Your time in college is all about your education. Yes, you’ll make lifelong friends, experience new things, and maybe see a banner hung at the Phog, but ultimately, you’re there to learn. One of the key parts of your education is study time, and finding the right place for it is crucial for making your study time effective. Here are some things to think about as you try to build that ideal location for learning.
A Self-Contained Location
During college, study time is all about making the most of those odd and end hours and minutes. The more time you have to waste going out for a meal or for a few minutes of exercise, the less time you have for hitting the books. That’s why the KU student dorms have been designed to be self-contained, with exercise facilities, eating areas, and lots of other amenities on site. It makes it easy to run out and take a break without wasting a lot of time walking to and from your destination.
Have Everything Handy
Another way you can keep your time moving well is to make sure that your study space has the basic things you’ll need. If you’re into color-coded markers and pens, have a set at your desk. Think about traditional school items like staplers and rulers, but cover your tech needs by having chargers for your phone and computer close by. Spend a little money on organizers and bins so that nothing is ever more than arm’s length away. You’d be surprised how this affects your mindset; eliminating the constant search for study essentials is a big boost to your concentration and a big reduction in distractions.
Make It Comfortable
The process of studying is a very individualized experience. Some people take a workplace approach, placing everything on a desk and sitting in a traditional office chair. Others like to sprawl out on the bed with books, notes, or their devices. Still, others prefer to study on a couch. Whatever your preferred physical setup may be, get it to your liking. Invest in a good lamp for targeted light, blinds for extra natural light, soothing candles, your favorite music, or whatever you need to cover those intangible things that make your study space comfortable for your mind and body.
Like-Minded Roommates
There may be no bigger factor in the quality of your college housing experience than the roommates you have. When you live with people who approach their education the way you do, you’ll prevent a lot of conflicts before they happen. That means being able to share a space with people who also want that convenient location with on-site amenities and all the other factors that make your study space a good one. Roommates who think alike will succeed together because of their like-minded perspectives on education. They’ll study at similar times of day, be more responsible in the dorm, and generally be a better fit for you. How do you find like-minded roommates? Just use a roommate finder like Diggz and you’ll be all set.
Storage Space
Nobody wants to reinvent the wheel, especially with a deadline at 11:59 pm. That’s why it’s so helpful to hang on to the work you’ve done in previous terms. Old exams, papers, and assignments may hold information that you need in the future. They may also house references that you can tap into again when you’re working on a related topic down the road.
With most work done on the computer these days, you’ll cover a lot of this simply by organizing things in folders by semester and course rather than deleting them. However, you’ll also need a space for hard copies of handouts, written work, and other papers that you may have from classes taught by, shall we say, more tenured instructors. It’s also not a bad idea to hang on to some of your old textbooks if the resale value is low.
You hear lectures in classrooms, do experiments in labs, and conduct research in the library, but in between all that, you’ve still got to reinforce that learning by studying. Develop a location that’s just what you need to make your time productive.
