Quick Tips for Creating a Space that's Conducive to Studying

It's important to have an organized space where you can consistently complete your homework and studying. Having fewer distractions and knowing where to find necessary materials will help you to complete your work more quickly, and allow you to have time to do the things you want to do! Taking a few minutes to read through these simple tips might just put you on the path to a shorter and more efficient homework time!

I'm going to try to keep this post streamlined and organized, just like a study space should be...                                                                               

Workspace

• Have a set study space and storage space. 
• The storage space should ideally be in the study space, but it could also be a shelf or cabinet or bin in another room. 
• Keep your materials and textbooks in the same place all the time, when at home. Ideally, this place should be a specific location within your study space.

• If you split your time between two homes, or don't always have an opportunity to do your homework in the same place each day, create a "workspace bag/bin" that contains everything you'll need for a mobile workspace. 
• The bag or bin will keep everything together, and is easily portable. 
• Only take things out of the bag or bin when you're using them in that moment. Then, put the item back right away so you'll know where to find it when you need it next.



This is not so good...

• Keep this workspace bag/bin in one place (e.g. trunk of a car).

• Reduce clutter in your work area. 
• You should work on a clear, uncluttered surface. 
• After unpacking your bag, put one subject's materials on the surface at a time. Leave the other materials off the work surface, so you have reduced the "visual noise." 

• Adjust furniture to fit your needs.
• Sit in a comfortable chair (with armrests, if you're working at a computer), that allows you to maintain good posture: sitting up straight with your feet flat on the floor or on a footrest.
• When you're working on the computer, your eyes should be about 1.5 feet from the screen (about arms' length)
• The keyboard should be centered and on a stable surface
• The monitor should be about 5cm above eye level. 
• Zoom in on what you're looking at or working on, and adjust the settings so messages aren't popping up and you're not receiving notifications irrelevant to your task.

Routines

• Unpack everything from your backpack and file away old materials at a routine time. 



I'm pretty sure you don't want your work
area to end up looking like this.

• File old papers and tests. Don't throw away materials or past assessments unless your teacher says to; these materials may come in handy when you're preparing for mid-year or final exams.
• Use accordion folders, separate binders, or a giant binder with dividers to keep old work organized by subject and topic. Put these in your storage space so they're not cluttering up your work space, but they're still available for reference when needed.
• You could do this every day, at the end of every school week, or even on Sundays when you're preparing for another week at school. It doesn't really matter when; the important thing is that you do this at least 1-2 times per month, depending on how many papers you have in your binders or folders.  

• Set aside time at the beginning of each work session to review your planner and to check (using the classroom websites, if possible), that you know what you have to accomplish that night.
• Then, make a plan of approach: What will you start with? What will you do next? When, and for how long, will you take a break? Plan this out in writing, and stick to it.

Environment

• Reduce and/or remove distractors in your work area.



Look familiar? It does to me!

• Put your phone in a different room
• Keep the computer screen turned off unless you're using it for homework
• Pull down the shades/ blinds if you're facing a window
• Turn off the TV or music

• Make sure you have adequate lighting, so your eyes don't have to work as hard.

• Get some fresh air in the room if possible.

Good luck!

A Different Way to Take Notes

Visual Note-taking 

(aka Sketch Notes or Graphic Notes)

Bullet points, outlines, and summaries are not always the best way to take notes from assigned reading or from lectures and class discussions. The video below explains another method of note-taking called "sketch notes" that relies on the creation of visual images along with recording text, to record and reinforce essential information.

"Do things your way so everything makes more sense." In my opinion, this is one of the essential take-aways of that video. Everyone perceives things differently, and we all have unique learning styles.  If you find a method for taking notes that works well for you, and it is effective, then keep on using it! Most of us will have to try a bunch of different styles and strategies for note-taking before we find one that works. Many of us also have to use different styles of note-taking depending on the task or what we will be expected to use those notes for.

Below is a video I recorded when I was attempting to use this style of note-taking to keep track of events in a chapter from A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck. Please be gentle when judging my sketches.

Thanks for not being a critic, but I'll admit it- I don't think that went that very well. It was difficult to not just draw the scene I was reading about. However, that was one of my very first attempts at this style of note-taking. So, I'm going to try it again... after watching this video done by someone way more versed in this style of note-taking.

A few important things I took away from this instructional video were that you don't have to try to get all of the details down in  your notes in the moment; instead, you can go back to fill in details like additional text, color, and more precise drawings. Also, the video pointed out the importance of thinking about the layout or format of the notes, prior to beginning. I think that for the notes I took from A Long Way from Chicago, it would have made more sense to have a storyboard setup, where I have frames showing the different scenes and important events in the chapter. Maybe even reading the whole chapter first, then going back to sketch out the most important elements like the conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution, would have made more sense.

I'll have to keep working at this format of note-taking because I do think that it would work well for me in certain situations. I hope you will try this style of note-taking as well, in a few different situations, so you can see if it's something that may work for you!