Nerdify Reviews 7 Secret Tips to Getting Organized

Nerdify reviews team is sure about one thing: studying is, probably, the best experience you could ever have. But you guys, let’s be honest – learning is also the most challenging trial to come through. It is not a secret that diligent studying implies overcoming a number of barriers, including emotional ones. Eventually, you feel exhausted and even sick!

Take a helping hand with this tutorial from Nerdify reviews team, which has been written especially for you — the one who cares about own emotional well-being and seeks to preserve health for years to come!

Top-5 Emotional Challenges Facing Students

There’s a bunch of emotional challenges that students encounter during their studies. But I’ve prepared a list of the most common ones for being forewarned is being forearmed.

Depression

Depression is quite a common condition in learners. A recent study suggests that around 30% of college students report being “so depressed that it was difficult to function” at least once during their studies. Evidently, it’s high time to sound alarmed, since depression is connected to suicide, the second leading cause of death among people aged 15-34 years.

Fighting depression starts with understanding signs and symptoms:

1.You aren’t getting things done at college/work.

2. You retract from doing enjoyable activities.

3. You feel unable to concentrate.

4. You rely on alcohol and sedatives.

5. You feel unhappy, disappointed, and miserable: thoughts like “I’m a failure”, “I’m worthless”, “My family/friends would be better off without me” become common.

If you have one or more of these symptoms, there’s probably a need to learn more about depression and take decisive actions against the condition.

Fortunately, there’s a number of ways to treat depression. The common ones are: medication, therapy (e.g., cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, and grief therapy), lifestyle changes: diet, regular physical exercises, and enough sleep can do wonders with your wellbeing!

Anxiety

Anxiety is another problem facing college students, while its rates are truly alarming. According to recent findings,  one in five college students has anxiety, depression, or both.

When in college, we see our life-changing at an astonishing speed! But it’s not the only reason for feeling anxious. Research findings indicate that college students spend too much of their time on social media platforms, and become addicted to their mobile phones, which leads to anxiety.

The study of Adams and Kissler (2013) found that 50% of college students woke up at night to answer a text message. The same study discovered an inverse relationship between the amount of sleep and the level of stress.

You’re likely to have anxiety if you:

1.Feel overly worried about your past, present, or future.

2. Feel apprehensive.

3. Have a feeling of powerlessness or worthlessness.

4. Have difficulty concentrating or remembering things.

You can learn more about the symptoms of anxiety here. In the meantime, keep in mind that treatment of anxiety is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance, and it includes:

1.Easing up on caffeine. Once you’ve made a commitment to ease up on caffeine, check the list of foods, since coffee and soda aren’t the only things containing this “anxious” ingredient;  

2. Scheduling “worry sessions”. It may sound crazy, but you should give time to thinking over things that make you mad.  Spending 30 minutes a day reflecting on the issues that bother you or make you stressed is more productive than feeling anxious all the time;

3. Breathing deep. Deep breathing signals your brain that you are OK. Try simple breathing exercises to boost your well-being;

4. Changing lifestyle. Eating healthy food, doing physical exercises, having enough rest and sleep are the best gifts for your mind and body!    

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are prevalent and persistent among college students. In fact, it is not surprising because young people seek to be attractive, and may resort to radical methods to look nice. One study suggests that eating disorders “are characterized by behaviors aiming to achieve or maintain slim body shape; great importance is given to thinness as a requisite of self-esteem.”

While many students use the notions of thinness and fitness interchangeably, there’s nothing attractive about physical and mental exhaustion! 

So, you should consult a physician if you have one or several of these symptoms:

1.Ongoing dieting

2. Eating in secret

3. Self-induced vomiting

4. Eating to the point of discomfort or pain

You can learn more about the symptoms of eating disorders here. Understanding the problem will help you to plan a conversation with the health provider in a way to come up with an effective treatment intervention.

Some interventions that apply to treat eating disorders are as follows: intensive inpatient care,  psychotherapy, family-based treatment, evidence-based treatment.

Of course, these are just some of the treatment interventions that help college students to improve their physical health and emotional wellness by overcoming eating disorders.

Addiction

Students become addicted to quite many things, including drugs and alcohol. Addiction can destroy one’s life, so it’s high time to sound alarm if your friend has at least one of these symptoms:

1.Slurred speech or impaired coordination

2. Engagement in suspicious behaviors

3. A sudden need for money or financial crisis

4. Built tolerance for alcohol or other substances

5. A sudden change in friends and activities

6. Deterioration of physical appearance

Did you know that addiction has become a problem on campus? Recent findings suggest that 60% of college students have consumed alcohol in the past month, 21.3% of people ages 18 to 25 consumed illicit drugs, and 3.8% young people used psychotherapeutic drugs for non-medical purposes.

Fortunately, there are many places where a college student can find help when encountering the problem of addiction. First of all, consider consulting the following addiction resources:

• National Institute for Drug Abuse
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA)
• National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD)
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
• Narcotics Anonymous (NA)

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Everyone wants their body look nice and attractive, but an intrusive preoccupation with defects (often imagined) in one’s appearance is a sign of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).

According to recent findings, BDD affects 1.7% to 2.4% of the general population. In young people, BDD is associated with a range of negative consequences, including school dropout.

It is time to consult a healthcare provider if you notice the following signs of BDD:

1.Camouflaging with clothing, makeup, hats, etc.

2. Constant comparison of body parts with others’ appearance

3. Avoiding mirrors or, on the contrary, constant checking in the mirror

4. Excessive grooming or exercising

5. Skin picking

Many students need help to overcome BDD. Fortunately, there is a range of treatment options: cognitive-behavioral therapy,  family-based therapy, antidepressant medication.

