Study Fetishes

[hardcrashxyz]

Anyone have strange or not so strange study hangups?

I must have either Pilot Precise v5 or G2 pens, Without them I feel vaguely dissatisfied and discontent with writing. I lose pens all the time, so I keep G2 pens everywhere (probably 20 floating around) and getting ready for class means making sure I have at least 3 in my bag or backpack.

I also insist my notebooks all be of the same type.

I am not OCD in any other matters, but these ... just a little.

[Owlie]

I hear you on the notebooks. I like the ones with the plastic covers because I'm rather rough on them. It gets expensive.

Oddly enough, I work better with people around than without. That means I have to head either to Starbucks or a local place up the street to work. That gets expensive too, since I don't think it's fair of me to take up space without paying a little something for the privilege (and a beverage).

[awvish]

Anything involving equations means I need a mechanical pencil and a white rubber eraser (not attached to pencil).

I can't stand pens that (a) leak through notepaper ( clot up all the time (RSVP pens, I'm looking at you) or leak on stuff in my backpack.

Also, I can't stand wide-ruled paper.

[Owlie]

Anything involving equations means I need a mechanical pencil and a white rubber eraser (not attached to pencil).

I can't stand pens that (a) leak through notepaper ( clot up all the time (RSVP pens, I'm looking at you) or leak on stuff in my backpack.

Also, I can't stand wide-ruled paper.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who hates wide-ruled paper! I've never had a problem with the RSVP pens until they start running out of ink--only with the black and blue ones, though.

I really like those Zebra mechanical pencils (the metal-bodied ones), and those clicky erasers.

And for drawing mechanisms and pathways, I have a set of fine-point markers in ten different colors.

[awvish]

I've never had a problem with the RSVP pens until they start running out of ink

Maybe it's the way I write...but they always make these big smudgey clots of ink that get all over my hands and make my notes into a mess.

I like the markers idea...

[PsyK]

For those who are unusually particular when it comes to their writing utensils, let me introduce you to Jet Pens (www.jetpens.com). Feel free to browse a diverse selection of all pens imaginable. I have ordered quite a few from them with great success. Yay.

[Rose White]

Oh. God. Am I SERIOUSLY not the only person who is super weird about studying/having the most precise supplies? This makes me ridiculously happy. My friends thought I was crazy in undergrad.

I can only used larger scale pens, as I hold a pen weirdly and small ones don't cut it. I used to adore the PhD pens, with the refills, until they all mysteriously disappeared. When in a pinch, I can use an RSVP pen, because I like the thicker quality, but I REALLY like the PhD pens. I also cannot STAND wide ruled paper and NEED college ruled because I tend to write widely and college ruled makes it look neater. I can only use Mead five subject spiral notebooks. My biggest thing, though, is highlighters. I'm a highlighting queen and still have YET to find the most perfect highlighter. I can't stand the highlighter brand, the Sharpies brand...they do NOT last long enough and don't have the array of colors I want.

I'm hoping to get an iPad this summer for grad school in the fall and I'm slightly terrified as I will be leaving behind my sacred world of pens and Mead spiral notebooks. I'm really nervous about finding a stylus for the iPad that will thick enough for my writing style and that the note taking apps I find will have college ruled.

Lord help me.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Rose White

[MoJingly]

Oddly enough, I work better with people around than without. That means I have to head either to Starbucks or a local place up the street to work. That gets expensive too, since I don't think it's fair of me to take up space without paying a little something for the privilege (and a beverage).

I hear this is the sign of an extrovert. I wonder if that's true.

[michpc]

Oddly enough, I work better with people around than without. That means I have to head either to Starbucks or a local place up the street to work. That gets expensive too, since I don't think it's fair of me to take up space without paying a little something for the privilege (and a beverage).

Seems like a library would be a much better choice...I completed most of my applications at my local public library. It's not having the people around, it's that it's harder to screw around and not get my work done when I'm not at home

[Owlie]

Awvish, are you left-handed, by any chance?

I hear this is the sign of an extrovert. I wonder if that's true.

Nope! I'm quite an introvert! I think it's like michpc said--it's harder to not get work done than when I'm at home. I do work better with a snack/drink at hand and some background noise, though. Quiet, even with background music, is a little...unnerving.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Owlie

[everygirl]

If we are in the quiet study part of the library and I can HEAR the music coming out of your earphones... you need to turn that shit down. I will physically come over and tell you if you haven't noticed my death stare.

Also, don't dance to the music.

