Rootz's Blog

Fellow girls, if you are convinced that boys are better at math than girls, then when the math gets tough (say, around quadratics or graphing functions or figuring out those dang related rates problems), you will think it's tough because you're a girl. On the other hand, if you believe you can be just as good at math as a boy, you will stick with the tough math until you figure it out, just like the boys do. They haven’t been told that math is harder for them than for others, so when it gets tough they just figure it’s because math is a difficult subject——which it is. They don’t automatically switch to thinking that they can’t do this because there’s something with their brains that keeps them from being good at this. It all comes down to a simple belief. Do you believe in yourself of what others think of you? Be careful which belief you choose. It might mean the difference between a successful career that you enjoy and an unfulfilling, boring one.

[ image source ] Abstract is a raw, edgy look into the very soul of design. If you didn’t before, you’ll finally understand what design is, what it means, what all designers have in common and how they are so very different. And, perhaps, how you can be a designer. Because the field of design is way more broad than most people think it is. I’d bet that, no matter who you are, even if you’re in design, you will learn a lot from this series, and not just about design but about productivity, brainstorming and the importance of focus and dedication. Abstract looks at design from a completely new angle, a sort of insider look, but also an underneath and above and every angle in between sort of look. It’s a view that I don’t think has ever been documented before. Each documentary is filmed in such a way as to be unique to the views and practices and art of the specific designer. In Es Devlin’s episode on stage design, the film unfolds like a stage, complete with clips of Dev

You’re in line at the store. You’re in the car waiting for your date to come out. You’re walking across campus between classes. What do you do in these moments of free time? Free time is check-your-phone time. You open emails, reply to a couple texts, update your apps or scroll through Instagram. That’s great. But here’s what’s not great: Taking up time that is not free time and doing the same thing. I realized something recently. I check Instagram once in the morning, right after I wake up, and once at night, before getting to bed. In some ways, this is how I force myself to get out of bed in the morning and into bed at night, but it’s also a waste of time. Because what happens when I encounter a pice of free time? I check Instagram! Instead of spending a block of ten minutes in the morning on social media, I could spread it out over the little moments of nothingness that pop up during my day. Then I could use the extra ten minutes in the morning for reading or exercising!