Adrian Dimakis
The first step to a successful career path is enrolling in a reputable educational institution. While at it, you want to make sure that you utilize your time well while attending all classes throughout the semester. Even with this, you may still need some extra time for personal study, and this can be challenging to achieve. The good news is that you can create your own time to study at home. However, with family, friends, and work battling for your attention, this may prove to be an uphill task.
Juggling your busy life alongside your studies takes immense effort. However, creating a proper study environment can make it much more manageable. After thorough research involving different study environments, we have come up with essential tips to help you create the perfect study environment at home. These are the environments that will give you the peace of mind to concentrate on what matters most.
1. Set Aside a Dedicated Study Space
Ensure that you select a quiet place away from busy locations at home, such as a separate room with ample space. This room should be well ventilated, lit, and facing away from the windows. Remember, direct sunlight may also be potential destruction to your studies. Ensure that you choose a comfortable chair and desk to place your study materials. Furthermore, set measures to ensure that the room is only meant for study purposes.
2. Organize and Clean-Up Your Study Room
This undertaking may seem like a good excuse to perform some cleaning, but it feels good walking into a room free from dishes or coffee mugs. Schedule your clean-up exercise in the morning before you begin your studies or each night right before bedtime. A clean environment promotes peace of mind during your study time.
It’s essential to have ample desk space to keep all study materials within easy reach, saving you more time. Ensure that you have clearly labeled folders for easier access to resources and notes. If your desk has a massive pile of scattered paperwork, there is a simple method of organizing it:
- First, collect all the paperwork in one stack, then wipe off all the clutter except for the essentials you’ll need in your study.
- Divide your stack into three groups: the one you’ll file, trash, or act upon (call back, pay, or complete).
- Get rid of the trash as soon as possible.
- You can also choose to file your papers once or twice a week, depending on the amount of work you have.
- Alternatively, you can purchase a shredder if you don’t want to use folders.
A clean and organized study environment allows you to focus on the task at hand.
3. Get Rid of Distractions
When you need to get something done, it’s vital to always begin with identifying your potential points of distraction. It is the first rule of thumb in achieving an ideal study environment at home. Distractions may come in different forms, including radio, pets, social media, television shows, food, and family members. Stay away from lyrical music and earphones that lower the level of information retention. Additionally, resist the urge to log into social media platforms such as Facebook or YouTube. Finally, ensure that your study room is out of bounds to pets.
4. Use Email Auto-Responders
Constant email notifications can become unwelcome distractions during study time unless you are using them to accomplish what you are learning. Setting up auto-responders helps you eliminate the distraction of frequent correspondence.
For better scheduling, designate a couple of times you’ll be checking your emails and reply to them if it’s only necessary. Additionally, ensure that you switch off desktop email notifications that pop up while using your computer. Doing this can significantly help you create a beneficial study environment if your emails continuously distract your attention.
However, specific jobs may require you to continually reply to emails, stay connected to your clients, workmates, or managers. Thus, it’s worth noting that blocking email disruptions while studying is not an ‘all or nothing’ proposition. This approach may consequently not work for you. So you are better off weighing the options and going for what works best for you.
5. Organize Files and Folders on Your Computer
Have you ever been frustrated searching for a file or folder on your messed-up desktop? Such a file may be saved in your documents folder, on the clattered desktop, or in a hidden disk drive location. This need not be the case if you are seeking to have a better study environment. Your life will be more simplified when you organize your files and folders on your computer. Make sure that you delete old useless files, and empty the recycle bin. Additionally, ensure that you’ve clearly labeled your folders for more tranquil location.
De-cluttering and organizing your computer files can take days, maybe weeks, depending on how well-versed you are with computers. Other worthy alternatives like the use of DropBox and Google Docs to store and share your files can come in handy. The best thing about these two platforms is that they can give you access to your files anywhere as long as you are connected to the internet. All you have to do is save your study material while at school, and access them back home on your computer.
6. Resist the temptations of frequently Using Your Phone
Your phone can be one of the biggest hindrances to peaceful study. If your study requires the use of such media tools to facilitate your research on a particular topic, then there is no need to eliminate them. But how many logins do you need to check what’s trending on Donald Trump’s twitter page? Frequent chats, browsing, and communication on your phone can take up a lot of your precious study time.
Switch off your mobile phone and set specific instances and breaks you’ll be accessing it. This way, you’ll notice a big difference in how you manage your study time. Better still, define rules on your computer and only have relevant tabs opened on your browser for your project. Alternatively, instead of turning off your phone, you can set a customized message to inform people that you’ll call back later. Don’t forget to set a reminder to do it after study.
7. Try Out Physical Exercises When You Wake Up
You may be wondering how this relates to creating the right study environment. However, encouraging this habit can have a tremendous impact on your study efforts. It is as equally important as any other aspect mentioned in this post. It’s indeed true that physical exercise is right for your mind, body, and spirit.
Schedule your morning time-frame for a short workout session. This is the perfect way to start your day and helps boost your brainpower to comprehend things better. Alternatively, you can take short breaks within your study to stretch and flex your muscles. Thus, allowing proper blood flow and minimizing the risk of fatigue and back pain.
8. Music
Indeed, music can be a great way to motivate you into accomplishing something. Some people would prefer total silence, but for others, music offers a rhythm that aligns with their mind’s resonance frequency. Some musical tunes such as classic, yoga, souls, and other instrumental soundtracks can motivate your studies.
However, as much as the music contains an inspiration touch, sometimes you may be forced to wear earplugs depending on the level of concentration you require. For an ultimate study environment, avoid loud music that can easily block your information retention.
9. Schedule Your Meals and Coffee Breaks
It is essential to schedule your meals and coffee breaks and always stick to them. Ensure that you’ve purchased all your groceries to last the entire week. Schedule when to take your meals with clearly defined breaks. However, when you choose to go to your local eatery for meals, you could be easily distracted by other unplanned activities out there. Thus, it’s crucial to focus on your studies and follow the set breaks similar to how you would stick to the bell back at school.
Coffee breaks are vital to assist in stimulating your body and mind while you study. Coffee contains caffeine, popularly referred to as “the legal drug for the mind.” However, if you loathe it, grab an apple to get you going. Apples have similar characteristics as coffee and could be perfect for people with diabetes.
10. Seek Family Support
Family support is a highly overlooked aspect of achieving a proper study environment while at home. Your family can be a great source of encouragement and positive inspiration. Simple things such as helping serve your meals as scheduled, or driving you to and from school can make a big difference.
Such kind of support enables you to create more time and maximize on your studies. Additionally, you can choose one of your family members to assist tackle a specific problem or complete a revision. Simply put, family support helps you feel like part of the unit.
11. Develop a Positive Attitude
Always remember that you are committed, reliable, and capable of achieving your goals. A positive attitude is a vital ingredient for success in life. Achieving a productive study environment may seem like an impossible task. However, creating these positive habits is as easy as creating negative ones – it just takes little self-discipline.
Final thoughts
Studying at home can be such a rewarding experience. However, this can only be possible if you have the right strategies to create the right space, mood, and location. With these strategies, you can rest assured that your forays at home study will be worth the while. Get an actionable plan and implement it to the latter depending on your current situation.
