Groups, workshops and online materials for supporting wellbeing and study ability

For thesis-writing: Theses & Tomatoes on Mondays 

What: co-writing session, video presentation

When: Mondays at 10:00-11:30 (2.9.-16.12.2024)

Where: Zoom, link: https://aalto.zoom.us/j/65199051815 

For whom: students completing their theses or research articles at Aalto University (Bachelor, Master, doctoral)

Are you feeling stuck with your thesis? Or are you just finding it hard to get into a good writing routine? Maybe you are unsure of what the next step should be or how to get started on a new chapter? Do you feel lonely in your thesis work? Would you like to work in a shared space with others in the same situation? 

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you have come to the right place! Join a co-writing space, which will be organized in Zoom.  

The aim of this co-writing space is to provide opportunities for you to work independently on your thesis and on self-specified goals alongside others in the same situation, creating a shared experience. 

No enrolment is needed, just join Zoom and get your thesis moving. The session is intended for students at Aalto University completing their thesis work.

We will start each Monday at 10 sharp with a short 15-30 minute introduction to or discussion on different topics (e.g., goal-setting, time-management, academic writing). This part is led by the host or invited guests. Next, you will get to set your own goal and share it with others, if you want. After that, it’s time for two 25-30-minute Pomodoros with a break in between. During the break, you can ask questions or we can all do break exercises together. The event ends with a “tip-of-the-day”.

These Aalto co-writing events are hosted by experts from Doctoral education services, Language center and Starting Point of Wellbeing.

The language of instruction is English but you are welcome to ask questions also in Finnish and Swedish. Joining the discussions and sharing one’s goals are completely voluntarily – if you just wish to join to work only, that is also fine.

Themes for autumn 2024 (small changes are possible)

Are you having trouble getting started with your studies? Do you struggle to establish routines? Does studying feel like a lonely task? Would you like to study alongside others in a similar situation? Join us for guided studying and pick up tips for more effective work during Pomodoro sessions!

Read more and get Zoom-links: Start your studies with Pomodoro | Aalto University

Read more: Beat the Blues! brings international students together and supports wellbeing

Aalto international student: Welcome to share experiences in a relaxed atmosphere and to gain insights on topics related to living in Finland. With Beat the Blues! events Starting Point of Wellbeing offers you a safe space to make new friends and maybe learn something new about surviving - and thriving - in Finland.

Do you want to improve your study wellbeing and skills using peer support and researched information? After taking this course, you will recognize the factors that affect your own ability to study and your wellbeing, and you will understand the importance of those in terms of meaningfully smooth studying. In addition, you will learn skills with which you can achieve study goals, which are meaningful to you, without sacrificing your own wellbeing.

Read more: Mind & Study - toolbox for being well in studies (3cr) coming up | Aalto University

Mindfulness, breathing techniques and other practices help us calm our minds. Everything begins when we stop. The aim is to get in in touch with the present moment, with our thoughts and our body, but also with what is around us. It is very complex, on the other hand, very easy. This page offers you information and mindfulness and other practices to use whenever you need.

Benefits of Calmness: mindfulness and other calming practices for You | Aalto University

The Best Thing Today is a podcast series hosted by the psychologists at Aalto University Learning Services. In the podcast, the psychologists casually talk about wellbeing topics – ranging from student wellbeing to the wellbeing of employees.

The podcast discussions revolve around issues that are familiar in an academic environment, such as how to find motivation, how to manage time and stress, and how to recover. You’ll also get to hear how the psychologists take care of their own wellbeing.

Aalto University's psychology podcast in Finnish is called Paras hetki päivässä.

You can find the podcasts here.
In English: https://www.aalto.fi/en/podcasts/the-best-thing-today-podcast-series
In Finnish: https://www.aalto.fi/fi/podcastit/paras-hetki-paivassa-podcastit

Have you considered what studying means to you, what is the best way for you to learn or how you can make your studies run smoothly?

Study skills consist of a number of areas, such as the management of study methods, self-management, acting in a community and regulation of personal emotions. Study skills are something you can learn, and these pages include ideas for developing your skills as well as links for sources of additional information.

Study Skills | Aalto University

Concentration Training

• Does your mind begin to wander when you should study for an exam?
• Do you have to read math assignments over and over because you cannot stay focused?
• Do you find yourself scrolling social media applications on your phone when you should be studying?
• Do things slip your mind often in your daily life?

In university studies, the ability to stay focused is a very central skill in many contexts. Whether you are listening to a lecture, reading academic texts or writing essays, good concentration skills will help you succeed in studies. If staying focused is a challenge for you, remember that you are not alone: most university students have difficulties concentrating at some point in their studies. Fortunately, concentration is a skill that each of us can become better at, regardless of our starting level.

