Tips & hacks everybody will use after reading this

Schoolies

1: Have to do a to-do list.   In order to have a super convenient to-do list, just stick some post-it notes onto the board you use as your to-do list. For a bonus, you can just peel them off & stick them anywhere you'll see them to remind yourself what things you need to do. For even more ways of making convenient to-do lists, look up on Pinterest for some ideas.

2: Super to-do list!   Wanna be extremely organised? Let me help with that... Need a super-clever-bring-wherever-you-go-to-do list? Allow me!!! Using the previous hack, stick a bunch of sticky notes onto each divider. That way, if you have an upcoming test or forget to write down homework, the sticky notes will be waiting for you! ;)

3: Copy look-backing.   When it comes to starting a new copy for a subject, leave the first couple of pages blank which you can use as a table of contents section. Depending on what sort of copy you have got if you tend to use A4 sized copies, there will normally be a blank page or two, which you can use as the contents page. Doing this will help you find your notes faster when you begin to study for exams.   I do this for history and home economics but I 100% need to do this in 5th & 6th year for my Leaving Cert.

4: Colour writing preference.   For you people who love writing in black ink {like me... Ish}, have a go at writing in blue ink as it's easier to remember things written in blue so write the notes you need to study in blue. I dunno if it can work for the people who write in blue to try writing in black. Give it a try if you're one of those blue people.

5: Copy organisation.   If you have a whole load of copies that all look similar at the top or bottom, colour the top corner in terms of subject {e.g. science in yellow, maths in pink, French in purple... I think you get the idea} so you know what subject you're looking for in your bag & won't end up holding the whole class. A bonus is that it can possibly organise your locker a bit cos I do it! You can also write the subject on the spine of the copy if you place small copies in your locker.

6: "Bigger" refill pad...   Need another refill pad with dividers to fit your summaries for ALL your subjects but aren't available? Problem solved! All you need to do is take out the dividers out of your old refill pad and stick them in... Here's how it's done; Every time you see a loop from your refill pad {should be a spiral binder}, cut a slit in between the two edges of each ring where the hole of the divider is. Do this to all your dividers and just decide where you would like to put them to divide the paper. Once you're happy with the placements, just push down the slits {that are sort of in the shape of a T}into the ringed binder {use a pen as it hurts my thumb all the time}. Just to clarify the "bigger" refill pad isn't actually that big; you're just making the number of subjects bigger appear into it.

7: Whiteboard emergency!   Need a whiteboard... But you don't have one? How unfortunate... There is just one simple thing, apart from a whiteboard marker: Obviously, a picture frame. The great thing about it is that you can make it prettier by putting in a pretty background to your picture frame {I love using ombre styled backgrounds cos they're just so magical <3}.   If you're not willing to use the glass of a picture frame for your whiteboard {especially if you decide to bring it to school but get concerned about the glass}, I use my homework journal as it's got a plastic cover, which works really well!

8: Need a piece of Pi {get it?}   Remembering the decimal for Pi is pretty simple: just count the letter in the sentence "May I have a large container of coffee that's cold?", which actually turns out as 3.141592654, which is Pi. This literally blew my mind away! If nobody remembers my outstanding performance of double Pi, also known as Tau, it's 6.283185307179586476925286769559003578394338750211... Thank me later!

8: Scared to stand out... This is for the majority of you out there!   This is a super strange one, but blowing on your thumb makes you less nervous when you're about to give a presentation. I have never heard anything as crazy as that but if it works out for you next time you're standing in front of the class, this will be known as your life saver!

10: Colour them cards.   Another one for presentations: if you decide to be using flashcards or something to read in your hand, change the colour of the text between every line. Hopefully, it'll make it easier to read while you're standing at the top of the classroom. Again, this is strange but give it a go and see how it works out.

Webbies

11: Maths disaster.   Like I've said in my hacks/tips on studying, algebra is the main block of maths. So if you have a problem trying to solve an equation & you want to get somebody to teach you but don't have a tutor, try using: PhotoMath if you want an app Step-by-step math problem solver if a website is what you want The new website I recently discovered online is WolframAlpha, which not only helps in maths but can help with stuff like people in history, engineering, art & design, health and medicine & so much more! I prefer the first website as it can solve almost any algebraic question. If I'm correct, you must pay a premium in order to continue with WolframAlpha. It's really all up to you!

12: Education search on Google.   If you're searching information on Google, take a whack at using scholar.google.com for better educational resources, not for just random blog posts! Lol.

