The Benefits of Being Organised

Organisation. It brings me joy. Yes, I think I’m funny, yes, I know I’m not. Anyway, being organised is so important in achieving a productive lifestyle. If you’re living in a mess of a bedroom where you can’t even see the floor, you definitely won’t be prodcutive. It’s so important to keep your spaces tidy so that you don’t waste time searching for things.

There’s a few simple ways you can keep your spaces organised but it all starts with organisng your things in the first place, I love to use the bed method, which means I get everything out and put it on my bed, ready to sort through it. I go through and declutter, then place everything back in an organised way. After you’ve actually organised your space it’s very important to then keep it that way. This requires getting into the habit of putting things back were they were, do I sound like your Mum yet?

When you’re organised, everything goes smoother, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and it will be one hundred times easier to get things done. When you’re sitting at your desk doing your math homework, it’s so much easier to quickly grab your calculator that’s sitting neatly in your drawer than search through the pile of clothes sitting on your floor, plus you’ll save so much time, which means you’ll get your work done much quicker and have more time to relax. Being organised is just so important for living an easy and productive life.

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Morning Routine Habits

Majority of us can’t wake up at five am, go for a jog, do yoga and cook a whole stir fry before we head out for the day. However, there are a few simple habits that you should do every morning in order to have the best day possible!

Make your bed. It’s my opinion that a made, or rather unmade bed can make or break the overall neatness of a room, so making your bed will give your room a neater vibe. Not only does this just keep your room neat, but I believe it also gets your day off to a great start, simple things like just making your bed are so important in establishing a productive day.

Eat a good breakfast. The amount of times you’ve heard this is probably ridiculous but it’s true. Eating a healthy and sustaining breakfast will make sure you have enough energy to get everything done!

Don’t start with the phone. Don’t grab your phone the minute you wake up, wait until you’re eating your breakfast. I personally don’t have my phone in my bedroom at night but if you do, resist the temptation to grab it the second you open your eyes. Rather get up and do a few things before you check your social media feeds, this will help you feel more productive.

Drink Water! A great habit to get into is drinking a glass of water as soon as you get up, this will keep you hydrated throughout the day.

As I said before, we can’t all have the Instagram worthy ideal morning routine we’d love but these habits will certainly get your day off to a great start!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

 

 

2019’s School Organisation System

Near the end of last year, I published a post outlining how I organised my school notes. However, my system has since changed…

This year, my system includes five 30-ring binders, five lever arch files and one sectioned folder. Yes, I realise just how excessive this sounds but I promise it’s justifiable.

For each subject I have that requires note-taking, I have a 3-ring binder from Muji that is filled with Muji paper. These are essentially my notebooks for each class and I take these to school each day, based on what subjects I have that day.

Another thing I take to school is a folder with six separate compartments. In this folder I keep worksheets and handouts that I receive for all my classes, this also comes to school with me everyday.

I also have a lever arch file for each subject. When I finish a topic at school, I take all my notes out of my binder and place them into my lever arch file, I also hole-punch my worksheets and clip them in as well. If I ever need my past notes to revise at school, I can just place them back in my binder.

This system is currently working well for me, despite my bag looking pregnant but apart from that, I’m pretty happy with it!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

My current favourite pens

Let’s be honest, pens can make me happy or make me sad, depending on their quality. I would label myself as a bit of a pen snob if I’m being truthful. I have collected a lot of pens over the years and have a few that are my go to favourites, I’ll also provide links to all these products on Amazon in case anyone is looking for new pens to try, keep in mind some of these might be only available in Australia but majority of them should be able to be purchased worldwide.

Zebra Mildliners

My number one go to. I love these so much, they’re dual end highlighters that come in a range of beautiful colours that set a beautiful palette for note taking. These are quite pricey but definitely worth the money! Link to purchase.

Tombow brush pens

I can’t stress the quality of these enough, if you’re into brush lettering these are a must have. They have two tips, one brush tip and one thin marker tip, they’re great for headers and calligraphy. The only downside is they are quite pricey so I wouldn’t try to collect every colour, only the ones you like. Link to purchase.

