9 Things That Would Make The World A Better Place

Simple tips of being more mindful

Go to sleep earlier (Listen to ambient music to fall asleep faster(or things like the Calm app)

Wake up earlier (Put your alarm far away from the bed so you have to get up and turn it off)

Don’t go on your phone first thing in the morning

Tell yourself that it’s going to be a good day

Stretch for 5 minutes

Make your bed

Drink a glass of water (Personally, I like to keep a litre of water in my room so i can have it as soon as I wake up)

Lay clothes out on the bed(Or, go one step further and set the clothes out at night)

Go shower or brush your teeth and wash your face if you shower at night

Put lotion on, put clothes on and apply makeup/do your hair as per normal

Watch a 5-10 minute motivational video (Youtube has Inspirational channels, Ted Talks etc)

Eat breakfast(Smaller bites, appreciate the taste), and drink more water and plan your day

Make your lunch

Now, if you have extra time you can look at your phone and scroll through social media a bi before you leave the house

Look for beauty around you, in the smiles of people, their fashion, flowers, architecture, interior decorating. Try to take in as much as you can.

Look up from your phone(Delete the apps you don’t need. Be honest about what apps waste your time)

Make it a goal to make someone’s day better, whether it’s by buying a homeless person a meal, or by smiling genuinely at someone. Brighten someone’s day.

If you have extra time, write a journal entry for the day. Write about what you noticed in the world, your goals, your feelings, what excites you etc. Write about your thoughts, let them flow through you.

Carry a book around with you and read it when you find yourself doing nothing.

Notice how much time you spend on your phone or laptop. Try to replace some time that you spend on silly things with educational things. (Read the news rather than scrolling through memes for an hour, read a motivational book rather than toxic tweets)

Learn.Learn.Learn. If you haven’t heard of something, ask what it is. Ask people to teach you how they do whatever it is they do. Don’t settle for no answer. Dig deeper. Learn.

When you learn something, try to see if you can explain it to someone else. If you can’t, try to learn a little more.

Be nicer to people. Ask them how they are, listen to their stories, learn who they are. You’d be surprised at all the interesting, educational stories that people all around you have.

Go outside every day. Enjoy nature.

Appreciate who you are and where your life is at. Appreciate that not everything happens perfectly or as planned.

Appreciate that you can learn anything if you put your mind to it,

Spread positive feelings.

Cut off anyone who threatens your positive vibes.

these lists of books to read before you die that are full of classics are all well and good but what if you don’t like classics? and what about the ya ones that are just full of popular series? so this is an alternative list of ya books you should read before you die. thanks to everyone who contributed books; i’ve had to miss some off because i’ve got more than 100, so i’ll probably include them on a second list. (also, i’ve not actually read all these books. it’s a group effort)