Also, students with BDD can find help by consulting the following BDD resources:

• Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation.
• International OCD Foundation.
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA)
• National Institutes of Health.
• Teens Health.   

In this tutorial, Nerdify reviews team tried to present a comprehensive list of mental health disorders, symptoms, and treatment interventions. However, in no way we want this guideline to substitute actual treatment! So, every time you notice one or several warning signs, consulting your physician is the best decision you can take!

Are you struggling with your time management while learning or working online from home? Here are some tips for maintaining control of your time. First and foremost, get up at your normal time and complete your morning routine, including getting dressed and eating breakfast! Learning and working from home can cause you to focus solely on working. Second, set up a workspace away from your bed/bedroom. Third, at the time you would leave, go to your workspace, and prepare for your day.

1. Have a calendar with time slots, electronic or paper, available to plan your day

2. Plan your day including:
a. Work times
b. Activities at specific times, such as class, study, lunch, and breaks
c. Meals
d. Communication with colleagues, family, and friends
e. End of workday
f. Bedtime!

3. Use a timer or electronic reminders to move to the next item on your list.

4. Begin working.

5. End working.

Set aside time for cooking, cleaning, leaving to exercise (even if just in another room), weekend activities, and shopping if needed. Finally, remember to include due dates for assignments. As you plan for your day above, check the learning management system (LMS) used at your school for assignments, activities, and meetings. Add these to your calendar as well. At the starting time of your class or job, begin working.
For those of you working together on projects, there are several ways to communicate easily. Programs such as Zoom, Skype, and social media applications can reduce the perception of distance. Download these easily from the appropriate website onto the computer and phone. Classmates can set up daily review meetings in Zoom. Learning management systems also have Wiki features for discussions.
This may seem obsessive, but as said above people either focus on one thing for a while or shift from one thing to another in minutes without completing any given task. By creating a schedule to work with and using a timer or alarms, one can complete many tasks and feel accomplished at the end of the day. Using the regular schedule will assist in returning to a normal schedule when the isolation period is over. With a schedule in mind, new habits can be formed to assist in a normal schedule later as well.

Anne Montgomery

In this digital age of ours, more of us are starting to avoid conventional colleges in favor of studying online. But with hundreds of platforms available to complete a full course or supplement your studies it can be difficult to know where to spend your dollars and pursue that vital education.

At Nerdify we are passionate about making education available and obtainable to everybody, which is why we asked our Personal Nerds to extensively review different platforms, apps and websites that are available and tell us which they think are the best.

Taking into account student feedback, personal experience and customer reviews, Nerdify are happy to present (in no particular order) some of our favorite destinations for online learning!

Coursera

The Personal Nerds at Nerdify speak very highly of Coursera, and the educational platform comes with great reviews and feedback from students too. Faculties from elite universities all over the world have courses on Coursera and they’re often very affordable too, with funding sometimes offered to the right students.

Coursera offers both short courses and even whole degrees can be completed there. Our Personal Nerds are especially impressed by the fact that elite universities like Stanford collaborate with the platform. In short, a great platform with loads of variety and options and its affordability means Coursera is bringing education to basically everyone.

Udemy

Based on reviews from students and educators using the platform, Coursera’s closest competitor Udemy is considered to be a cheaper and less impressive option, albeit similar. Udemy does impress students however with a slightly larger selection of short, cheap (or even free) courses, which can be very attractive for people wanting to get some extra, quick training on WordPress of Microsoft Excel, for example. Keep in mind that Udemy doesn’t usually offer certificates or diplomas upon completion of a course, while Coursera often does.

Duolingo

Smartphones and tablets have made obtaining certain types of information easier and getting a good education more obtainable. There has also been an explosion of language-learning apps too, which has seen the sales of language-related books take a sharp dive.

In a competitive field however, Duoligno still reigns supreme with over 150 million users around the world. As of November 2016, the language-learning app offers 68 different language courses across 23 languages, with 22 additional courses in development. The app is available on iOS, Android and Windows 8 and 10 operating systems. Our Nerds love this app and it comes highly recommended from us all at Nerdify!

Memrise

Memrise operates in the same sphere as Duolingo but with a slightly different approach, using memory techniques and entertaining content to make learning the language a bit more fun. Duolingo, in comparison, has been called more academic a little less immersive and fun. But Memrise can also boast of a much bigger selection of modules with 150 courses across 25 different languages. There’s a bunch of other stuff you can study with the app also, though. Memrise doesn’t only limit itself to languages and you can do crash courses in everything from different breeds of cats to international relations and history!

EdX

EdX is a very specific platform where you can expect to get some good education and acquire some very useful knowledge, which isn’t surprising considering it was founded in 2012 by guys from MIT and Harvard and the platform now works with the likes of Berkeley and Columbia too.

Featuring a broad range of courses that mostly fall into science and technical categories, students will welcome the self-paced timing of the classes and the freedom to pick when you engage with the educational content. Videos and game labs form a vital part of the courses which usually end in obtaining a certificate (for an extra small fee.)

Udacity

According to our IT Nerds and reviews from customers and students, Udacity is the place for you if you’re interested in computer science and programming. Hardly surprising considering this platform has corporate partners like Google, AT&T and Facebook. Other than IT and programming however, the variety on offer is pretty limited but computer nerds should definitely apply!

And there we have it, some of the best options currently available for learners who are looking to take their studies online, as selected by Nerdify’s Personal Nerds. Good luck with your studies!