Blogs

Author: The Linkers Academy

Do you ever feel like your study habits just simply don't work? You spend hours studying yet you just either forget what you learnt or you don't understand it at all. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you, it just means you're not optimizing the time you spend studying. Fortunately, this blog will provide genuine insights and advice that you can use to fix this problem.

Firstly, understand that re-reading something again and again is not optimal, though there may be exceptions, reading repeatedly only creates fimilarity, and hence the illusion of thinking you understand or remember the topic even though your brain is just fimiliar with the topic for a short time. However, since reading the material makes your mind fimiliar with it, it's still an important part of pre-studying, but actually studying requires actively engaging with the topic. For example, Try to explain the material in your own words, as if you are the teacher. You can do this in a study group, with a study partner, or on your own. Saying the material aloud will point out where you are confused and need more information and will help you retain the information. As you are explaining the material, use examples and make connections between concepts (just as a teacher does). It is okay (even encouraged) to do this with your notes in your hands. At first you may need to rely on your notes to explain the material, but eventually you’ll be able to teach it without your notes. This is an actual neuroscience concept that you can learn more about if you wish. For technical subjects like math, when working out a problem, say or explain the steps out loud as you solve it, try to tell the wall why the method works.

Another extremely helpful method is Spaced repetition, though in reality it is a complex method that is difficult to set up, we can use a simpler version of it to make our brain remember topics way more. This simpler version can be demonstrated as reviewing of a topic repeatedly with increased time intervals. For example if you go through detailed notes of electromagnetism on 11th August, you should review that topic again on 12th August, then 15th August, then 20th August and so on. Even if you're only going through the topic minimally, this spacing effect creates a strong long term memory for that topic, this method when used correctly has an immense effect on performance, so much so that it may even be hard to forget topics sometimes, but ofcourse it is only of use if you study regularly.        Day 1 ➔ Day 2 ➔ Day 4 ➔ Day 9 ➔ Day 18... ( For each topic )

Know where you study best. The silence of a library may not be the best place for you. It’s important to consider what noise environment works best for you. You might find that you concentrate better with some background noise. Some people find that listening to classical music while studying helps them concentrate, while others find this highly distracting. The point is that the silence of the library may be just as distracting (or more) than the noise of a gymnasium. Thus, it is up to you to find your right enviroment.

Make problems your friend, especially for technical courses like math or economics. Psychology proves that working on a problem before being given the solution is much more effective than being spoon-fed the solution each time, even if you can't solve the problem, the effort makes your brain much more active and desirable towards understanding how to solve the problem. Even though your aim to end mistakes, when mistakes occour it is wrong to turn away from them, it is better to see them as an opportunity to eliminate yet another one. So the next time you have access to any sort of problem and it's solution, try to solve it by yourself before veiwing the solution, as that makes the human brain more open to adapting to problems and willing to learn how to solve similar problems by itself in the future.

Author: The Linkers Academy

The definition of art has been subjective ever since humanity created the concept, and it always will be. That is why I am using this general definition, which I believe is widely accepted: as long as something is created by a human being with aesthetics, communication, and meaning in mind, it is , in some sense, considered as art. 

Art is everywhere, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the books we read and so much more. Art allows people to communicate their thoughts, emotions, and ideas in a way that words alone cannot, even if humans could invent machines for every task we perform, art would be the one thing that could not be replaced. 

People underestimate how art shapes our life, you and I cannot survive a single day without using anything art related, the chair or bed you are sitting on is carefully shaped and designed for a purpose, the food you ate, the flavours it had, the clothes you are wearing, the device in front of you, this text that I wrote, everything tells a message and serves a purpose, if you go out to visit any shop you would rarely find anything to buy that is not art. Art is not just paintings and colours, it is what creates the cultures we have on Earth, it creates our similarities and our differences, it creates love and hatred, it creates fear and hope.

I have heard people argue about art not being modern, that humans have progressed far in life and art is an old concept. The truth is, most modern inventions take inspiration from art. A few years ago, engineers were taking inspiration from origami to create devices like solar panels on a satellite. It had to start with a random Japanese person, centuries ago, messing around with paper to make “pointless” paper animals leading to "modern" inventions like solar panels.

It's time we appreciate and understand art, especially in children. Art is a springboard for development, and it empowers children to better communicate feelings and ideas. These are fundamental to a child's well-being and their sense of place in society. In a recent study sponsored by Crayola and conducted by market research firm YouGov, out of 700 participants aged 6–12, 92% said that being creative boosts their confidence, and 59% said they got a sense of pride out of their creative efforts. Upon completing their projects, 52% reported that they experienced a sense of accomplishment. 

So look around yourself, everything humans built all the way from rocks and wood to today's modern world, had it been possible without imagination and creativity?

