Hello everyone!
I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, I know I definitely did. But now that Thanksgiving is over, I have the honor of having finals this week (yikes). To get into a motivated spirit, I thought I would share with you my favorite study hacks, along with some "brain food" to get you through the long days ahead of you.
Starting with food (everyone's favorite subject), I find it most necessary to share with you my FAVORITE study snack of all time, that takes less than three minutes to make. Now, I can't take all the credit for this (Pinterest ideas have helped me a ton), but these "baked" apples are the bomb.com. Simply cut up an apple (NO GREEN APPLES), a little bit of margarine, and a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and brown sugar. toss it all in a glass dish (make sure it comes with a lid. If it doesn't, just use a paper towel.), cover it up, and microwave it on high for two minutes. I swear, this melt in your mouth treat is calming, so you won't feel a stress overload while studying for that economics final, and will stall away hunger for a while. Another one of my favorites is roasted chickpeas. Roast them in the oven for 45 -60 minutes with some olive oil drizzled, and you're good. My favorite thing to do is to make Parmesan and garlic chickpeas, by adding some garlic powder, dried parsley, and Parmesan after you drizzle on the olive oil. Not only is this an easy snack to grab and go, but chickpeas are proven to be a good source of dietary iron (step away cheerios), and are beneficial to your immune system. Also, if anyone knows me, I have an undeniable love of bagels. While I can't always stop at Einstein Brothers and get my favorite (which happens to be the Nova Lox), and not be broke, I can definitely do it myself at home.
Now on to the study hacks. If it wasn't apparent by the previous paragraph, I am a firm believer that snacking while studying is going to help you stay focused. I'm not sure what it is, but whenever I snack when I study, I tend to remember things better than being on an empty stomach. I also recommend drinking water and/ or tea when you study. My go- to buddies are green tea (mine are from the brand Bigelow) and Republic of Tea's get smart® - No.16 Herb Tea for Memory/Focus. I realized that my past two posts, I have been going on, and on, about tea, but it is pretty beneficial for your body. I would recommend green tea in the morning for a boost of energy, unless you want to stay up all night. Also, a do NOT try to pull an all- nighter studying. There is a pretty extensive list of things that can happen to your brain, but I'll keep it short.
1. The National Sleep Foundation says you remember less when you are tired
2. Your circadian rhythm is thrown off
3.You'll stay stuck on any hard problems you have. Being tired= limited focus
4. You could possibly suffer from a sleep attack- where your brain forcibly makes you pass out, in spite of every intention not to (this could also be deadly. If this one doesn't convince you not to pull an all- nighter, I don't know what will)
5. Your brain stops functioning all together.
The best thing to do is get 8 hours, so don't save up all of your studying for the night before, and do studying in 20 minute increments for each class you have. to add on, don't forget to take a break. An information overload could possibly lead to a mental break down (that's not exactly fun). If you are more of an extrovert, try working in study groups. Collaboration can sometimes be key to getting good study habits. As an ex- AVID student, there is one thing that I still do, and that is mark up my notes and rewrite them. As much as I love typing, and like how fast it is, writing what you need to know sticks better in your head than typing.
Well, that is it for this week's blog post. Happy studying, and watch out for our next post! I think you'll enjoy.
Until next time
- Maddy
November 26, 2016
November 13, 2016
School Morning Routine (Fall/Winter)
Hey guys! It's Lizzie, and today I have a school morning routine! I know I have a pretty specific morning routine, and I thought I'd share that with you guys!
So first thing I do when I roll (literally) out of bed at 6:30 and turn off my alarm (which is purposefully located far enough away so that I have to actually get out of bed), is to grab a throw blanket from off my bed. Getting out of my nice warm bed and going around my cold house is difficult, but a throw blanket makes the transition a little easier. Then I head out to my kitchen and make myself a bowl of cereal, because I'm not ready to make a big breakfast right away in the morning.
After that, I head back to my room and get dressed for the day. Finding what to wear is hard. Sometimes I have an outfit picked, but even so, I usually end up trying on like five different shirts before deciding on one. (I know I'm not the only one who does this.) Next, I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth (usually getting food from breakfast out from under my braces). I brush my hair, and try to do something with my hair. My go-to hairstyles are leaving it down, and doing a french braid back into a low ponytail and pulling out the baby hairs to make it look more effortless. Then I do really minimal makeup which usually consists of the Benefit They're Real mascara, the Benefit Porefessional primer, and occasionally concealer. I have a pretty good complexion so I don't use foundation and only use concealer for the occasional pimple.
Next, I head to my room, spray on some perfume and/or body spray, and make my bed. I usually end up with about 15 minutes left to pack my bag if it's not already, find a pair of shoes to go with my outfit and relax.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Please leave a comment giving us feedback and ideas of what to post next. It would honestly make my day!
