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omg hiiiiii i haven't logged on here in almost a year.... in that year i finished my dreaded thesis and passed it with an a, graduated summa cum laude, moved in with my partner, went on my first ever but definitely not my last backcountry canoe trip, threw myself into music writing and production, and haven't thought about returning to academia in months... i don't think graduate school and academia are for me anymore which would be such a crazy thing for 2022 me to hear but i'm so happy and excited about life and it's beautiful how you just get pulled in so many different directions and find new ways of being 🤍 i'm reading a lot now and reconnecting with doing the things i love (music, knitting, running, being in the woods, cooking) and learning how to be a better friend and partner and family member... and life is so beautiful and peaceful. if anyone wants to keep up with me my main blog is @hearditinapastlife2019 please feel free to shoot me a message there any time! i love you all!

#message to young people in university your life does not begin and end with academics... please remember to be a person too #and to love with your whole heart #and play with crayons sometimes. or go on a hike. or take a dance class. idk just have fun!

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bedroom deets || ig: shop.blitheco

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fuck the grind. fuck work culture. i want a slow life. i want to wake up in the morning and scramble eggs and saute some spinach, squeeze some orange juice and cut up some strawberries, and eat it all while sitting on my porch and watching my goats mill about in the yard. i have a world of downtime to bake bread and garden and read and craft. i am free.

i love and support trans people! having this on your blog means you love and support trans people too!

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#i love my nice little love that feels quiet and safe :)

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i'm actually so excited for my life to start after university :)

#that's not very writing an honours thesis and on track to graduate summa cum laude university senior of me but whatever #i want to take a break i want to make music and be a barista full time #and i want to go to newfoundland and nyc with my partner and i want to cook nice meals and decorate our apartment #idc about assignments

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Until2022′s Guide to Catching Up When You’re Drastically Behind in Study:

I. Assess the damage

The first step in the plan is to confront how bad the situation is and then make some calls about what you can realistically achieve in the time you have left. 

List everything you have to do, down to exact detail - don’t write ‘catch up on readings for Virology’, but instead note down every chapter. This will make it a lot easier to gauge how much time and energy you need for each assignment or exam, and will help to motivate you as you work through. 

Use an Eisenhower matrix to sort these tasks:

Important and Urgent: Any and all compulsory assignments, exams, tests, etc. 

Important but Not Urgent: Lectures for upcoming exams, compulsory readings or labs, etc.

Urgent but Not Important: Additional homework or tasks that are due soon but aren’t worth much, like logbooks or small quizzes

Not Important and Not Urgent: Additional readings, nice lecture notes, and other ‘good-to-haves’

Now cross out everything that you can afford not to do. That’s going to be everything in your ‘Not Important and Not Urgent’ zone, and probably all of the things in your ‘Urgent but Not Important’ zone. I know that it’s annoying not to get everything done, or to sacrifice the 5% that you could have gotten, but unless you can do it in 10 minutes and it’s really worth it you simply don’t have the time to spare here. 

Having said that, if a class has lots of small assignments due, don’t overlook them because they’re not worth much on their own - make sure you take a look at the overall percentage left to go in that subject. If you can dedicate a whole day to just that subject and smash through all those assignments in one, you’re crossing a lot of work off your list. For example, I have weekly quizzes and 2% labs in my Pathology course - if I’m behind, I’ll dedicate a whole day and do all of those assessments. That’s 20% out of the way and a big leap towards catching up. 

II. Tackle the low-hanging fruit

Seeing the product of countless days of procrastination is probably pretty daunting right now. I could offer you platitudes here but it’s a lot easier for you to actually take some action and feel better about it yourself, so:

Do everything that will take you less than 10 minutes to complete. Reply to those emails, the messages in the assignment group chat, upload your peer assessment, do all the little things you need to do for someone else. That should cross out a big chunk of things from your list, and you’ll be left with the important stuff like finishing assignments and studying for exams. 

If you’re panicking (seeing the huge list of stuff which you have to finish in an impossibly short time will often do this!) then try an easy square breathing exercise. Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, repeat. Splashing cold water on your face is helpful too, as is having a glass of water. Do not use this time to procrastinate! It might sound like a good idea to relax by watching Youtube or Netflix, scrolling through Instagram or playing a video game, but you’re going to be sucked back into the procrastination game that got you here in the first place. 

III. Create your plan of attack 

You’ve left it too late to be regularly revising, so our plan of attack is basically going to be: cram every subject consecutively. This is the best way to get everything done when you’re pressed for time like this - don’t switch tasks or subjects. Interleaving subjects is great when you’re on schedule, but right now you don’t want to spend quarter of an hour getting into the groove of a certain subject and then switching before an hour has passed. 

University is just one assignment after another, no breathing space in between, especially towards the end of the semester. All you need to do is work out what’s due first and what’s worth most, order everything according to those criteria and then focus on the first assessment until you’re done. Once the assignment is handed in or you’ve sat the exam, then you can move onto the next task.