Author: Brianna Wiest 

People want to change their lives. They want to change their relationships, their bodies, their income, their brokerage accounts, their statuses, their homes. It's so easy to identify what's wrong on the outside and blame it for the feelings on the inside. Never is this so painfully clear as when the calendars reset and we think we're offered a fresh slate and blank page. It's easy to think a different year is a different life away.

But we carry ourselves and our baggage, and our energies, and our hang-ups and insecurities and hopes and mindsets into that glimmering hopeful fresh-start blank-page new life. Our "resolutions" don't stick because you can't change the outside and expect a different inside. People want to change their lives. They want to change other people's lives, too. They want to change the injustices they see. They want to change the whole world.

But they do not want to change themselves. (Not their image. Not their appearance. Not their worldly success. )

Which is, as it turns out, the one thing they can change. The one thing that must change first.

We walk around with the cripplingly false idea that we must adjust how things are, as opposed to adjusting how we are and how we see them. This world might as well be a damn hall of mirrors. Rather than trying to break them all to distort and rearrange how you see the image, you have to let go of the idea that your image is all that exists.

The things that torture us and the negative patterns that follow us and the reason we have to keep making the same resolutions year after year is that we are not making the shift, we are trying to shift other things.

And the most hilariously, wonderfully, sadly unknown part of this is that when you do so, you end up with what you set out to achieve in the first place. The love and contentment and “success.” Only this time, your worth doesn’t depend on it. You aren’t a failure if you lose it one day. This all stems from self. (“Tis not the mountain man conquers, but himself.)

So here is what you need to know.

Whenever there is a problem in your life, there is a problem with how you are thinking, reacting, or responding. Whatever you feel you are not receiving is a direct reflection of what you are not giving. Whatever you are angered by is what you aren’t willing to see in yourself.

So where you feel you are lacking, you must give. Where there is tension, you must unpack. If you want more recognition, recognize others. If you want to be more loving, give. Give exactly what you want to get.

If you want to let go of something, build something new. If you don’t understand, ask. If you don’t like something, say so. If you want to change, start small. If you want something, ask for it. If you love someone, tell them. If you want to attract something, become it. If you enjoy something, let yourself feel it.

If you do anything compulsively, ask yourself why. Stop trying to curb your spending or change your diet or avoid that one person or lash out at innocent people you love. Look for the cause of the feeling (not just the feeling itself), and you’ll fix the problem for good.

If you miss somebody, call them. It is silly to suffer in silence. It is noble and humbling to tell someone that they matter to you, regardless of whether or not you matter to them.

If your life is missing something you cannot place back into it, restructure. You will get nowhere disassembling the pieces with nothing to glue their place. You’ll end up reassembling the parts of the old life you are trying to do away with. Step away and build anew. Anything new. You cannot expect to carry on with the same life you had without someone and not have that gaping hole torture you. Give yourself permission to build something beautiful. Something true.

If you want to be understood, explain. There is nothing we need more than people who are willing to kindly, gently, wholly, patiently explain to others.

If you want to be happy, choose it. Choose to be consciously, consistently grateful for something. Choose to immerse yourself in something beautiful and peaceful and joyous. If you can’t choose this, choose to start working on figuring out what blocks you-be it health or circumstance or mindset. Get help. Ask for it. Saying you can't choose is giving up for good. (Don't do that.)

Choose change. Your routine, your job, your city, your habits, your mindset. Never sit and fester in frustration. It does not matter whether or not you're in the absolute worst-case scenario, complaining, worrying or being negative will never help. Anything. At all. Ever.

Everything you do, see, and feel is a reflection of not who you are, but how you are.You create what you believe. You see what you want. You'll have what you give.

Author: The Linkers Academy

What is the key to happiness? To answer that question, we need to first understand what happiness is, unfortunately there is no objective definition of happiness, we will instead refer to a simple explanation of happiness proposed by Team Gratitude; "happiness is the experience of enjoying the moment that you are in".   

In the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies on happiness, researchers found how good relationships have a profound impact on our lives.

For over 80 years, researchers have studied the participants’ health trajectories and their broader lives, including their triumphs and failures in careers and marriage.

“The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health,” said Robert Waldinger. “When we gathered together everything we knew about them about at age 50, it wasn’t their middle-age cholesterol levels that predicted how they were going to grow old, it was how satisfied they were in their relationships."  The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80.

Gratitude is also closely related to happiness because as we talked about at the beginning of this post, happiness is the experience of enjoying the moment that you are in. And, gratitude does just that.

It brings your awareness to the beautiful parts of your life and makes you appreciate them. Do you remember a moment when you felt overwhelmingly grateful to someone or something that happened? That is the essence of gratitude. 

Perhaps the key to happiness isn't finding something new to be happy about, but learning to appreciate what is already there.