Love, Lizzie
Instagram: @withlovemidwest
So first thing I do when I roll (literally) out of bed at 6:30 and turn off my alarm (which is purposefully located far enough away so that I have to actually get out of bed), is to grab a throw blanket from off my bed. Getting out of my nice warm bed and going around my cold house is difficult, but a throw blanket makes the transition a little easier. Then I head out to my kitchen and make myself a bowl of cereal, because I'm not ready to make a big breakfast right away in the morning.
After that, I head back to my room and get dressed for the day. Finding what to wear is hard. Sometimes I have an outfit picked, but even so, I usually end up trying on like five different shirts before deciding on one. (I know I'm not the only one who does this.) Next, I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth (usually getting food from breakfast out from under my braces). I brush my hair, and try to do something with my hair. My go-to hairstyles are leaving it down, and doing a french braid back into a low ponytail and pulling out the baby hairs to make it look more effortless. Then I do really minimal makeup which usually consists of the Benefit They're Real mascara, the Benefit Porefessional primer, and occasionally concealer. I have a pretty good complexion so I don't use foundation and only use concealer for the occasional pimple.
Next, I head to my room, spray on some perfume and/or body spray, and make my bed. I usually end up with about 15 minutes left to pack my bag if it's not already, find a pair of shoes to go with my outfit and relax.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Please leave a comment giving us feedback and ideas of what to post next. It would honestly make my day!
Love, Lizzie
Instagram: @withlovemidwest
November 6, 2016
The road to de-stressing
Hi everyone!
Remember me? I for sure have been the most busy I have ever been in these past two months. School is hitting me like a ton of bricks. I went out a couple weeks ago with the request of post ideas, and I got a great one (thanks to Anna Marie). Since I have been so stressed, I haven't been remembering to write, nor have I had the motivation to write. But then the realization hit me: when I need to relax, I need write. So, hey, why not update? I always have ways of making myself less stressed, but never remember them. So, when Anna gave me the request to send in my "de-stressing routine", I knew I had to jump on it. So, from the person who should probably not be giving tips on how to not be stressed, is how I relax and get everything settled to get the job (or million jobs) done.
The first thing I do is take a breath, and write what I have to do. I am a very visual person, and when I can see things when they are due, and how I have to do them, I feel so much less stressed. I am a planner, so having those due dates lets me plan and gain structure in my week. For me, structure is calming.
For when I need a quick way to help get rid of my stress, I result to tea, more often than not. Herbal tea, like chamomile is proven to help with problems such as insomnia, anxiety, and you can even use chamomile tea bags under your eyes to hide the fact you got about two hours asleep last night. For when you can't sleep, brands such as Celestial Seasonings (my favorite is the Sleepytime Vanilla) and Yogi (I recommend Honey Lavender Stress Relief) are available at places like Walmart for less than $5.
Because stress shows on my skin, I find some time while I work on my assignments to use a calming facial. Feeling Beautiful dead Sea Minerals Facial Anti- Stress Mask is a quick and easy mask that I can definitely say leaves me feeling refreshed. To relieve the fact that I haven't got sleep in the past month, when I have time, I use the Nugg Depuff Eye Mask. It works wonders for my eyes.
So, that is all for this post, I hope you guys can use this to help be less stressed. Check out our contact post if you wanna get a hold of us!
Until next time- Maddy
Remember me? I for sure have been the most busy I have ever been in these past two months. School is hitting me like a ton of bricks. I went out a couple weeks ago with the request of post ideas, and I got a great one (thanks to Anna Marie). Since I have been so stressed, I haven't been remembering to write, nor have I had the motivation to write. But then the realization hit me: when I need to relax, I need write. So, hey, why not update? I always have ways of making myself less stressed, but never remember them. So, when Anna gave me the request to send in my "de-stressing routine", I knew I had to jump on it. So, from the person who should probably not be giving tips on how to not be stressed, is how I relax and get everything settled to get the job (or million jobs) done.
The first thing I do is take a breath, and write what I have to do. I am a very visual person, and when I can see things when they are due, and how I have to do them, I feel so much less stressed. I am a planner, so having those due dates lets me plan and gain structure in my week. For me, structure is calming.
For when I need a quick way to help get rid of my stress, I result to tea, more often than not. Herbal tea, like chamomile is proven to help with problems such as insomnia, anxiety, and you can even use chamomile tea bags under your eyes to hide the fact you got about two hours asleep last night. For when you can't sleep, brands such as Celestial Seasonings (my favorite is the Sleepytime Vanilla) and Yogi (I recommend Honey Lavender Stress Relief) are available at places like Walmart for less than $5.
Because stress shows on my skin, I find some time while I work on my assignments to use a calming facial. Feeling Beautiful dead Sea Minerals Facial Anti- Stress Mask is a quick and easy mask that I can definitely say leaves me feeling refreshed. To relieve the fact that I haven't got sleep in the past month, when I have time, I use the Nugg Depuff Eye Mask. It works wonders for my eyes.
So, that is all for this post, I hope you guys can use this to help be less stressed. Check out our contact post if you wanna get a hold of us!
Until next time- Maddy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)