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

 

 

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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

De-stressing

After a long week, you know the kind I mean; three tests, an essay and two extra sports trainings, collapsing on the couch and basically lying there for the whole weekend is often what we tend to do, however, there are certainly better ways to de-stress.

Take care of yourself: Wash your hair, moisturise, put on a face mask. Doing these things will make you feel clean which will help you feel less stressed. I personally have one night a week where I do my full on shower, I wash my hair, shave my legs, have a Disney singalong using my hairbrush as a microphone (we’ve all done it!) It’s good to take care of yourself and your hygiene plus you’ll feel amazing afterwards!

Treat yourself!: Have a little ‘you time’ binge-watch Brooklyn nine-nine and all the Harry Potter movies, or any other movie or show you like they’re just my personal favourites! Read a book. Eat your favourite food, even if it is a little unhealthy. After a week of self-restraint from Netflix and chocolate, we surely deserve to be a little indulgent!

Do something creative: Forget all those math equations for a couple of hours, don’t forget them altogether or else that math test you have next week might not go all that well! Instead, put your brain power towards something creative you enjoy doing; bullet journal, do some calligraphy, write a song (if you’re musically gifted, unlike me) or even scrapbook! Doing something artsy will get your mind off everything going on for a little while.

Exercise: Look, I’m a pretty honest person so I’m not going to pretend I do this as much as I should but exercise is proven to have positive benefits on your mood and is definitely a good way to get out the stress. Head out for a jog, swim a few laps, invite your friends over for a game of volleyball or kick a football with your brother or sister. Exercising will help you feel less stressed.

“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

My desk organisation

As much as this is an extremely dorky thing to say, my desk is one of my favourite places. The layout works for me and I have a colour theme that is very ‘me’, it makes me happy to sit down at my desk and this motivates me to do my work. My system may not work for everyone but here’s a simple outline of how it’s laid out.

Let me start with my desk. I have the Ikea Micke Workstation, it has so much storage space and I’d highly recommend it.

Above my desk

Above my desk is purely for aesthetic, up here I keep little decorations and knick knacks that add to the overall feel and vibe of my desk, my desk theme colour is teal so these objects go with that.

Top shelf

On the top shelf I have all my pens in acrylic organisers from MUJI, I’ve organised my pens by type of pens, for example I have all my mildliners together in one section. This system really works for me as it’s very easy to grab whatever pen you need. I also have my bullet journal down the side of the organiser because that was the best place to fit it.

Middle shelf:

The middle shelf is where I store a few things I need easy access to when at my desk. Here I store my pencil case for school, a box for my flashcards, my sprocket printer, a checklist pad, a pen pot filled with washi tapes along with a cup that contains a ruler, scissors, erasers etc.

Bottom shelf:

This shelf contains my hole punch, stapler, tape and sticky notes which are in a box.

Main desk:

My main desk is very minimal so that I have optimal room for workspace. It consists of only my alarm clock and a magnet board with a few things pinned up on it.

Drawers:

I really believe I’m not using my drawers that well for storage as I prefer to have everything I’ll need within reach but I do like to use my drawers to store extra stationery I’m not currently using such as paper and pens.

Cupboards:

My cupboards contain old school work from the previous year.

Shelves on bookshelf:

Two shelves on my bookshelf contain my binders I take to school, display files for other paper and my lever arch files I store old work in.

Hopefully this post has successfully outlined my desk organisation and has helped you in some way. I could definitely improve on how to use my cupboard and drawers for optimal storage space but oh well. Anyway, thanks for reading my blog!

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

Study Sustenance

We all love food, or at least I do, whereas we don’t all love study but we could love it a little more when combining it with food. It’s important to keep yourself sustained when studying and healthy snacks are the way to do this.

My favourite snacks for studying are:

• A piece of wholemeal toast with a healthier spread such as peanut butter or vegemite
• Dried fruit; cranberries, sultanas etc.
• Nuts; my favourite are almonds but any type are fine.
• Fruit; cut up apple slices, grapes, berries etc.
• Cut up vegetable sticks; carrots, celery, cucumber. You can also pair these with a dip such as hummus.

It’s also important to keep hydrated when studying so drinking lots of water is definitely a must but a few more drink options are:

• Coffee in moderation.
• Tea, herbal teas designed for focus are good. I really like the Bright Spark Tea by Tea Tonic. Click here for a link
• Healthy smoothies full of fruit and vegetables.

When studying, it’s vital to fuel yourself with healthy foods, make sure to have everything ready to avoid breaking your focus to go get food multiple times.

“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

 

How to memorise an essay

I have to write an essay on Monday and I was terrified, until I started memorising it. Essays freak me out, especially if they’re ones you write in class. As much as I enjoy writing, I always fear running out of time and not completing my essay or completely forgetting what I wrote in my draft, I actually had a nightmare about it, no kidding! I was wondering what I could do to help myself remember my essay and came up with a few ideas I thought might help. I can’t say that they work yet but all will be revealed on Monday morning!

Step one: read it! I know, self-explanatory but it’s a definite way to embed information in your brain, read it until you’re sick of it.

Step two: say it, out loud or in your head just keep going over it, whether you’re with friends and feel like annoying them or trying to fall asleep at night, just go over it.

Step three: write it out. Remember look cover say write check in primary school? I know, the traumatic memories that come with those five words but you can basically do it with memorising an essay. Look at the sentence, cover it up, write down what you remember and then check it, you can skip the ‘say’ did anyone ever do that anyway?

Step four: practice! As if you were in class writing it, set a timer for how long you’ll have and then write it out using only the notes you’ll have in the essay, or no notes if that’s the requirement. Do this a couple of times and you’ll ace that essay!

Anyway, this post was slightly different to usual but I thought I’d write about something I’m still learning about. As I said before, these methods are not guaranteed but I’m really hoping they work for both me and you!

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