November 20, 2017

Library Necessities

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As I type this, my butt is numb because I've been sitting in this chair for over 7 hours straight. Yes that's right, it's time to live in the library! Since I need a lil study break, I thought I'd do a quick post over some lib necessities because really your whole study vibe can mess up when you're not prepared.

Of course, if you're over the library then check out my post on Where to Study for Finals for suggestions on where else to go!

Snuggie

I'm convinced that libraries only have two AC options, full blast in the summer or just turned off in the winter. No low setting, no heat when it's cold. Snuggies are the best because your full body can be warm but your arms are still free to highlight and type all night. Sure they might look a tad ridiculous, but at this point in the semester I bet you're rocking a greasy messy bun and sweats so we can all agree that looks don't count during the semester. 

Ear plugs

People ignore no talking signs. That's a fact. Ear plugs will allow you to block them out and will save you from having to shush people every 5 seconds. Some people swear by noise-canceling headphones but I've come to find that having no sound at all is way less distracting than even having study music on in the background. I keep a travel case with some ear plugs in my study carrel at all times and I think it really helps me get more done.

Blue-light glasses

After hours and hours of looking things on your laptop as you study, your eyes are going to start hurting and you're going to get a headache because that's just a thing that comes with technology. Blue-light blocking glasses are a cheap way to fix this and save your eyes from damage. These are actually just handy to have in general because I feel like law students are always on our laptops.

Every colored pen and highlighter you own

I usually keep my big stash of highlighters and colored pens in my house, but for a serious lib sesh I'll load them all up and take them on a little field trip. For some reason, I get very extra when I'm at the library. Idk if subconsciously I'm trying to use all these colors to show off like look at me color-coordinating I might as well run a studyblr or if it's just because I'm procrastinating by telling myself that I have to color-code before I even get started. Either way, go ahead and bring them all because you're going to want them.

Neck/back warmer

Okay, okay, so this is definitely even less fashionable than a snuggie so probably you would only wear this if you're studying in a study room where people can't see you or you've just gotten to the IDGAF stage of studying. I got this neck/back warmer on a recommendation from my doctor for when I study because the hours of looking down at my notes was starting to really make me be in pain. This thing warms up those muscles to help prevent them from cramping and as an added bonus libraries are always freezing so will warm you up too.

Focus help

I use two little things to help me spend more time working and less time pinning on Pinterest. I've mentioned the first one in my Favorite Law School Apps post, but it deserves another shoutout. I have the Focus app on my phone and watch that helps me use the Podomoro study method of 25 minutes on-task and then a 5-minute break and repeat. It makes me take little breaks so I don't get burnt out or still, and then the "get back to work" alerts help me keep my study breaks from turning into an hour of doing nothing. The other thing is the Self Control app for my laptop. Basically you make a list of all of the sites that you know you shouldn't be on and it blocks those for you. If you're super serious about studying, you can use this app and then on your 5 minute breaks from studying, you can go on bathroom breaks or re-organize your to-do list. Basically you make the library 100% social media free.

Game plan

Here's literally exactly what I do when I get to the library so I can be my most productive. 

1. Turn on pocket points — Since my study app works on my watch, I turn on pocket points as another incentive to stay off my phone as much as possible. Plus I feel like getting a free cookie after several hours in the library is a pretty good reward for working hard.

2. Make a to-do list — I always go a little extra and write down more to-do's than I know is possible, because I'm the kind who will be like oh I only have one more thing to do tonight so I can take a longer break so I need the reminder to stay on-task. I also get extra and make to-do's about my to-do's. So like right now I'm writing a paper so I made a to-do list of every paragraph that I need to write and I'm checking them off as I go. This also helps because I jump around and don't write in order, so I need to make sure that I don't forget to go back and finish a paragraph.

3. Make a timeline — If you've got a lot going on, this will help. What I like to do is plan out and say okay I'll spend an hour outlining on this subject and then the next hour I'll review it. Then I'll move on to the next subject and do the same. Even if you just want to focus on one subject the entire time you're at the library, I really feel like planning out your to-do list will help it be more feasible and also will establish an end time. The end time helps because it can either be a motivation factor like okay only 3 more hours of making yourself do this crap and then you can take a bubble bath or will keep you reined in so you don't look up and realize that it's 3am and you have class in 5 hours and you just completely lost track of time.

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