13: Don't be too repetitive.   Everybody knows what it's like to be using the same verb/adjective in an essay... Not enough English vocabulary guys!!! There is a website called wordhippo.com which is like an online thesaurus that can help find the definition of a word synonyms related to its meaning, the opposite of the word, and more!

14: Textbooks as websites!   We all know how expensive textbooks can be. If you'd like to, try renting them instead. A website called Zookal is perfect for students in University. If you're lucky, you might be able to find a textbook needed in your local library. Finding a textbook in a library is almost impossible but if you manage to find one, lucky you! But only for this year, I have 11 of my school books online. Anybody from Ireland should know Edco Learning ;)

15: Too distracted by anything & everything!!!   If you're one of those people who gets distracted by other websites while you're studying {like me}, there are some things like keepmeout!  which can be used on your computer to block certain websites{them popular ones, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, you name it} at certain times. This can also be suitable for the people that have no self-control {not me...}

Techies

16: Sneaky essays.   When you're writing an essay, you may think you're done but end up realising that you're a few words away from the minimum word count, which is extremely frustrating. Rather than trying to make longer sentences {which will probably end up with grammar mistakes}, add a few words at the end of your paragraph(s) and highlight them in white text. Do this at your own risk cos I don't think you lot should do this for large chunky words, just found it interesting to share with you.

17: Shorten them essays.   If your essays are too long and you can't find ways to simplify them, try adding some white hyphens to make your word count smaller. Again, do this at your own risk.

18: Stretch them essays.   If your essays are too short & you want to make them visibly longer, add all punctuation marks where possible and change the size of the font. It may always work out but again, making the size bigger is at your own risk.

19: What the hell is a "revised fragment"? I hear ya cry   I have no doubt anybody will know what it is, but when doing your spell check, you'll probably realise something will appear with "fragment" {consider revising}. It's basically telling you to just add a semi-colon... Somewhere in the sentence. I don't know where but all I need to know is that it's a semi-colon!!!

20: Check the back of the book {as my maths teacher would say!!!}   If you're having trouble of finding references for a certain topic {or anything!}, try picking out a particular book, go to the bibliography {normally at the back of the book} & look up its other books and resources which can be used too.

21: Google for your quotes.   If you want to use a quote from a book but you can't find the page number for your citations, search it up on Google Books and it'll actually tell you what page the quote is on. This is 10 times better than flipping through the book forever to find a small sentence!!!

22: Let audio take over vision.   It's true, our eyes do everything for us; so if you're reading a lot on your computer, it can get so tiring {and you'll possibly fall asleep! LOL}, you can use the speech function so it'll read it out for you. You can also do this for essays as this is a way of proof-reading them and spotting errors after you finish writing them.

Life savers

23: Desk organiser no.1! This must be done for me one day!!!   If you want to be really organised, use a dishwasher rack. If it's a pretty big one, you can put some pens/pencil pots at the front. For even more desk organisation suggestions, look up on Pinterest for some ideas.

24: Music equality.   If you have a friend who wants to listen to your music, make sure it turns out on "mono audio" so that the both of you can get the exact same sound instead of you getting one side of the song, which is pretty weird!

25: So long sweat!   If you end up getting the smell of sweat in your shoes after PE, place two tea-bags inside them before you pack up your bag. That way, they won't smell up in your locker - and most importantly, your bag. Ok, I need to get real cos everybody I'd say gets the smell of sweat in their shoes so I wouldn't take it as an "if" statement!!!

26: Deodorant disaster!   If you have run out of deodorant, use hand sanitiser on your armpits instead. Body odour is caused by bacteria, mixed with sweat, so if you don't have much bacteria on the skin, you are less likely to smell like something that's absolutely revolting!

27: Deodorant back-up no.2   No deodorant? No hand sanitiser? No problem! Try rubbing some lime juice until it gets dry. How this keeps the smell away from you is by increasing the pH level on your skin. That will make your skin a little acidic for bacteria to develop, to the point where it can't even breathe.

28: Unprepared emergencies - emergency is taken care of!   One really convenient idea is to assemble an emergency kit, which can contain anything you need if you're out fo the house. Stuff like hand sanitiser, pads, lip balm, bobbins, combs, deodorant, anything really {if they can all fit that is!} that can be for an unexpected emergency. Then no matter when & where you are, you'll be ready for any situation. For me, I add mascara, bobby pins, small pieces of jewellery & a box of tic-tacs or two. I never know when I get hungry... If you think you'll end up forgetting your kit one day, I recommend you make more than one kit for any bag that you carry around normally.

