish 2015 Monthly Grid Calendars

Snapfish Large Monthly Planner (meant for families but will work great for splitting up assignments by class)

Day Designer Monthly Goals Tracker

Simplified Planner Monthly

Weekly

Two Week Schedule (M/D/N)

Get Buttoned Up Weekly Productivity Tracker

Get Buttoned Up Comprehensive Weekly To Do List

Snapfish Weekly Planner (1)

Snapfish Weekly Planner (2)

Snapfish Floral Weekly Planner

Day Designer Weekly Time Table

Simplified Planner Weekly

Buttoned Up Weekly Strategy

Mommy Tracked Week at a Glance

Weekly Goals

Daily

Get Buttoned Up 24 Hour Daily Docket

Get Buttoned Up 18 Hour Daily Docket

Day Designer Daily

Simplified Planner Daily

Scattered Squirrel Daily Planner

Scattered Squirrel Simply Daily Agenda

To Do Lists

Snapfish To Do List

Important Tasks Lists (Snapfish)

Simplified Planner Long Checklist Brain Dump

Simplified Planner Sunday Checklist

Buttoned Up Too Many To Do’s

Food/Meals

Colorful Weekly Meal Planner

Get Buttoned Up Exercise and Meal Tracker

Get Buttoned Up Weekly Meal Planner

Snapfish Grocery List

Day Designer Grocery List

Day Designer Weekly Meal Planner

Simplified Planner Go-To Meal Ideas

Simplified Planner Single Recipe Printable

Simplified Planner Food and Fitness

Weekly Food and Fitness Tracker

Notes/Brainstorm Pages

Day Designer Notes Page

Simplified Planner Lined Paper Brain Dump

Simplified Planner Blank Page Brain Dump

Simplified Planner Quadrant Brain Dump

Simplified Planner Grid Paper Brain Dump

Goals Task Flow Chart

Budget

Monthly Spending Tracker

Money Manager Essentials

iHO Budget Printable

Home Organization

Day Designer Important Contact Info

Day Designer Key Organizer (Meant for people with their own business who have to key track of a lot of different locks/keys)

Simplified Planner Party Planning Checklist

Buttoned Up Cleaning List

Buttoned Up Pantry Inventory

Birthday Party Organizer

Chores List

Miscellaneous 

Day Designer Summer 2015 Bucket List

Simplified Planner 2015 At A Glance (1)

Simplified Planner 2015 At A Glance (2)

Simplified Planner 2016 At A Glance

Simplified Planner Borrowed Items List

Simplified Planner Get Uncluttered Flowchart

Simplified Planner Gratitude List

Simplified Planner Daily Devotional

Yearly Master Goals List

Bundles

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