Staedleter Triplus Fineliners

These are great for subheadings when taking notes, the colour range of them matches that of the mildliners which makes it easy to colour code notes, they are super smooth to write with and come in packs with lots of different colours. Link to purchase

Muji Gel Ink Pens

I only recently tested the muji pens but I’d definitely recommend them, they’re not ridiculously expensive and write very smoothly. A bonus is that their ink dries quickly so they’re great to highlight over the top of. Link to purchase

Zebra Sarasa Gel Ink Pens

These are quite similar to the muji pens but they’re also amazing for note taking, they flow very well and overall are of a great quality. The ink does take a while to dry so if you’re highlighting over them make sure to wait a few minutes. Link to purchase

I definitely have a pen problem but it’s okay hey? Whatever makes me happy 🙂

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

February Bullet Journal

It’s that time again when I whip out my bullet journal and draw up my monthly spreads. For anyone who doesn’t know, bullet journalling is a system of planning in which you draw up the calendars yourself, you can also add other pages such as checklists or habit trackers. Bullet journalling also uses a key drawn by using dots to outline tasks, events and other signifiers, I’ll link an article by bulletjournal.com which explains this in more detail in case anyone is interested. Click here for more information . Anyway, I’ll be sharing with you my February bullet journal setup.

My cover page for the month of February is simple, it’s just the word February with an overview calendar and some purple and grey hearts hanging down. My February colour theme is purple and grey.

The next page is my February calendar where I write down important events happening that month, I use this same calendar spread every month because it really seems to work for me.

Next I have my habit tracker where I have ten habits I want to do everyday in February and here I can track when I do them.

I also have a study log so that I can track how much I study.  I’ll be using this log for the whole school term but it works well to put it here.

My possibly most used spread apart from my weeklies is my term overview spread, here I write upcoming assessments and tests for the term, it’s very helpful to be able to see my assessments at a glance and I’d highly recommend this spread if you bullet journal as a student.

Lastly, I have my weekly spreads where I put down tasks, homework and events I have each day of the week in February.

I really enjoyed putting these spreads together and hope you can enjoy them too!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

Preparing for the new school year

New year, new me? Nah, not really. New year, new pens? That’s more accurate, often the only thing that changes when the clock strikes twelve is the type of binders I’ll be using that year but oh well. Anyway, it’s only a couple of weeks until I start my next year of school and with that comes a plethora of things to organise. Thankfully for me organisation brings more joy than pain but I understand it’s not this way for everyone, so let’s get organised!

Let’s start off with planning. Write lists, lists and a few more lists. Plan what stationery you need to buy, how you want your routines to go that year and all the tasks you need to get done before school starts.

The next step is getting it done. Go stationery shopping, start following those routines and get all relevant tasks done. If you get everything organised in advance you have more time to enjoy those lasts few weeks of summer stress free.

Lastly, sort it out. Organise that stationery, fill up that pencil case, label those notebooks and premake your healthy lunches. Once this is all done you’re set and ready to ace the school year!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

 

How I Organise My Notes

I often mention organisations systems and note taking in my blog posts, so I thought I’d do a post on what my organisation system actually is. The system I’m currently using is working well, better than anything else I’ve used before so I’d definitely recommend it to someone looking for a neat and coordinated way to organise their notes and schoolwork.

I use a binder system. Just two binders, one for current classwork, basically the equivalent of having a notebook and a folder for worksheets, and one for each semester that I keep all the work for all my classes in.

My current classwork binder is a small two ring binder that I take to school everyday, I have five dividers, one for each of my four main subjects and one for paper. The way I use this binder is that I keep paper at the back, which I take my notes in and then clip into the section for the class I took them in, I do the same with worksheets, albeit not until I get home as it’s really not realistic to carry a two hole punch around all day! I keep all the notes and worksheets in my binder until we finish the topic that they’re from. I then transfer all the work into my large binder, which also has a section for every class. I basically just grab the whole stack of papers and stick them into my semester binder, which is more of a lever arch file that I keep on my desk. This system works really well because it means I have everything within easy reach when trying to find old notes and I’d definitely recommend it!.

Let me end by saying, I really, really, really love binders!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

 

The Perfect Study Space

The Instagram, Tumblr worthy desk setups, that have an aesthetic level of approximately 5000. They always look so perfect and inviting, having a beautiful study space that you enjoy being in is the key to good study and focus. It might seem impossible to have a perfectly arranged, minimalist space like the desks you see on Pinterest but I can assure you it’s not.

The first step to a great study space is to have one. Some people, they must be superhuman, can study at the kitchen bench with their brother and sister screaming and TV playing in the background, if this works for you, great but there are better ways to study. The best place to study is at a desk in a quiet room, preferably somewhere you can keep all your supplies but if you don’t have access to your own room and desk, a library or a shared study works too.

The second step is to have everything you need within reach, not just in a pencil case but laid out on the desk, so make sure you have the essentials: pens, paper, highlighters, pencils, whatever you need to study. Make sure you have everything you need within reach so that you don’t have to get up and lose focus but only what you need, you don’t want clutter!

