Why “Aesthetic Studying” Works For Me

study-spo:

I’m sick today (like properly sick, I’ve been up since 2am with a bucket beside me the whole time) so obviously I don’t feel much like studying, but I had some thoughts and I figured now was a good time to ramble.

So. “Aesthetic studying”, that is taking ages writing out your notes perfectly in pastel colours, spending a long time organising your desk before you do any actual work, etc, gets a bad reputation among many studyblrs. And hey, sometimes they have a point- if you’re spending all your time worrying about whether or not your notes look pretty then you won’t be actually revising those notes, and really how your desk looks isn’t as important as how much time you spend actually working at that desk.

However, in the last year or so I’ve found that it really does help me. Here are my reasons:

• I am a very visual learner, and so rewriting my notes genuinely does help me- of course it’s not the only way I revise, but for me it works. I could just rewrite them all messily (so long as they’re readable) but I find that making them look nice is my main motivation to actually revise. I am a very ambitious person, but it’d be so easy to just… not revise. But I like pretty colours! I like bubble writing! It makes me actually want to spend time revising.
• It calms me down. My desk doesn’t have to be perfect, but keeping it clean and neat and full of calm colours and nice images makes me feel far less overwhelmed than I do when my desk is messy and cluttered. This isn’t the case for everyone of course, but this is why “aesthetic studying” works for ME, so whatever.
• It makes looking back at previous notes more pleasant. I find I actually want to reread and study from old notes if I’ve rewritten them to make them look nice. Again, it makes me feel less overwhelmed and more like i have everything under control.
• The *~*studyblr aesthetic*~* keeps me motivated in general. For me, that aesthetic is usually based on a book or film I like-during my GCSEs, for example, it was often The History Boys. It’s a bit childish, but honestly it helps me to make my notes and my surroundings visually reminiscent of those books, films, characters, etc that make me want to study.

So yeah. It should go without saying that if you spend all your time taking artsy pictures for your studyblr rather than actually studying then that won’t be beneficial for your grades, but I feel like for many of us there is a place for aesthetic studying, and I wanted to explain my own reasons :)