You should never underestimate the importance of finding the perfect place to get all of your studying done. Whether that place is at a desk in your dorm room, in the library, at a café, or in a park is completely dependent upon your personality. However, there are a few basic factors that you want to make sure you cover when you are looking for that perfect space. If the place you choose doesn’t fulfill these requirements, then you will find it difficult to really get into the groove. Here is how to create a comfortable study environment in college.
Find a Place That is Clean
Have you ever noticed the way that some people can only motivate themselves to clean when they know they should be studying or doing homework. This is partly because they are dreading the work and doing everything they can to avoid it, but it’s also because it can be very difficult, psychologically speaking, to relax into work mode when you are in a messy environment. So make sure there is a place that is always kept clean and comfortable for when it’s time to study.
Isolate Yourself from Distractions
Aside from the distractions of a messy environment, you need to beware of other types of distractions. If you try to work in a loud cafe that has TV screens or live performances, then you will be too distracted to get in the zone. You also want to isolate yourself from friends. As much as you might like to think that your friends might be able to help you study, there’s a very good chance that they will only distract you from studying and eat up valuable time. That’s why you want to find locations where nobody will bother you and there won’t be too much sensory overload.
Have Reliable Wi-Fi
It’s extremely important that you choose a place where there is reliable Wi-Fi. If you are constantly being kicked off the internet or find yourself spending a lot of time waiting for pages to load, you are going to really lose momentum. It’s extremely important that you can keep your energy up and running while you study, because if you can’t zero in on the content with razor sharp focus, then there’s a very good chance that you won’t hold on to all that information in your long term memory. Committing all of your studies to memory is especially important if you are attending a highly competitive college like Northeastern University.
Turn Your Phone Notifications Off
There’s nothing more distracting than a phone with a bunch of notifications going off while you’re trying to study. If you have several apps that send you push notifications, like social media, news apps, emails and texts, then you won’t be able to really stay focused. There are even apps which will turn off all of your social media apps for a set period of time. That way you can really force yourself to resist the temptation of checking all of your accounts while you study.
Stake Claim to Plenty of Space
The last thing you want to make sure of when you are looking for a place to study is that you have enough space. You have to really be able to spread your things out without feeling encumbered or crammed by other students. If you are constantly pulling things in and out of your backpack so that you can remain within the confines of a small space, you will not feel comfortable and you will likely feel compelled to leave before you’ve finished your work.