The purpose of this material is to help you overcome barriers to concentration and train your ability to focus.

This material consists of three sections:

1. The ability to concentrate and creating conditions that support it (week 1)

2. Creating the conditions for good concentration (weeks 2 and 3)

3. Training your concentration (weeks 4 and 5)

MyCourses: Concentration Training!

Welcome to train your concentration skills!

Mindful Tools for Stress Management

Feeling stressed or anxious? The self-study m
aterial will help you to learn how to

• be here and now
• observe our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations more clearly
• be more self-compassionate
• reduce stress

When  facing difficulties we many times try not to notice them. Handling stress becomes easier when we approach difficulties rather avoiding them and learn to recognize when we start to feel stressed or worried. With practice it is possible to become less reactive and more free with our responses to the stressful situation.

Mindfulness is a state of open attention on the present. It’s living here and now. Mindfulness involves nonjudgmental conscious awareness of one’s feelings, thoughts and surroundings. Our mind often wanders to the past or to the future. Mindfulness skills will help you to focus on the present moment.

You'll find the material in MyCourses https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=23144

Career Planning Exercises

https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=19069

Objective

This self-help material is designed to help you to process the key elements of career planning individually. 

Instructions

The sequence of exercises is numbered. You can do them in the same order or you can choose only the ones that appeal to you most and seem to help you. Having completed an exercise, reflect the results. What do the results of that reflection add to your self-awareness, your current thinking and goals of a good future as an individual and as a member of a society? How can you use the results? What will you do next?

How to get started

1. Log in to MyCourses with your Aalto user account
2. Enroll for the workspace by following these instructions.

Time to Get Cracking – 3 week Self-study material on time management for students

Time management and learning to use a calendar sound boring and tedious and are often seen as being in the same category as managing your personal finances. Why spend time learning something like that? Do these sound familiar to you: ‘I know how to plan, but the problem is putting the plans into action!’ ‘I do make plans, but I just don’t have enough time to do all I should!’ This self-study material focusses on these two common issues: having too much to do and having trouble getting things done.

Time management is not just about taking care of responsibilities. It helps you see what you really spend your time on and why. The underlying question is a fundamental one, maybe the most important question for us as human beings: how do you spend your limited time on this Earth? Your calendar says a great deal about what you actually spend your time on. Does your calendar reflect your values and the things you hold dear? Does it take you towards something meaningful? If not, what do you think should change?

This self-study material offers you opportunities to:

- look at your time use as a self-management skill

- learn to make schedules and stay on them

- learn new skills and review what you already know.

Going through this self-study material and doing the related tasks will take you about 3–5 hours. To make the most of it, you should spread the tasks over several days. Reading on time management without taking any action is the same as reading a healthy eating guidebook without changing your diet at all or talking to a personal trainer on a regular basis without ever going to the gym to try out the programme. Please take time to also do the exercises included in this material.

Self-study material can be found here: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=23146

Materials for Stress-management

Self-study material can be found here: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=26879

Self-Study Material: ABCs of getting things done

Do you delay and postpone completing some tasks? Do you feel you might procrastinate? Don’t worry! You probably are quite a normal university student: almost all university students procrastinate at times. However, if procrastination bothers and you would like to learn more about getting things done, hop onboard to learning through these online materials!

Self-study material can be found here: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=34368

Welcome to our exercises for a kinder, more accepting attitude towards life

You have come to the right place if:

• You notice that you often get tired under the pressures of your environment or you are having mentally hard time
• Your thoughts about yourself are judgemental or hypercritical
• You drive yourself to ever more difficult accomplishments and demand more of yourself than of any other person
• You are otherwise just dissatisfied with your life or you have a hard time connecting with your feelings
• You want to find out what self-compassion really means
   

Self-compassion is one of the most beneficial skills you can learn in life

When you are kind to yourself, you can live fully without fear and not become exhausted. Kindness to yourself serves as a path to success, as kindness helps you reorient yourself when faced with obstacles and difficulties. You will become better at dealing with your difficult emotions or difficult responses, and you will find the strength within yourself to try again.

Compassion helps more than harsh self-criticism, although you may be used to thinking that you perform best when you are hard on yourself. A lack of compassion can show up as perfectionism, belittling your achievements, or as ineptitude, which prevents you from being your best self.

This course consists of mindfulness exercises that help us develop an accepting and compassionate attitude towards ourselves.

Mindfulness means accepting conscious presence and helps us to observe the environment and our own thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations just as they are. Mindfulness exercises help you develop an accepting and kind attitude towards yourself.

The course is available on the MyCourses platform: Course: Power of Self-compassion | MyCourses (aalto.fi)

The course material was produced by the Aalto study psychologists. The students in the video are portrayed by actors Ida Tiilikainen and Eero Tiilikainen.

Are you ready to start?