In the two years since the coronavirus pandemic began, college students have faced tons of adversity. From shut-down campuses, to restricted dining halls and capacity limits at libraries and common areas, maximizing the study space in your bedroom has become essential.
But doing so is easier said than done. Bedrooms that double as study spaces get cluttered and messy quickly. It can also be tempting to simply work on your bed, which is detrimental to productivity and sleep, as you can trick your mind into associating your bed with your work.
So, here are some quick tips that will keep you working hard – right from your bedroom desk.
- Start With the Basics: Desk, Chair and Calendar
Cultivating a successful study space in your room begins with the basics. In order to work adeptly, you need to have ample space and comfort to do so.
Make sure you have a big enough desk with drawers for storage, with additional emphasis on drawers. Too often, people purchase desks based off aesthetics – not function – and wind up having to store their belongings and supplies on the floor or on the desk itself.
A good desk can be thrifted; it doesn’t need to be an expensive IKEA project. Just get something simple and cheap with enough space.
Likewise, the same applies with calendars. There’s no use in purchasing the prettiest-looking calendar if it doesn’t give you enough space to write out your full agenda.
Calendars are integral to a solid study space. It acts like a mini “HQ” of sorts that can direct all the traffic that goes on in your daily life. Don’t skimp on space.
The opposite applies to chairs, however. Do not buy the cheapest one you see, as back and neck support are vital elements to ensuring you can comfortably achieve your study goals. Take time to find the best value – something that doesn’t break the bank, but also doesn’t break your neck, either.
- Limit Distractions and Keep Your Area Focused
Your desk is for working, not for gaming.
College bedrooms aren’t spacious, so it can be tempting to mix and match various parts of the room with different purposes. But your study area is an exception. Any non-study/school related item on or in your desk can distract you, so keep things tight and narrow.
An easy way to keep your desk clear on non-academic items is to store/display these things elsewhere in your room. The top of your dresser, for example, is a great place for things like a fish tank or stereo.
TV stands and wall-mounted shelving-units can also provide ample storage and room to display other items so they can stay off your desk.
- Categorize, Categorize, Categorize
Once you have the tools in place for a clean and functional study space, the final step is to categorize your school supplies. Clutter is clutter, and even if all the things taking up space on your desk are related to your classes, it still doesn’t do much to help you study.
Start by categorizing utensils, things like pencils, scissors, pens, etc. Pro tip: old mugs and cups can be reused as great pencil/pen holders!
After your utensils are categorized, it’s time to organize your materials for each class. Ideally, one would have one drawer for each class, but not everyone has the space for that. Instead, buy drawer organizers to partition space in each drawer. If you have some extra funds and time, color coding is an extra step you can take as well. You can make your notebooks, post-it notes, binders, etc. for one class all one color, for easy identification.
Organizing can be a boring and mundane activity, but the little work put upfront can make a huge difference later, especially come midterms and finals. No one wants to be scrambling to find old notes and readings while they should be studying.
With these three easy steps, you can rest assured that you’ll have a well-designed study space that can keep you sane.