Learning on your own || Independent studies 101

Hey guys, what's up? Welcome back to my blog!
If you're new here- Hi! My name is Sonja (read as s-o-n-y-a) and I am a self-improvement junkie!
I am always looking for ways to upgrade myself, and I swear I never know when to stop!
If you're not new here- oh my god, you are so sweet, you literally make my day!

Anyways, for today's post, I was thinking about helping you guys out with something that I am really good at. So I sat down, took my planner out and I was like: "What do I do, that I know a lot of people struggle with?" 


Self-studying.


Self-studying is something that I haven't seen going a lot around the internet, simply because a lot of people either finish high school and they are done or they go on to college, get a degree and they are done. But one thing that no one seems to understand is this-
Knowledge never stops evolving.
There are always new things to learn in order to adapt to the new world.

So, how the hell do you self-study?
Keep on reading!

1. Get yo' self a journal.
When I was in college, a long time ago, before I dropped out, I had a professor that was literally my favorite. She was teaching us how to write essays, and as I love writing naturally I loved my professor. The only thing that I minded at the time was a silly assignment that she would give us every semester- a self-study journal. In there, we were required to put in everything that we found "useful" either to the English language or in general. Like,  even fun facts were allowed. Quotes, notes, doodles, random thoughts. It was literally a journal that you fill in with a bunch of things that your professor can then grade. 
Everybody despised this assignment, simply because we were all leaving it for the last moment. So we were all scrambling to get it done and to make it look like we were working on it regularly. 

But in all honesty, this technique is something that I realized was quite handy only after I dropped out.



You get a notebook, or a binder, or a sketchbook- whatever works for you, and you carry it with you. 
You carry it to school, to work, to the grocery store, to the farmer's market. You carry it when you go on a date, from room to room, hell- even to the bathroom. 
Get something that will be handy for you to carry around, and keep a pen with you at all times.


Here are some ideas for your notebook, to get you started:
*You have a question? Write it down.
*Then, later, find the answer. Write it down.
*quotes, notes, doodles
*Self-reflection notes
*Goals, plans, ideas
*Specified studies- i.e. math problems if you're working on that; language studies if you are learning a new language (here's a hint for a future post); whatever you are devoting your time to
*song lyrics, movie quotes
*book analysis- you read a book and want to say something about it? write it down.

It's that simple. You have one designated place for all of your "trivia" for the lack of a better word



2. But Omega, I don't have time.
Lemme tell you sweetie- nobody has time for something they don't find important. If you find this important, you will see that there is always some time. 
Nobody said you have to sit down and study something for 5 hours! Even 5 minutes a day will help you keep your studies in line. And, if you listen to tip number one, this question is obsolete. 



3. Okay, but how do I make myself study? 
Once again, if you don't find it important, you won't want to do it. 
But, if you need extra motivation Omega got your back!
Think of it like this, you devote no more than 5 minutes a day to learn 3 new words of your targeted language. That's a ridiculous amount of time, and it probably takes you longer to pee. 
But do that for a month and you will see progress. That's how little effort you need to give out to get results. And trust me, you will feel so much more confident in yourself if you continue to work on yourself!



4. Great, now what are some topics I can start studying on my own? 
Well, I happen to have a list for you people! 
A) target studies
-this is something very specific, like language studies, history, biology, herbology, spirituality, religion, math etc. 
-I personally study a foreign language and spirituality, and there is a bunch of resources for both of those online! 

B) creative studies
-this isn't studying per se but is still vital in my opinion
-in this type of studies, you can cover art (your own or someone else's), quotes, lyrics, doodles, "to watch" lists, "to be read" lists, book analysis and things along those lines

C) personal entries
-one of my favorite types of entries are personal entries
-here you can write your journal pages, answer journal prompts, write down your questions, notes, ideas, thoughts, lists, plans, goals, manifestations etc




There you have it, these are just some of my tips for keeping your brain active even without regular classes. 
This post was very fun to write, and I hope it was fun (or at least handy) for you to read! 
If you'd like more posts like this one, do let me know!
Comment down below: Do you learn on your own? Do you think this is something you should/shouldn't do?

Don't be shy!
(find me here or here )

s t a y  s a f e

-omega- 

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