Hello everyone!
I am currently entering my Finals week and that means getting up early to start working
and studying so a good morning routine is essential so I can keep track of all the things
I have to do.
This year I will have four exams and three final papers to turn in for the next couple
of weeks so it’s really important to be able to organize my time well in the mornings.
I usually get up around 7.00 a.m. and that gives me enough room to take my time while
preparing breakfast, replying to any business emails I have, as well as filming, since the
lighting in my house is way better during the mornings.
My days always start with breakfast and that necessarily means a large cup of coffee to
get me through all of my work.
I am currently in the process of, yet again, switching bullet journals.
This journal you see on the left is a Lemome dotted journal and the quality is absolutely
impressive.
I bought it for 12 pounds and the paper has double the thickness of my Leuchtturm bullet
journal as well as great design details and a faux leather cover with stitching and a
flexible spine.
Before I start filling that journal, though, I still use the Leuchtturm in the mornings
to keep track of the stuff I have to do for the day.
I am currently adopting a very minimal approach to bullet journaling so if you want to find
more about that, definitely check my video linked in the description box below.
I am also currently using Brain Fm almost every single day to get focused.
It’s an app that compiles music specifically made for reading, essay writing and work and
it has been doing wonders for my productivity.
In this particular morning I had to start brainstorming ideas for my third final paper
for Global Administrative Law so the first thing I did was reading the assignment and
start taking notes on topics I thought would be interesting to cover in my essay.
The brainstorming stage of a final paper is one of the most important since it completely
affects your final result and the quality of your arguments.
I like to take my time with this and do it before anything else so I don’t have to
rush to get through this most creative stage.
Afterwards I start searching for bibliographic references, academic papers, books on the
subject and articles.
As a rule of thumb, my research usually starts on SSRN or WestLaw, which are great sources
for scholarly papers.
Most of the times I tend to research papers not for the arguments, or the ideas of the
author, but to find more information sources on footnotes and reference pages.
These are usually sources that I wouldn’t be able to find without very intensive research
so it comes in handy to have a few papers that can compile important books and articles
that I can search for later on.
I like to make a list of references on a separate document so I always remember where I got
my information from, and that helps me have a smoother experience when reviewing my final
work.
When working on big assignments such as a final paper, I like to break it down into
smaller tasks and then schedule those tasks in my calendar as if they were smaller, isolated
assignments.
In this morning I decided to do most of my research and brainstorming, which would allow
me to create good preparatory materials to pick up the next time I would be working on
the paper.
Breaking a task into small chunks makes it less daunting and allows you to dedicate more
time to each particular aspect of that assignment instead of rushing everything in a couple
of days.
As you see here I am reading a few papers to have some ideas on structure and main topic
research.
The more research you do beforehand, the more time you will be able to dedicate to writing
in itself, since all of your preparatory work will end up being reflected in how you connect
ideas and concepts, and the quality of your argumentation or topic development.
After doing my most creative work for the day, I start doing my readings.
Beforehand, I will go through my bullet journal again and cross out the tasks I’ve already
completed and make sure I am still on track and able to finish my work for the day.
If I think I won’t be able to do it, I will migrate some tasks for the following day.
This morning I had to read several chapters on my EU Law Textbook since I was preparing
for a 48 hour exam and wanted to develop my knowledge on a few particular subjects.
For me, reading assignments are always the worst, since I feel I cannot, for the life
of me, focus on my readings for more than an hour.
Because of this, and if the readings are really necessary for my exam prep, I usually get
comfy and first skim through the book while sitting on my couch, and have a notion of
the contents of the chapter, relevant topics and sub-topics and so on.
Searching for key words and discussion questions is also a good idea to prepare myself for
a more active reading stage.
After that I go to my desk, pick up a highlighter (and here I am using my new Tombow brush pens)
and start getting deeper into the contents of the book.
I try to apply a few active reading methods that you can find more about in my Reading
Skills crash course and try to make sure I fully grasp the contents in my reading materials
and transpose them in a clear way to my own summaries.
I try to only highlight the portions of the text that are absolutely necessary for retention
and important key words and definitions.
I will usually do all of this active reading, then grab something to lunch around 12 or
1 pm and afterwards I will hit the gym and get home for some notetaking in the afternoon.
If you would like to see my afternoon studying routine for finals please tell me in the comments
below and I will film a part 2 for this video.
I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and I will see you next week.
Bye!