How To: Not get totally stressed out before exams or other academic deadline

Hello, everyone!

It's been a long time since my last writing as had some exciting time with my dissertation. Now, when it is finally over and everyone is in the middle of revision for the exams, I thought that it would be relevant to share some of my thoughts on how to 'keep calm and carry on' with all sort of studying.

First of all, I think it is absolutely normal to get nervous before the exams or deadline. I think that everyone will agree that it is not natural and very uncomfortable situation in which your skills, knowledge and ability to concentrate are checked in very special let's say environment. So, I guess it is impossible to not care about it at all, but there is definitely no point to panic!

So here are some rules I try to follow when I am facing exams or deadlines:

1. STUDY, Study, study! 
Unfortunately there is no other way to get by and there is no magical pill we could take and absorb all the information needed. So, yes just accept it, you need to spend some hours sitting with your books, notes, slides and whatever else.

2. Evaluate your capabilities and difficulty of material. 
It is actually quite helpful, because if you know that you are able to prepare a piece of work over night or revise everything in few days, there is no need to panic 2 weeks before and other way round. Also I always start with the easiest question to allow more time to the one I have difficulties with.

3. Organise your study space and yourself 

You might want to study in the library or sit behind the desk, but not to lie in bed with a book. It gives you very relaxing feeling and I am not sure of how much you will be able to remember of such reading. Plus, it associates with some entertaining reading and attention is not concentrated on the important details. 

Also if i decide to study at home I like to prepare myself as well. Rather than staying in pjs I prefer to dress up and even put make up on, then it makes me feel that I am actually 'doing work' and I would not go back to lie in bed

Your study area - well, don't let it look like the picture above. I follow the rule - clear table, clear notes, clear thoughts! A nice folder or organizer might be helpful to keep all the materials in a place.

4. Plan your day
I love to plan things and even if it is about revision I make a plan what I need to know by certain day. I am trying to follow this, so I can be calm that everything is going well. I also like to set up a regime - to wake up at certain time and create a study routine, which will allow me to feel that most days I DO study as well as monitor how much of my day is dedicated to it. 


5. Communicate
I am not 100% sure of the effectiveness of this point and I will explain why. It is good to talk to your course mates, exchange with some useful sources and notes. BUT! I am personally not a big fan of revision together. First of all, everyone has his/her own way of doing things and own pace. Also I don't like asking what other people wrote about in their works as it will make me more worried in case if I forgot something or did everything totally unlike someone else. So yes, communicate in a way that is not harmful to yourself and concentrate on your own work. At the end of the day it is YOU who is sitting on the exam.


5. Treat yourself
It is very important! If you feel that you've done a good job and had a productive day, why not to treat yourself with something that you like - either go for a meal out with friends, or watch latest episode, eat some sweets, anything really. You can't study all the time!


6. Have breaks
Following the last sentence - it is true it is impossible to study all the time, otherwise you will completely hate what you are doing. Have reasonable beaks. For example this blog is my break :)


7. Don't forget to eat!
Very true for me. If I am hungry I am not productive, not in the mood, cannot concentrate! I don't know about you, but food is important! Also dark chocolate is apparently good for brain, but well... milk chocolate is good as well.

8. Find alternative sources of information

If you are tired of textbooks and really can't be bothered to do anything, but still understand that you need to learn something today - look for some other sources of informations. For example Youtube uploads some of the full lectures and I really like RSA: http://www.youtube.com/user/theRSAorg

Another useful source is Ted talks. Even newspapers can be useful, if the articles relate to your topic.

9. Keep positive attitude!
The last, but not least: motivate yourself with positive thoughts. Like : It will be over soon! Summer is coming! A little bit more and I will be proud of myself and so on.

Good luck with your exams everyone!

Mad Men or let's talk about women

Hey hey! I have recently started to watch Mad Men as I've heard so much about it and I was very curious what it's all about. Now I get what all this hype about. It is truly good!

To be honest I started to watch more because of the outfits, makeup and hairstyles of these pretty ladies, than because of the storyline.