29: Polish off them nails.   You need to remove nail polish for any reason {for me, my reason is home ec} but have no remover but deodorant? Well, you can use your deodorant to remove chipped nail polish... Cool right? I know, I found this strange too, till I tried it myself

30: BANG & the bite is gone {see what I did there?}   Another great thing about deodorant is that it can heal a bug bite because the alcohol content in it can disinfect & soothe the bite.

31: Sharpie on my skin!   If you "accidentally" get Sharpie stains on your skin, nail polish remover & a cotton-wool ball are and will be able to do the work for you. Seriously though, it's more common than anybody thinks it is!

32: Affect or effect?   If you're confused with these, then neither! When it comes to sentences, you're better off using the word "impact". That way, you'll never get them wrong again... Like, ever!

33: Stalking drivers...........   Another crazy-one-but-could-help situation: if you're on the road driving anywhere & it looks like there's somebody following you, take four right/left turns so that you go in a circle. If they're still behind you, you definitely know they're following you. If that happens, stop and call somebody you know or drive to a wide public space and wait until they leave. Or just drive to the closest police station! But really, what's the chance of that happening? A super small fraction!

34: A sticky situation.   Ok, let's say you've just sealed an envelope but forgot to put something inside... Don't and I repeat, DON'T rip it open; place the envelope in the fridge for a short amount of time & then put whatever you need to inside! Again, another awkward hack but, it could happen to anybody...

35: Make me shout!!!   Like I said last time in my study hacks, it's best if you read things aloud than passively as you're most likely to remember them. Trust me, you'll wanna do this for important memorisation exams... Oh, what subjects do I use this method you're asking me {you're probably not but I'm just a little too enthusiastic today! ;) }: almost ALL of them, especially Irish, home economics, French, I think you now get the idea of how important it really is to read aloud! ;)...

36: Tangled trouble.   Trust me, there's a lot of people that have tangled earphones {like me until I tried this out...}. Try using a small container and wrap them up inside. It's super cute!!!

37: Simple phone stand.   Turning your phone into a video player for watching Youtube is simple... But holding on to it can really annoy you. You can use your sunglasses to let your phone stand or as an alternative, use pull clips. To put it together follow these instructions: 1: bend one pull clip's hand back 2: flip the one you've bent back over & clip the other one over the big bulky bit. There you have it: your own phone stand.

38: Feel refreshed!   If you're constantly tired after waking up in the morning, even though you've had enough sleep, drink some water as soon as you get up. You may actually feel more dehydrated than sleep-deprived & I had no idea about that so I've gotten used to doing this!

39: Super speaker!   For those people who find it absolutely ridiculous to buy any speaker,{no matter what the size, it's all 'bout the price!!!} why buy one, when you can make one? Here's how to do it: Get the following pieces you can find around the house: toilet roll, your phone {duh!}, scissors & 2 cups {paper ones are easier to deal with}. Using the bottom edge of your phone {remove the case first cos your phone will be out of the case @ that time you're using it}as a guide, trace it on the toilet roll. This will be where your phone will slit inside. Using the holes on both sides of the toilet roll as guides, cut out a circle on each of the cups {this can be a little, actually a lot fiddly}. Push the toilet roll into both cups & push your phone into its slit. There you have it: your very own speaker. To make the sound louder, have bigger cups... But it won't be as easy as it sounds...

Extra techies {mostly battery and keyboard}

40: Tab tragedy...   Yes, this happens a lot to me and I was so relieved I figured it out: if you ever close an important tab, press Ctrl and T to get a new tab. To go back to what you were doing, press Ctrl and H which will bring you to your history and what you've been doing will most likely be at the top of the screen.

41: Must remove these tabs!   Another keyboard hack: to remove a tab, press Ctrl and W and then... Ta-da, you're tab free!

42: Rewrite a sentence... Or a paragraph.   Wanna keep information on something but you're too lazy to type it out? No problemo; click & hold the left side of your mouse and scroll it on top of the text you want to have. Then press Ctrl and C to copy it. To paste it to whatever you need it for, press Ctrl and V.

43: Cut out that text!   There are two ways for this; 1; If you feel like you need to remove a chunky paragraph, click and hold the left side of the mouse, then scroll over what you want out of the text. Press Ctrl and X to cut it off and then you've done it! 2; Rather than pressing the delete button a certain number of times which can be annoying, press Ctrl and the delete button which will remove one word. If you've got a Mac, not only can you do this but to delete one whole line, press command and delete for an entire line! Pretty cool, I gotta say!