under the lights by dahlia adler

the wrath and the dawn by renee ahdieh

throne of the crescent moon by saladin ahmed

simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli

the absolutely true diary of a part time indian by sherman alexie

last night i sang to the monster by benjamin alire sáenz

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire sáenz

mosquitoland by david arnold

pure trilogy by julianna baggott

the fixer by jennifer lynn barnes

the last leaves falling by sarah benwell

ashes trilogy by ilsa j bick

the darkest part of the forest by holly black

curse workers by holly black

noughts and crosses by malorie blackman

anna duology by kendare blake

the princess and the captain by anne-laure bondoux

the diviners by libba bray

gemma doyle trilogy by libba bray

fire and thorns by rae carson

gallagher girls by ally carter

heist society by ally carter

graceling realm by kristin cashore

a hero at the end of the world by erin claiborne

artemis fowl by eoin colfer

the miseducation of cameron post by emily m danforth

i’ll meet you there by heather demetrios

just listen by sarah dessen

spiderwick chronicles by tony diterlizzi & holly black

penryn and the end of days by susan ee

engelsfors trilogy by sara b elfgren & mats strandberg

fearsome dreamer by laure eve

dragonfly by julia golding

since you asked by maurine goo

half life trilogy by sally green

to all the boys i’ve loved before by jenny han

burn for burn by jenny han

saving june by hannah harrington

the outsiders by s e hinton

shades of london by maureen johnson

shadowshaper by daniel josé older

everybody sees the ants by a s king

in honor by jessi kirby

charm & strange by stephanie kuehn

everything leads to you by nina lacour

micah grey by laura lam

momentum by saci lloyd

huntress by malinda lo

adaptation by malinda lo

we were liars by e lockhart

legend by marie lu

the lost girl by sangu mandanna

the lumatere chronicles by melina marchetta

on the jellicoe road by melina marchetta

wicked lovely by melissa marr

since you’ve been gone by morgan matson

yaqui delgado wants to kick your ass by meg medina

the lunar chronicles by marissa meyer

conquered earth by j barton mitchell

if you find me by emily murdoch

i’ll give you the sun by jandy nelson

chaos walking by patrick ness

a monster calls by patrick ness

the summer of chasing mermaids by sarah ockler

before i fall by lauren oliver

wonder by r j palacio

even in paradise by chelsey philpot

his dark materials by philip pullman

the demon’s lexicon by sarah rees brennan

the lynburn legacy by sarah rees brennan

slice of cherry by dia reeves

falling kingdoms by morgan rhodes

how i live now by meg rosoff

bone gap by laura ruby

the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski

written in the stars by aisha saeed

persepolis by marjane satrapi

the archived by v e schwab

between shades of grey by ruth sepetys

the bone season by samantha shannon

far from you by tess sharpe

more happy than not by adam silvera

jasper jones by craig silvey

unwind dystology by neal shusterman

grasshopper jungle by andrew smith

the secrets of lily graves by sarah strohmeyer

all the rage by courtney summers

an ember in the ashes by sabaa tahir

because you’ll never meet me by leah thomas

my heart and other black holes by jasmine warga

ms marvel by g willow wilson

don’t touch by rachel m wilson

brown girl dreaming by jacqueline woodson

howl’s moving castle by dianna wynne jones

dirty london by kelley york

made of stars by kelley york

how to save a life by sara zarr

falling into place by amy zhang

i am the messenger by markus zusak

wolfe brothers by markus zusak

Pink 💕

Apps used - Procreate for lettering and GoodNotes for the notebook 💗

how to write like jk rowling

foreshadow foreshadow foreshadow

become a master of chekhov’s gun everything you mention should pay off a hundred pages later or a couple of books later! the diary they had to go back and get? it has voldemort in it! the locket they were polishing? it’s a horcrux! old irrelevant lady? actually a squib watching over you!

write buried clues! like the fact that ginny has a diary is buried under a list of things the weasleys forget and go bring back on the way the king’s cross or the fact that there’s a locket is listed among a ton of things they’re cleaning!

you can also downplay the importance of characters before the big reveal like how harry asks sirius about his brother and he brushes him off as a stupid young boy who joined the death eaters

speaking of characters, jkr says character is plot and that explains how she writes such strong characters take my favourite one for instance sirius black he’s the textbook case of ‘break your characters’ he’s in an abusive household for eleven years, then thrown into a war, and loses his best friend in the whole world, is wrongly imprisoned for twelve years and then jailed in the house of his childhood while everyone is working and YET he is unfailingly kind and doesn’t stray into the dark

and write flawed characters like the kindest, gentlest, wisest character dumbledore. he was not to be trusted with power. 

also speaking of characters, write killer motivations that aren’t always foregrounded classic example is snape’s motivation to lie to voldemort for years. is it right and good? debatable. is it powerful? yes.

next up, worldbuilding. jkr makes us forever in awe of her world and till date we’re all bemoaning the fact that we can’t go to hogwarts and YET there’s a dark side to that world it’s a distorted mirror of our own

write visual spectacles that make your readers go whoa. my favourite moment was the dragon breaking out of gringotts. it was emblematic of injustices in the wizarding world but boy did it make a good shot.