If you have two different assignments due for different classes on the same day, plan ahead so you can dedicate a full day to each subject instead of working on both at the same time. 

Plan out every single day - make sure you’re scheduling in time to eat, shower, sleep, and take breaks as well as to study. Be specific when planning your time out each day as to what tasks you’re hoping to achieve - don’t allocate too much time to any single lecture, but at the same time, be realistic about how much you can cover in one hour. 

Choose wisely based on what you do or don’t know. There isn’t much point in spending this precious time revising the things you already know you’re good at, so suck it up and schedule in the hard stuff first up, but be prepared to move on if you can’t get it down. You’re far better off going into the exam knowing 10 things badly, than 1 thing really well, so focus on the basics and if you have time to learn the more complex details then go back and do that later. 

You also need to be flexible and prepared to adjust - sometimes an assignment will take longer than expected or a day just won’t be as productive as you thought it might be. Don’t panic, just re-plan and shift things around so you keep moving in the right direction. 

IV. Grind it out 

Now that you have a clear idea of what you need to achieve and when, it’s time to get it done.  

For once, you shouldn’t need to worry about simple procrastination. You’re  probably already panicking, so turn that anxiety into motivation which will fuel you and let you focus for long time periods. Fear can be a great driver - when the threat of the exam is looming over you, it’s amazing how well you can knuckle down, assuming you don’t want to fail. 

Pack a bag with everything you need - your laptop or tablet, your charger, headphones, a water bottle and a travel mug, snacks and meals for the day, and anything else you like to have with you when you’re studying. Then take yourself to the library, the local coffee shop, the office - wherever you like to study, but don’t sit at home. There’s too many opportunities for distraction and you cannot afford that right now. Being in an environment where other people are working will motivate you to do the same. 

If you’re working on an assignment, the best way to get things done quickly is to let go of any preconceptions of doing a great job, or having a perfect draft, and instead just focusing on having a draft. Bash out the worst draft you’ve ever written, fill it with run-on sentences and spelling mistakes. But make sure you finish a draft. Then all you have to do is edit it, and it’s a lot quicker to do it this way than it is getting bogged down in the details before you’ve even begun. 

When you’re studying for exams, the number one way to learn is through active recall. There is no point in wasting time writing out a full set of notes if you’re two days out from the test. Even if you feel like you don’t know a single thing, start off straight away by testing yourself - do past exams, drill flashcards, try and write outlines or mind maps and then check your notes or textbooks and fill in what you’ve missed. If you don’t know the answer or you get it wrong, look it up and try to understand it, and then test yourself again in twenty minutes. 

It’s important to strike a balance here: don’t overextend yourself, but don’t continually take breaks. If you think you need a break, you probably don’t. Take two minutes to stretch your legs and drink some water, but do not pick up your phone. If you’re starting to feel mentally fatigued, especially after a few hours, it can be helpful to switch locations - go outside and study on a park bench, or shift to the dining hall. Sometimes the change of scenery is all you need to feel refreshed. 

V. Rinse and repeat

This is your life now. Make sure you stick to a regular sleep schedule - aim for at least six hours a night - because otherwise your fatigue levels will seriously impact your memory, retention and critical thinking abilities. It’s not worth the few extra hours you might get in, and you probably won’t be productive anyway. 

Remember that the advice I’ve given you here is based on what I do when I am severely behind, not how I study on a daily basis when I’m on top of everything. These tips aren’t all great for long-term learning, but are the most efficient way to cram when you’re behind and under pressure. 

You’ve got this. 

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I think every butch lesbian ever deserves to have a lovely day today and also all the other days

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i was not built for college but unfortunately i was also not built for anything else

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Pages from Work Song, a fabric book about farming and falling in love 🌦🧵🌻 (1 / 2)

Instagram | Prints

[ID in next reblog]

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pumpkin waffle + tea + book = perfect spooky season morning!

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i’m watching ‘77 pride footage and i’m literally this woman in a warm fuzzy dyke t shirt, flower in her hair, being interviewed whilst she’s eating a sandwich, saying “i like dykes, yeah”. i’m literally kin

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dykes to watch out for strip set in 1574: lois sneaks into a convent to have sex with a nun. ginger distributes the bible in the common tongue. mo gets burned at the stake

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"(insert some goober male celebrity or character) is the protector of lesbians!" butches are the protectors of lesbians in all historical truth. Storme DeLarverie was patrolling the streets with a bat and then a gun, she was referred to as the guardian of lesbians in the village.

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#butches i love you forever

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Hi! I have great news. I got my results back from 14 days ago and I passed Criminal Procedure with 90%. I’m so happy because I was doubting myself but it all worked out at the end. One exam left on Friday lets go👩🏼‍💻👩🏼‍💻

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22.10.2022 || My 5th semester of medical school starts with a 2 week statistics block. My exam will be on Friday, so wish me luck! I am motivated to learn everything, because I know that it will need it as a researcher. xo Lux