44: Print out that page!  I just love these keyboard hacks: Ctrl and P will print your page(s) needed {just adjust the settings first}.

45: Really frustrating slow-mo!!!   If a page is taking too long to load, Ctrl and R will refresh the page. Or else if you're not interested, just go to the loopy arrow at the top left corner...

46: Different nationality? What's with no accents?   Anyone that's been using GoConqr for the last while knows that you can't put in the accents that you'd normally see written in different countries. After looking inside my French book, there is a way of typing in these accents without using another web {like Google translate or Quizlet}to copy and paste it. The following accents can be typed... But you must the Alt button: 130 = é 131 = â 132 = ä 133 = à 134 = å 135 = ç 136 = ê 137 = ë 138 = è 139 = ï 140 = î 141 = ì 147 = ô 148 = ö 149 = ò 150 = û 151 = ù 152 = ÿ 160 = á 161 = í 162 = ó 163 = ú 164 = ñ 0156 = œ I'm not willing to find out all the secret symbols by typing every single number... Let me know what other symbols you get by typing different numbers... Who knows, they could go to infinity!  

46: Phones are problems sometimes...   Ok, let's say I'm you... I'm in the library or in class and I get a text from my friends during that time... I've got an extremely low battery percentage and I don't have my charger with me... I start getting distracted and taking loads of Snaps {which will end up having my phone confiscated for two long weeks}... My battery is now at 9%!!! What the heck do I do if I want to prevent battery loss and embarrassment? OK, I'm me again, in order to tell you what it is. Turn on "aeroplane mode" or "don't disturb" so you won't receive any calls or texts from anybody!

48: Time-wasting = battery wasting!   To see which apps are secretly wasting your battery and by how much, go to settings. For people who've got a pretty oldish phone {I've got an iPhone 4s}, go to "general", then "usage" and finally "battery usage". For a pretty recent phone like the iPhone 7, you just simply go on to settings and search for "battery". They need to make it much simpler for them old phones! :\

49: Battery hack no.3 {"How many battery hacks are there?" I can hear people saying (No I can't! :) )}   Another method of preserving battery, and data, is to turn off your "background refresh". For anybody who wonders what is "background refresh" is that it updates your apps while your phone is on, without you even knowing. This is probably why your phone is clocking off much earlier than you expected or you may be using more data than you thought you were!

50: Hopefully the last battery hack! :|   I hope it's the last way of preserving battery: do and I repeat DO turn off your location services. You may leave it on for social media and stuff like that but it's best to turn it off as people may end up stalking you, which is literally, scary so do turn it off when it's not in use

50: Ugh! :\ Battery hack no.5!!!   But this time, it's a laptop... {Thank God!!!}Turn down the screen brightness & use the power saving mode. I dunno where you can find that cos I ain't got a laptop.

52:  Laptop hack with preserving battery hack no.2 {otherwise known as battery hack no.6... Ugh, this better be it! : \}   Use the "one tab" extension on Chrome to grey the tabs you're not using at the minute. Again, battery saver...

Yummies

53: Mentioning mint?   That's right I said mint. Apparently, it can help reduce your extremely bad headaches and improve your concentration. To keep them somewhere safe, it'd be best to have some in your emergency kit.

54: Apples on the dark side :|   Yes, we know how much we hate apples when they turn brown. To prevent that happening if you wanna eat them during the day, cut the apple up into segments and soak them with two tablespoons of honey & one cup of water for a couple of minutes then tie them up with an elastic band. Take a look at the comparison between the one dipped in honey & the one that hasn't; it's like beauty VS the ugliest!!!

55: Amazing almonds!!!   Don't have mints but a bad headache? Having 10-12 almonds also give you the same effect but they just taste way better! Again, it's your wish if they belong in your emergency kit.

56: Grapes for the goodness...   If you've got migraines {which I've never heard of}, try some grape juice or those concentrated apple + grape flavoured juices {I prefer them!} and take some with you wherever you go... There is no doubt you'll get better in no time!

57: Sandwich roll-up???   If you're in a rush and you don't want to waste your perfectly good sandwich, roll it up... That just makes it twice/three times as fast to eat!

58: Orange on the squeeze! :0   Who doesn't love oranges? But it's so annoying when I try to snack on them and they end up making a mess when you're cutting them up... So here's a hack for that... Simply cut the top and bottom off, then cut down the side {but not the full way. That way when you're ready to eat them, you just open it up... The best thing is that no juice gets anywhere, especially in your face!! Lol.