use extended metaphors

give! every! minor! character! their! own! subplot! even! if! it! doesn’t! make! it! into! your! story! standard example: dobby!

make us nostalgic. like hagrid taking harry out of privet drive in the last book just like in the first

in that vein, ring composition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

be preoccupied with morality and mortality

take away everything your hero has. his parents. his father figure. his wand.

be unkind to your hero but let him win

give children everywhere something to hope for

finally, jkr said by writing harry potter, she came to know for sure that love is the most powerful force use writing to explore your convictions 

if you’re going to tell me what a terrible person jkr is, make your own post this is a writing blog and i worked really hard on scrutinising aspects of her writing which is objectively wonderful

how to write like jk rowing * how to write like shirley jackson

If you found this helpful, consider buying me a virtual coffee to keep me writing.

small ways to improve your lifestyle

read more classic literature

read about history from different sources

watch good films

listen to classical music

journal more

go to nice cafes, theatre, cinema and art galleries more often

learn languages

dance more

ask more questions

spend time with positive people

be kind to everyone, even if they aren’t kind to you

spend less time on social media

do some exercise and stretch

buy less clothes and make sure they are made organically and ethically or buy second-hand

buy vegan options in anything that’s possible (for eg. beauty products)

recycle and reuse what you can

take care of your skin and body

eat more fruits and veggies, drink enough water every day

get a good amount of sleep every night

stay positive

edit: i changed the title because there was a lot of misunderstanding around it, which is fine. you don’t have to do all of these to feel like you have a better life/you are a better person, however these tips do no harm, so you might as well do what you can!

7 Ways to organize your laptop because we can always be a little more organized on our devices (including myself). 

Slytherin: Come on Huff, I wasn't that drunk.

Hufflepuff: You tried to color my face with a highlighter because you said I was important.

Slytherin: That's because you are.

Oh shit I’m being followed

a realistic study mood

you get home at 4, you planned to do your homework the moment you got home, you lay in your bed, you open your phone and begin to scroll, your phone alerts you you’re on low battery, you look at the clock, it’s now 7, you panic, you start your homework. you keep getting distracted it’s now 12, you plan to not do the same the next day.

Alright I’m gonna say it- Fallon Carrington from Dynasty 2017 is like Redeemed Azula in a happy world. She is not evil but she’s definitely not a saint.

hey guys !! this is my first masterpost hahaha exciting so exams are coming up soon (for me), aka those early may dates.. here is just a bunch of resources that i found !!

study tips 101

i have terrible memory! how do i study? by @estudying

conquering procrastination by @studybudyblr​

how to stay focused, motivated, and on track by @briellestudies​

how to study for math by @enfpfocustudyblr​ (making a math masterpost soon)

focus and motivation by @katsdesk​

study methods by @heystudy​

“the oh god it’s the night before the exam” by @renaistudying​

another test is tomorrow by @getstudyblr​

stress help by @highschoolering​

101 study tips by @study-early​

6 things people don’t tell you about studying by @behindonstudying​

ap testing tips by @katsdesk​

3 steps in studying by @milkystudies​

studying from ..

how to study from textbooks by @strive-for-da-best

four steps to reading textbooks by @kimberlystudies

lecture notes by @strive-for-da-best

revision notes by @raistudy

how to: flashcards by @pseudocodead

more flashcards by @studydiaryofamedstudent

how do i study ?? / being organized

study schedule by @mindofamedstudent

pomodoro printable by @cmpsbls

printables masterpost by @studie-s

vocab and formulas printables by @studeyh

how to maintain good notes by @skeletonstudy

typing notes by @study-well

colorcoding by @kimberlystudies

highlighting by @studygene

highlighting pt 2 by @ayetstudies

how to use sticky notes by @etudiance

organized study spaces by @etudiance

sketches for notes by @staedtlers-and-stabilos

how to revise by @youaretheairinmyalveoli​

if any of these links are broken, please message me so i can update it. hope you find these helpful !! 

- xoxo j

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