It all happens in New York of 1960s in the one of the biggest advertising agencies in Manhattan. It was very curious for me to see how did they make adverts then (after studying a whole module on modern advertising last semester) in the age when cigarettes and alcohol were totally acceptable products to be advertised. However the plot is not what I am going to talk about. I am going to talk about Women of 60s and why I think that these women depicted there should be taken by us (ladies of 21st century) as an example.

 


First of all, just look at them. At home or at work they look so neat, stylish and beautiful. I think this is one thing that modern girls are loosing. I am sorry if I am generalising, but for me it is a fact. I am a particular opposition for a modern feminism I think it went too far. It was a huge difference for me when I moved to UK to see how different the relationship between men and women are. I am not intending to insult anyone, so forgive my honest opinion, but I think that women in UK are far too much emancipated. What started as a great idea of equal rights to vote, work and get education on the same basis with men went too far, when women overloaded themselves with way too much things to do.

 It would be a lie to say that in 1960s women were only mothers and wives therefore they could spend so much time on themselves and look stunning. I personally think this is because there was different idea about the role of women in men's life. Woman has always been a decoration, subject of admiration and lust. I believe that every women enjoys man's attention and care; these series very precisely depict the relationship between man and woman. Man knows exactly that his wife or girlfriend is worthy all of his efforts at work, to come back home and meet submissive and supportive woman.
I truly believe that behind every successful man is a strong woman. There is nothing wrong with being a 'neck' to a 'head'. I think it is pointless and at times stupid for women to prove all life how clever, strong and powerful you are. As Scarlet asked (in Gone with the wind): Why does a girl have to be so silly to catch a husband?
Well, it it a game of life. Man like to be clever and strong and it is how it SHOULD BE. Who want a weak and silly man next to you? Well, I don't want and thankfully I don't have.
For me it is the main feature that my man has to have: he has to be able to help me, advise me and if needed guide me in a  right direction. I don't find anything humiliating at all  in coming to my boyfriend with seeking help in opening a jar or in an advise in more serious questions.

Of course I felt a little bit sorry for those ladies in Mad Men as often they are not treated seriously by men and are only seen as sex objects. Wherein, they do not look cheap or easy available. Most of all I love the fact that men always approach ladies first. In my opinion, it is how it should be! No matter what - it is a man who is a hunter, who has to make a first step and to make some efforts in getting a woman. I don't agree with the position that when girl is choosing a guy herself she is free and independent. I am sorry, but it is how i think (one will say old style and conservative - YES!). Also it is depicted there how women used to be financially fully dependent from man. It has changed now, and women can choose any range of jobs, but still man's desire to spend on his woman should be encouraged (And NOT used!), as I guess that man can really feel himself a man when gives his lady a present and gets back desired gratitudes, love and tenderness.

Anyways, I think I've explained and described my point of view and I want to come back to Mad Men ladies. And to finish my blog with something I want to wish to all the girls, ladies, women..

Stay beautiful inside and outside whether you are out 

or at home:

Wear nice underwear

And find your real man. Love and be loved:

Exploring LUSH products - battle with the scents :)

I really wanted to try some of the LUSH products as I have heard loads of positive comments and reviews. Plus I visited their website and some of the products are not expensive at all. 

BUT there has always been a massive obstacle that prevented me from going to that shop - SMELL! OMG I just cannot stay in the shop for 2 minutes and the strong scents of their products just give a headache. What is interesting that it is not even that bad, but probably it is just too much of it.

Anyways, too much of an intro. I have put myself together and I decided that it is the time I want to finally try something out of LUSH; plus I have run out of my facial cleanser which i usually use in the shower after I have removed all the make up.
In Leicester LUSH is actually one of those street shops and I was lucky for the good weather so they had their door opened and some wind could come through to ease my fight with those smells. Shop assistants are really nice I have to tell and they look really cool to something like pin-up girls. You can get one of those free skin consultations there. You are just asked some basic questions about your skin type and they find something suitable for you. It is also nice that they test the product on your skin, so you feel it and smell it (ha :D) and then decide.

So I went for this 'Angels on bare skin' fresh facial cleanser and a shampoo. 

