Five Fast and Free Steps to Create, Maximize, and Improve Your Study Space
Creating a study space that is conducive for online learning success is an important task for students who want to succeed in an age of online learning. By taking a few minutes before the start of the semester to reduce digital distractions, cut out competing noises, and set up a private area that is clutter-free, anyone can improve their chances of making this semester their most focused and rewarding yet.
If it were up to me, then every student who undertakes a semester of online learning would do so well-rested, in their own private temperature-controlled room, with a big desk with plenty of space for papers and note-taking, and a lightning-fast and rock-strong Internet connection.
In reality, however, most students (and more than a few instructors) will arrive to class half-asleep, stressed-out, and easily distracted by their phones halfway through class. That is, if they even make it that long.
But it doesn’t have to be this way! Designing the area where you learn to make the optimal study and learning space can be done without having to overload your Amazon cart with plants, motivational artwork, and scented candles. Five of the fastest ways to improve your study area are also the ones that are completely free:
1. Cut out Digital Distractions
As fascinating as John Gardner’s concept of psychic distance in the role of memoir and creative writing is, it is no match for the siren call of the various beeps, chirps, and pings of social media that will steadily and relentlessly pull a student’s attention away. But, what if you could keep the digital world and its incessant demands for your attention away, even for just an hour or two?
Website and app blocking programs like Cold Turkey are designed for people who need to put aside the digital distractions and have uninterrupted and focused work and study time.
Simply scheduling Cold Turkey to block access on your phone, desktop, or laptop for regularly scheduled periods of time takes the willpower element out of it and gives you the freedom to learn without a competing party demanding your time. Apps like Cold Turkey reinvent the old adage “Out of sight, out of mind,” and turn it into, “Out of reach? Then pay no mind.”
2. Find the Ambient Noise Level That’s Right for You
When you think of the best study space during pre-COVID times, what image comes to mind: a quiet and calm library, or a hopping café with noise and plenty of movement? When people think of outside noise, they often think of it as a nuisance or a complete study-ruiner.
However, while insomniacs have long known the benefits of white noise machines for sleep, people are only recently considering the untapped potential of background ambient noise for improved concentration, increased motivation for studying, and staying focused during class time.
Perhaps you’ve heard of “lofi hip hop radio — beats to relax/study to”?
It’s a popular YouTube streaming channel with over seven million subscribers. People from all over the world tune in to use the calm beats to accompany their studying.
But there is an entire world of hours-long videos and channels on YouTube offering every level of music and noise to provide the right background noise to keep you on task, regardless of your desired noise level.
From “Library Sounds | Study Ambience | 2 Hours,”
To, “Ultimate Heavy Metal Hard Rock Step Unthinking Songs for Gym Work Study.”
Having the right track and the right ambient noise level could be the key to better focus and academic success.
3. Work in a Private Space
Maybe it’s a cold morning when you sign in for class and the kitchen is warm and inviting, or maybe the best lighting is in the den where the T.V., fax machine, and house desktop computer are centrally located.
These are tempting places to want to hunker down, set up, and log in to class or study for exams. The problem, though, is very few students live alone. Parents, roommates, siblings, and partners may be working from home, as well, and they have their own groups and classes where they need to speak up and talk — to say nothing of pets demanding to be fed, walked, and given attention! That lack of privacy leads to pointless diversion and disrupted flow for the individual student.
But making the small effort to set up a private space for learning can boost concentration during class, increase focus during studying, and create a dedicated area where you and your brain knows you are going to “get in the zone.”
Even if you don’t have a private room handy, you can still make small adjustments to create more privacy while you focus on schoolwork. It can be as simple as turning your chair and laptop to face the wall and away from the door. Or it can mean rearranging your entire desk so that you have your back to your siblings in the same room while you learn. It can even mean that you’ll need to spend a little time alone in a quiet room. A little isolation, though, can mean the biggest changes in your level and quality of learning retention.
4. Declutter Physical Distractions
What if you could reduce your anxiety, improve your self-confidence, and become a more poised and focused student by just throwing away those old stacks of paper, pushing away the tchotchkes around your screen, and removing all the clutter around your study area?
The act of decluttering your study area and workspace isn’t just for hoarders or fans of Marie Kondo. Just like putting away digital distractions, removing physical distractions from your study space can be a liberating and confidence-boosting experience that translates into improved grades and improved learning. By decluttering the area where you learn, study, and work, you are signaling to your mind that you are in control of your learning, you can create order out of (unintentional) chaos, and that you can take proactive steps to reduce the anxiety of being surrounded by so much junk that is irrelevant to your success.
5. Sit Upright, or, at Least, Be Awake for Class
Having taught 8 a.m. composition and rhetoric for the past year, in-class and online, I’ve seen how much of an uphill battle it can be to engage students who are sleepy, surly, and looking for any reason at all to put their head in their arms and catch a quick nap during class time.
And I don’t blame them! Student motivation to be awake, alert, and engaged is low early in the morning and that lethargy applies to students whose energy levels dip during the “afternoon slump,” and extends into evening classes, as well. So, what can students do to keep themselves from falling asleep or nodding off when the time or subject of a class isn’t energizing?
Natural light and sitting upright, with some small breaks to move your legs, and staying hydrated are the best ways to keep your energy levels up. While it’s a given that extra coffee or energy drinks are the first remedy for lowered energy, your study space should be conducive to remaining conscious. Opening a window and exposing your eyes to sunlight, especially in the morning, can be an easy and energizing way to signal to your brain that it’s time to wake up and get to work.
Similarly, while it is tempting to want to snuggle in your pajamas underneath blankets in bed while your instructor drones on, sitting upright in a chair at a desk and mimicking the conditions of a class — even putting on “outside clothes” — can create a powerful shift in your perspective. You are no longer a passive absorber; you’re an active and ready participant in your own learning process. And that is a clear signal that you are ready to succeed.
These are just a few of the most effective and cost-free ways to improve your study space or area of learning to thrive in an era of online learning and distance education. What other strategies have you used to help you flourish without having to leave your home?