Make it unique! Nobody wants to study at a wooden desk, with nothing but a dim lamp and a few pencils. Pick a colour scheme, your favourite colour is a good starting place, mine’s blue! Fill your desk with items that colour, such as blue pencil pots or pink folders, it’s ok to have a few items that aren’t study related, such as a succulent plant or candle. Filling your desk with beautiful items that make you happy to look at is a great way to feel motivated to study!

Lastly, organisation. Don’t just shove papers in a drawer and forget about them forever, come on, we’ve all done it! Find an organisation system that works for you, such as a binder, or paper holders and stick to that method! If you want a post on my organisation method just let me know 😉

I hope these tips help you create your perfect study space, just remember what works for somebody else might not be perfect for you, so make it unique!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

Avoid the rush, just get it done,

It’s all well and good to get your homework done on the bus, on the way to school because you forgot about it last night, or outside class, leaning paper on your knee and writing at a speed of a million miles an hour, we’ve all been there, rushing to get our work done, not really focusing on actually gaining anything from it. Everybody ‘s had their share of “quick, do it under your bag, pretending to get your stuff out, so the teacher doesn’t notice,” experiences of forgotten homework. Sure, it’s easy to get away with it if you’re a master of excuses, or a last minute queen but it’s really not helping you. I’m going to sound like your Mum but,  teachers assign homework to help you, they don’t do it to be horrible and ensure you have no social life, although it seems like that sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself, is get it done, PROPERLY. One of my biggest struggles is the temptation to write the first number that pops into your head, or even writing 41 on a multiple choice question where 41 isn’t even an answer, I always find myself thinking, or saying out loud if I’m really frustrated, “x can be what x wants to be okay, so x will be 42.” It’s done, you have something to show the teacher and you’ll avoid detention, but the goal of school isn’t to avoid detention, it’s to work and retain knowledge, you’ll only do that by working hard and doing your homework. The best way to make sure you don’t end up rushing through your work is to manage your time wisely. The best way to do this is to write all homework down in a planner (Diary, bullet journal etc.) As soon as you hear the teacher say the inevitable “For tomorrow,” or “Tonight I want you to,” get your pen and planner ready to write it down. When you get home from school look at that day’s date, all your homework should be written in, and do all the work that was set that day, it doesn’t matter if it’s not due for 2 days, get it done, you’ll thank yourself the next day when you have no homework because you got it all done the night before. Just make sure you’re writing everything down and getting everything done, you’ll surely avoid the stress of the moment when the teacher says “get out your homework,” and you realise, “crap! I haven’t done that,” instead you’ll have the satisfaction of showing them your properly done, perfectly worked out work.

This post was very all over the place, it started out as something completely different and morphed into this, but I just let my thoughts flow, anyway let me know what you thought in the comments!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger

The Best Study Techniques

You get your healthy, ‘brain food’, the study tea, coloured pens, palm cards, paper and the perfect focus playlist. You sit down at your desk, headphones on, ready for an intense study session. I usually get this far before realising, hang on, how am I actually going to do this? Sure, highlighting texts in a million different colours is fun, and looks productive when you post it online but is it really helping you? Everybody tells you to study but nobody actually tells you how to study, it sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Everybody overlooks studying, they assume it’s simple enough to work out but in reality, without guidance, we can all get a little lost.

In my first year of high school I was overwhelmed, teachers telling me to study, leaving me on my own to work my way through the jungle that is school and tests. I eventually worked it out but it took me a while and a few disappointing test scores until I got the hang of it.

There are many different methods of studying, but I usually use three different methods, I vary my techniques depending on the subject I’m studying for.

My favourite and hence most used method is to write a page or two of notes, I like to pretend I’m writing a cheat sheet for the test and make sure I only include key points. It always helps me to make my notes pretty, eg. calligraphy titles and colour schemes but this isn’t necessary, I just like to make my notes ‘aesthetically pleasing’ so that I can actually stand to look at them! This method is helpful for subjects where you need to remember a lot of information, such as science or history.

Flash cards! They’re a lot of fun and you can use them to study with friends, which is always a lot of fun. When using flash cards, I like to write down a word on one side, then a definition on the opposite side. When studying with these, I’ll get a friend or family member to show me either the word or definition, and I have to remember what’s on the other side, this is definitely the most enjoyable form of studying!

The last way I like to study is  practice, I know, I’m crying too. This is most helpful for maths, I like to do equations multiple times until they’re stuck in my head. This method can also be helpful if you’re studying for an essay or report that you have to write in class, set a timer for the amount of time you will have, and then practise writing it out, in the exact conditions you will be required to do it in. This is the least fun form of studying but often the way to get information permanently in your head.

There are other study methods I like to use but these are my top three, anyway have a great day!

“When in doubt go to the library,”-Hermione Granger