Angels on bare skin Facial cleanser 100g £6.25 I love Juicy Shampoo 100g £4.95

Well, so let's start with shampoo. It does has a strong smell, it smells with an alcoholic drink like some kind of a cocktail.. as it has pineapple and other fruits. You actually need just a little bit of it to wash all hair. I have quite long hair and still I didn't use much of the product. It does leave the feeling of very clean hair and what I liked that it is not heavy on the hair as some of shampoos are. I cannot say that it is better than my L'Oreal one, but I like it.

Angels on bare skin facial wash texture

Moving on to facial wash I like it much more. It is very weird type of product (I've never used anything like that before). You have to take a little piece of this paste add a little bit of warm water and rub it between your hand and then apply on your face massaging this (already melted scrub) into your face. It feels really nice like a scrub and it leave skin clean and soft. I was expecting a little bit more of moisturizing effect, but in general I quite like. Not sure if I bought that again, but I will definitely use it up.

What are your favourite LUSH products? What would you recommend?

A healthy living attempt

So here I am back in Leicester all on my own and all piled up with my books and articles for Dissertation. However, I have to say spring has finally come here and there are even some crocus in Victoria Park and this is the positive thing.
I have decided that it is about the time when I need to think of coming summer and get all my curves shaped :D So, I am attempting a healthy living, which for now includes of healthy eating. I know it is very stressful time for students (And 100 times more stressfull if you are a final year one, who I am..) and there is often no time for a proper meal or hot food, BUT! it is worth giving it a try. 
So when I came back and I went to Asda do my food shopping I totally avoided the department of snack and crisps. I do LOVE Doritos and I have a habbit to lie with a pack of them in my bed watching my 90210 or MadMen or Youtube tutorials, funny videos.. or whatever else. I sad NO! (not to all the episodes obvs) but to crisps, jellies and fast food.. at least for a little while.. we'll see how long I can survive. Don't think that I've become one of those crazy people who is counting calories and not eating anything but salads, no way, but just healthy cut down on unnessecary stuff that I can live without. Instead of crisps I have bought loads of fruits,vegetables, cheese and olives - these are the foods I love and all together they can replace Doritos :D . One thing I have left in my food cupboard is of course chocolat. There are number of reasons for that - 1. It is good for your brain (This argument is impossible to omit!) 2. It makes me happy (well, you know.. useless to argue) 3. Chocolat normally does not consist of all these artificial components and unhealthy things that other sweets have. So chocolat is an all time winner (in reasonable amounts of course).

So here is what I am eating. I try to cook for more than one day, so I don't have to do it all the time, but here is one of my day routine eating habbits:

I often see that online:

I can't say that I follow that, but I do try to have a good breakfast, so I don't feel hungry as soon as I get to the library :)

Here it is my breakfast cereal. Well, I need to tell here a story Peter (my boyfriend, so you know, as you will probably meet this name often throughout my blog) introduced me to these, and OMG with this first bowl he gave me I fell in love. It is so crispy as I love (btw I have to eat my cereal as soon as I add milk, as I hate when they become soft.. euuuh ) and it has some real strawberries and note this 'Absolutely nothing artificial'. It really tasty, a bit pricey, but it worth it! 

Here are some options for lunch:

 

On the top picture the salad I made today: it has some lettuce, fried chicken with some spices, fried onion and mushrooms, some tomatoes and of course olives!! It is quite easy to make, it is healthy and also filling.
Now on the bottom picture is actually the original salad, made by Peter and where I took my ideas from :D 2nd plate is the same concept but instead it has some fried prawns. It is delicious! You can experiment with vegetables and other ingredients

Finally, some dinner ideas. Again on the left my version, on the right Peter's cooking.
So my version is something what at home we call plov - it is dish with rice, some vegetables, spices and meat. As I don't eat pork I do it with chicken or turkey. My granny also adds some raisins to it. It is quite easy - as I boil rice and separately prepare vegetables and meat then mix it add some spices and sometimes soy sauce and here it is.
Peter's version is more advanced as you could guess from the picture. Again similar idea, but instead of rice some pasta and more ingredients to it. He put some tomatoes, courgette and some blue cheese.  And it is very tasty. Again it is simple and leaves some space for your creativity

Yeah also I love teas.. but there will be a separate post on it sometime later.

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Here is my attempt to healthy living - healthy eating.
Next step and my aim - jogging. I will let you know how it goes ;)

Bye bye