Confession time – one of my favourite things to do before I go to sleep is binge on study-themed social media accounts. Studytubers or studygrams – either will do. I know I shouldn’t be on my phone before bed (who doesn’t nowadays?) but scrolling through endless photos of beautifully written notes and ‘study with me’ vlogs is so soothing. If I’m honest, it’s probably because the students behind these accounts are exactly the sorts of people I try to be – effortlessly organised, driven and productive. By watching them be all of these things, I start to feel like I could be them too, and that is what makes their content so addictive. But there are worse things to be addicted to!
But here’s the thing – I have to be in the right mindset to watch these people be so perfect at student life. If I am in the mood for being inspired, then they are great to watch and make me feel so much more motivated for the next day; however, if I am struggling with my work and am in a slump, then they only ever succeed at making me feel worse. So, this is my warning that comes with getting so hooked on such accounts – remember that these videos, these photos, are only snapshots of their lives. At the end of the day, they are human too and will have unproductive days and bad results sometimes!
So, with that warning in place, here are some of my favourite studytubers:
- Ruby Granger – if I need to be productive the next day, Ruby is who I turn to the night before. There is a certain comforting quality about her warm manner and friendly voice. If I could be half as productive as she is in her videos, I would be a happy bunny.
- Eve Cornwell – whilst not all of her videos are purely study-related, I love watching these short and witty excerpts from this lawyer-to-be’s life. If you need a quick pick-me-up and are feeling like you are the only one struggling with work because all of your friends can just tap out an essay in two seconds flat, Eve is your gal. Honest and informative, I always enjoy her videos, study-related or just chatty! Of course, it helps that she is a UoB alumna and has the sort of career that I dream of…
- Jack Edwards – study tips, advice on university living and puns- enough said.
- studyign – an American channel so beware of getting confused about the different school system! Personally, I love her videos on how best to take notes and revise, because it always interests me to learn about how other people learn.
If you want to also grace your insta feed with study inspiration, check out these accounts:
- sleepy.tofu – breathtakingly beautiful notes. One day I will learn how to do calligraphy and then my notes will look like hers! I can but dream.
- chloe.burroughs – an Open University graduate turned study skills trainer, I love her upbeat and friendly vibe. Scrolling through her Instagram page always ends up in me looking through all of her free study printables on her website, which I love doing and wish I had more time to actually use them!
- emily_studies – I love looking at the structure of her notes, because they tend to be unusual and memorable, which I really need to work on with my own (subheadings and the occasional arrow is adventurous for me).
On a final note, if you’re looking for further study inspiration and support, then Eve Cornwell, Jack Edwards, Ruby Granger and UnJaded Jade have combined forces to create a weekly podcast where they talk about every study/ education/ life related theme under the sun – leadership, teamwork, perfectionism, rejection, you get the picture – as well as giving a weekly productivity tip and adding to their study playlist. I have loved listening to the episodes so far, mainly because it is refreshing to hear such high achieving and well thought of studytubers talk about how they struggle with studying and university life too, which is important to hear. So, if you need a real motivation boost with your studies, go and listen to ‘The Wooden Spoon’ podcast – I guarantee you will feel better about your work afterwards!