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It's still so weird to me that this is what a bacteriophage actually looks

Like, tf do you mean it's not just a diagram, and it really looks like this

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me every three seconds when i'm not in the mood for studying:

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The weather has turned! It’s been rainy and cold all day, really feels like autumn. Had yum cha with family and then came home in a food coma. Have been reading Nora ephron, watching MIT open courseware, eating persimmons and drinking tea. The cat is getting very cosy.

#autumn #weekend #journal #blog

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New zine that's free for anyone to print and distribute! Read the whole thing at newlevant.com/COVIDzine or in the rest of this post.

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16/04/24

Autumn is finally setting in. Oak and maple are browning and falling all over. I actually have a craving to study chemistry (what fresh torture of a brain craves this) - reading up on medical cases and wondering how people retain so much knowledge.

I read a book at the bookstore the other day that was talking about learning potential and how the key to learning is being ok with discomfort and pushing through it over time. It’s such an important thing for me to remember I feel, that learning actually is hard, and if you don’t know or understand something that you can overcome it if you persist.

#thoughts #autumn #studyblr #study #insp #journal

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Skip Google for Research

As Google has worked to overtake the internet, its search algorithm has not just gotten worse.  It has been designed to prioritize advertisers and popular pages often times excluding pages and content that better matches your search terms 

As a writer in need of information for my stories, I find this unacceptable.  As a proponent of availability of information so the populace can actually educate itself, it is unforgivable.

Below is a concise list of useful research sites compiled by Edward Clark over on Facebook. I was familiar with some, but not all of these.

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Google is so powerful that it “hides” other search systems from us. We just don’t know the existence of most of them. Meanwhile, there are still a huge number of excellent searchers in the world who specialize in books, science, other smart information. Keep a list of sites you never heard of.

www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.

www.worldcat.org - a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.

https://link.springer.com - access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.

www.bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.

http://repec.org - volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.

www.science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.

www.pdfdrive.com is the largest website for free download of books in PDF format. Claiming over 225 million names.

www.base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free

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Day 31/100 of productivity

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Some lab notes

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{10.04.24}

Relaxing post exams, trying desperately not to think too hard about the results which come out late next month. Wondering if it’s worth putting together preferences for uni’s now, or waiting to see whether my score is competitive before applying (but it leaves me with very little room/a very rushed process)

I’m planning my trip to UK/Europe and very excited but nervous!

The weather has finally taken a turn after an unseasonably hot start to autumn. Cat is on my bed savouring a wheat pack.

#journaling #exams #studyblr

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I went to the beach and read brideshead revisited - it was a beautiful sunny day.

This evening I made saffron rice and spiced chicken in the oven which was really nice.

Then I played some guitar while watching Greys Anatomy!

#brideshead revisited #books #reading #beach #academia #relaxing #studyblr #cafe #tea

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Study Motivators That Work

The 3 Minute Rule

When you have a task that you don't want to complete, just get started and keep going for 3 minutes. If you still don't want to complete the task after 3 minutes, stop and start another task

This method can be very challenging during the initial stages of trying it

When you procrastinate, you tend to find something else to do first to dodge the main task at hand

This rule forces you to immediately avoid any deviation from completing the task for 3 solid minutes with the option to stop after those 3 minutes

Discipline plays a crucial role in this motivation technique as starting the 3 minutes requires you to overcome procrastination

Something that helps in this process is trying to slightly mentally detach yourself from the situation to have an objective view on it

You need to look at the situation and acknowledge that you have the freedom to stop the task after 3 minutes if you truly cannot complete it and that you absolutely must start the task immediately

Often times, I keep going once I start which results in significantly improved productivity

Flexibile Schedules

Often times, I plan out the perfect study and work session with my tasks and times detailed to the second

However, sometimes, life gets in the way of these plans and I'm forced to reschedule everything

Something like this can be extremely demotivating, especially if your day revolved around your very detailed plan

To help solve such issues, there are 2 options for 2 different scenarios

The first option is to prevent the situation from occurring at all

Extremely rigid and detailed plans are very easy to disrupt

Preventing the situation would be done by outlining more flexible study and work plans that can be done at most times and don't rely on strict timings (I will post another article on creating a flexible and functional study schedule)

The second option is how to move forward if you do find yourself in a situation where your study plans have been disrupted and you're demotivated

In this instance, the first step is to list the topics you need to cover and sort them from most important to least important

Estimate how much time each topic will take and look at how much time you have available

Evaluate if the time you have available is adequate to completely cover all of your listed topics

If not, choose as many topics with the greatest priority that will be able to be completed within your available time

Remember, these steps should be completed within 5 minutes at most to prevent you from losing any more time

There's always a plan for every situation. It just needs to be found.

Justify It

If you truly feel like there's no reason to compete the task, find a reason

If the task is important enough for you to lament over it, it's certainly important enough for you to complete it as soon as possible

Clear your mind of any frustration and just relax

Think of what the purpose of the task is

Do you need to complete an assignment that will be a part of your final grade?

Do you need to complete a report for your job?

Will this benefit you in the future - near or far?

If you need to study, what is your end goal?

When I hesitate with my studying, I always remind myself that what I'm learning now will one day help me improve as a doctor

Once you identify a reason, act on it and complete the task

The reason will help you sense that what you're doing has meaning and purpose, making the task less of an inconvenience and more of a duty

Knowledge is always valuable.

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24/3/2024

I sat my big exam yesterday. I was feeling very drained but hyped after and despite having a bath I still didn’t go to sleep until 2am….delayed sleep phase is really tough for me to break if I’m any kind of stressed. But I woke up to a lovely sunny day, had a slow morning, and headed to the city to enjoy some light retail therapy as a reward/gift to myself. I got a candle I’ve had my eye on for months, a lipstick, a notebook and some more of my favourite pens from muji. I had a fancy cold brew sweet cream coffee and then later some ramen.

How do you unwind after an exam?

#exam #post exam #study #studyblr #therapy #unwind #city #coffee #notebook #candles

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~March 16 2024~

Did a practice test today in lieu of my exam next week. I did better than I thought I would and got about 70% correct. If this happens in the exam I’ll be really really happy!

Deliberating whether to do chem/maths/bio reviews now.

It’s finally cooled down a bit and my brain is sort of co operating

#studyblr #med #grays anatomy #textbook #academia #test #exam #study insp #medblr

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I got to do today's Doodle for the Flat White! My favorite of all topics!! ☕️ The Flat White originated in Australia and New Zealand in the 80s. It usually has a double ristretto shot, and a very thin layer of microfoam. Great if you want more of the coffee flavor while still having a white (milk) coffee.

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March 13 2024

At the library again. Struggling through chem and physics q’s.

Test is 10 days away!

#studyblr #moleskine #study

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📚 2 weeks til the next exam!! 📚

10 march 2024 💫

It was library time today, after a couple of weeks. I did practice questions and have some notes for review. There’s just something about organic chem that doesn’t click in my brain.

To reward myself I went to the bookstore and got a wb yeats poetry book.

#studyblr #studying #library #med #chem #books

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I sat my written exam!

I’m not sure I did that well, the prompts were a bit weird and one was too broad so I feel like I rambled on and on.

I’m sort of sad it’s over now as I was getting very passionate about writing well and reading extensively to get better at it.

Now I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m tempted to go study but I might let myself rest and get back to it tomorrow. It’s still way too hot and I can’t wait for it to cool down a bit.

I’ve been thinking about Joan Didion’s packing list lately as I prepare for my trip overseas. A mohair throw would come in handy for a long flight.

#exam #studyblr #essays #written #Joan Didion