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The most valuable thing I learned doing a Masters degree with depression, anxiety and ADHD was to change my “things I’m bad at” list to “things I can’t do on my own.” Stop thinking of them as things I could do if I tried hard enough, and accept that I can’t accomplish them by effort and willpower alone; they’re genuine neurocognitive deficits, and if I need to do the thing, then just like a blind person reading or a mobility impaired person going up a storey in a building, I need to find a different method.

I’m “bad at” working on long-term projects without an imminent deadline or someone breathing down my neck? Okay, let’s change that: I can’t work on long-term projects without an imminent deadline and someone breathing down my neck. So let’s create an imminent deadline and recruit neck-breathers. Find a sympathetic prof who will agree that 3 weeks before the due date they expect me to show them my preliminary notes and bibliography. Get a friend I trust to block off an hour to sit with me and keep asking, “Are you working on your project?” Write a blog post about my progress. Arrange to trade papers and proofread them with another student.

Accept your limitations and learn to leverage them, instead of buying the neurotypical fairytale that they’ll go away if you just try hard enough.

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First you procrastinate on the task because it is not a big enough deal to get done urgently. Then you procrastinate on the task because it has become such a big deal that doing it is overwhelming. You would think that this implies a middle point where it is just big enough of a deal to get done easily, however the inherent perversity of the universe's causal geometry prevents this

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one of the biggest things I can advocate for (in academia, but also just in life) is to build credibility with yourself. It’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking of yourself as someone who does things last minute or who struggles to start tasks. people will tell you that you just need to build different habits, but I know for me at least the idea of ‘habit’ is sort of abstract and dehumanizing. Credibility is more like ‘I’ve done this before, so I know I can do it, and more importantly I trust myself to do it’. you set an assignment goal for the day and you meet it, and then you feel stronger setting one the next day. You establish a relationship with yourself that’s built on confidence and trust. That in turn starts to erode the barrier of insecurity and perfectionism and makes it easier to start and finish tasks. reframing the narrative as a process of building credibility makes it easier to celebrate each step and recognize how strong your relationship with yourself can become

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Proper boundaries

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WHAT IS POMODORO AND WHAT DO YOU EAT IT WITH?

First… what is the Pomodoro method?!

The Pomodoro (Italian for tomato) technique was created by Francesco Cirillo in the 80s. Cirillo is an author and owner of a consulting company. He created this time managing technique that breaks down your study time into manageable intervals with breaks between each study session. With the countless distractions we have today, there’s no wonder it is still one of the most popular and helpful techniques for increasing productivity!

1. You need to plan your tasks

This will help you gauge how many sessions you will need. Will you be reading? Watching a lecture and taking notes? When planning what I will study, I know that watching a lecture and taking notes will take me sooo much longer than doing a reading or flashcards (less strenuous things). I also know that my core science courses will typically take much more studying time than one of my electives.

Determine what is most time-consuming and plan accordingly. The Pomodoro method is perfect for concentrating on any task, but you want to have in mind the classes that require more focus and time than others.

2. Set a 25-minute timer

25 minutes is only a recommendation and you can increase the time or lower it depending on how long you believe you can stay focused without interruptions. I mean, I don’t recommend you set a 5-minute timer to study and then a 5-minute break. But a session somewhere between 20-30 minutes is great (and how long I set my timer while studying)!

One other thing that Cirillo notes is that this time cannot be broken. You must work the entire 25 minutes without any distractions! One of my favorite ways to cancel out distractions is to:

-Put my phone in another room, or in my closet

-Or use the Forest app, which is a timer app that restricts you from leaving the app while completing work/other tasks. This guarantees I stay on task the whole time I am working!

3. Set a 5-minute timer for a break

Between each 25-minute study session, you need a break. You deserve it! So Cirillo recommends only a 5-minute break in between each study session. Do something that doesn’t bring you stress.

Tip: Make sure you do NOT work throughout the break at all. This break is meant to be a relaxing period to take your mind off of your work.

4. Repeat the process 3 times

This studying technique includes four sessions. So do this same process 3 more times. Work diligently and remember to stay focused.