[studentaffairsgrad]

I love this topic! I am the annoying person that needs complete quiet to study. Also, the isn't really a study habit per say...but if I'm going to be studying/writing a paper and devoting a long chunk of time to it, I have to give my room a thorough cleaning. I seriously cannot study or write a paper if my surroundings are messy or unorganized. This might just be my subconscious way of procrastinating

Also If I'm going to be taking midterms/finals or something, I always feel better if I get up early that morning, shower, do my hair and put on something halfway decent. Any other day though, and I'm rolling to class in my sweats. I just feel like I do better work if I'm halfway put together.

[michpc]

I love this topic! I am the annoying person that needs complete quiet to study. Also, the isn't really a study habit per say...but if I'm going to be studying/writing a paper and devoting a long chunk of time to it, I have to give my room a thorough cleaning. I seriously cannot study or write a paper if my surroundings are messy or unorganized. This might just be my subconscious way of procrastinating

The only time I enjoy cleaning is when I'm avoiding getting started on some big project/paper . I definitely had to reorganize/clean my office space before doing any applications at home, haha.

[royalking]

Just amazing information. I really learnt a lot from this discussion. 

 

Copic Markers

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Pens? Is that all you people got? I thought this thread would be interesting, like you only study in the shower or something. 

[marsmat]

Very specific: Marble hardcover plain (not ruled!!) composition notebook of the kind you can only get in the US. I stock up like crazy when Im over there and get quite worried as I start to run out (as is the case right now, trying to keep calm). Mechanical pencil, small white rubber, pilot micro fine G-Tec-C pen, staedler pigment marker 0.3 mm.

 

And I always study in the bathtub but wearing socks, it aids concentration.

[spunky]

all my highlighters HAVE to be yellow. no green, no pink, no nothing. THEY MUST BE YELLOW. 

 

and i keep a research diary on a notebook that MUST be somehow related with the movie Nightmare Before Christmas (e.g. having Jack Skellington on the cover or something like that). 

[Quantum Buckyball]

how about a full range rainbow color highlighters ....

[ss2player]

Everybody here should check out MUJI: http://www.muji.us/store/stationery.html

 

Minimalist Japanese stationery. Umf.

[Kamisha]

I can’t write my thesis unless I’m eating Teddy Grahams and Frosting. True story. I think it is a coping mechanism because it reminds me of my childhood comfort food, Dunkaroos. 

[gellert]

I religiously keep Moleskine notebooks for any research-related notes.  I have about five of them filled up and sitting in my office right now.  I used to care about pens until they kept getting stolen.  Now I try not to get attached.

 

Gnome Chomsky - I study in the shower.    Print out materials, stick 'em inside a quart-sized ziploc bag, and press that against the wall of your shower and you're good to go.

[trizzleYO]

I can’t write my thesis unless I’m eating Teddy Grahams and Frosting. True story. I think it is a coping mechanism because it reminds me of my childhood comfort food, Dunkaroos. 

 

A.k.a. The best childhood food.

[pyrocide]

Anyone have strange or not so strange study hangups?

I must have either Pilot Precise v5 or G2 pens, Without them I feel vaguely dissatisfied and discontent with writing. 

 

V5 precise for everything. 

 

Also, I am a fiend when it comes to using colors. Black for lecture, 7-pack for text book review: red for headers, blue for equations, green for definitions, purple for worked out examples, black for general notes, and pink for arrows connecting related topics/page numbers. It makes my study sheets terribly aesthetic. I've even seriously considered getting my most compact and colorful cheat sheets framed.

 

Also, A big hot coffee usually only lasts me a few hours, but a small iced coffee and a chocolate glazed doughnut from Dunkin Donuts can keep me up for studying for a whole night. It's a strange little conditioned response, but it gets me by.

Edited January 27, 2014 by pyrocide

[MsDarjeeling]

Glad I'm not the only wide rule paper hater lol.  I like to have college rule notebooks, several packs of post it notes in different colors, several pens in different colors, and highlighters in several colors.

[DerpTastic]

The weird thing I do is that I generally hate lined paper. I have a piece of lined paper that I traced over the lines in permanent marker. I usually put that behind a sheet of printer paper so the lines shine through and I can write straight. Generally this is for math/physics homework. But I also like it for notes. For some reason lined paper kind of bothers me, but I'm a little OCD about writing straight. 

 

Also, if I write in pen, it has to be those Pilot G-2 pens. I can't stand any other pens. D;