5. After your 4th session, extend the break time to 20-30 minutes long

Once you have finished your fourth session, take a longer break! This is a huge accomplishment and after you have completed it, you will (and should) be so proud. The longer break allows you to take your mind off of your work and reset so you can get back into it.

Why It Benefits You...

IT WORKS FOR ANY TASK

Don’t think I only use this productivity hack for studying! This can be used while cleaning, organizing, reading, and so many other things! Remember, you can tweak the time frames depending on the task and depending on how much time you have to complete it. This is an amazing life hack that I believe everyone should be implementing to help with time management.

IMPROVES CONCENTRATION

Like I noted earlier, this is a distraction-free strategy! It’s on you to remove the distractions from your sessions, and when you do, you will see significant improvements in your work ethic. This technique was created to allow complete concentration on the task at hand. It will improve your focus, productivity, and concentration.

BEATS PROCRASTINATION

The Pomodoro technique breaks the time down into consumable segments. Would you feel more confident with saying you will study for 2 hours or 4 sessions of 25 minutes? I’m confident I would choose the latter every single time. This technique gives our brains manageable chunks of time to study so we result in more work getting done in the end. So just start working!

REMEMBER TO UTILIZE YOUR BREAKS

by Ania Henderson

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Reblog if it's okay to invade your ask box

Always

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this is for a really specific reason right now but reblog if you love and care about your mutuals so so much and want to hug them tight and tuck them into bed

can't find a post like this so I made it myself

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I know this is the most 28 year old thing I could possibly say but what if I have actually experienced everything and run out chances in life???? Think about it. Think about it. It’s three am and this is very reasonable.

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Are you trapped on tumblr right now?

Is there something you planned to do before you got trapped in the endless tumblr scroll?

Are you yelling at yourself to get up and do the thing, but you can’t, because you’re trapped in the endless tumblr scroll?

Consider this your save point.

Put tumblr down, stand up, stretch, and go do the thing you planned to do. Future you will be incredibly grateful.

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If I get at least one thing done in a day I’m a genius if I get two things done I’m a god

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As someone who volunteers at a refugee center that specifically serves middle eastern refugees, and is the daughter of an immigrant Iraqi woman: exactly this. Arabs are routinely accused of being terrorists, but it’s Arab countries that are practically getting eradicated every single day. This has been happening over and over, and it’s getting extremely tired that it slides every time. And yet Biden has said with his whole chest that there would be more US-UK airstrikes on Yemen incoming. Fucking insane that anti-Arab racism gets a world stage & everyone’s just okay with it. Ceasefire now.

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I love how different forms of art are all obsessed with each other. A book tries to capture the feeling of music, a painting tries to depict a scene in a book, a song tries to paint a picture. And it's always insufficient. No single form of art can encapsulate another form of art and capture the essence of it – but it tries, and its attempts are impossibly compelling. All the forms of art are in love with each other and spend so much time trying to express what makes the other kinds of art so lovely.

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EARNEST POSTING. while everyone is still working on new year’s resolutions i want to make sure everyone knows about the FREE serial reader app.

if you are trying to read more classics/public domain works but for whatever reason struggle with incorporating reading into your daily life, or you’re just intimidated by huge books, serial reader is a great tool to make reading more approachable. it works much like dracula daily in that it sends you one excerpt at a time (usually about 10-15 minutes of estimated reading time). awesome for commutes, lunch breaks, quick bedtime story, etc.

it’s very customizable. you can change fonts, themes, and you can even take notes and highlight. you can also sync with other reading apps like goodreads (no storygraph yet……. we can hope!). the base app is completely free, but there is a one-time optional upgrade fee of $2.99 USD if you want some extra features. this is all developed by one guy, so the money goes to supporting the creator - although i’m sure apple takes their cut 😑.

there are a ton of works to choose from, currently something like 800+.

you can now also add your own .epubs to break up your own books into daily serials! very cool, serial reader!

this was the best app i added last year so i just want to pass it on. happy reading! :)