The ongoing Pandemic has caused many schools and universities to suspend their regular operations, and hence students have since moved to online classes. It can be argued that studying in your college’s library, for example, has a different feel to it due to the tranquil atmosphere. Therefore, students who are used to that level of peace may find it difficult to reach the same concentration while studying at their homes.

The good news is that there are some adjustments that you can make to your room and your study in general that will help you stay more focused. Even if you are not currently locked up at your house, these tips can still help as they apply to your dorm rooms as well.

Here are my ten best tips for effective studying at home.

Establish a study space

This may seem obvious, but how many times have you sat down to study on your bed or couch and found yourself slowly drifting away into slumber?

The key idea here is to make an entire study space free of any or all distractions. All you need is a relatively comfortable chair, a desk, and your books/laptop. Sitting down someplace other than your usual comfort zone would make it less likely for you to lose focus, fall asleep, or randomly lose interest in studying.

Also, make sure to open up the blinds; you will be surprised by how much natural daylight helps you concentrate and stay awake.

Moreover, the tidiness of your study space also affects the quality of your study. Make sure you clean up the clutter from your desk and the surroundings, and you don’t need to look for that one pen to start studying, no matter how much you tell yourself otherwise. Just sit down and start.

Organization is key

This can be said for almost anything in life, and studying is no different. It is a good idea to clear your mind from all worries and obligations when you sit down to study. Nothing disrupts a good study session, like suddenly remembering that you forgot to do one thing, and now you have lost your focus and can’t concentrate.

Instead, try this. Get a calendar, an app works too, and write down all the different tasks you have to do on their corresponding dates. This will give you a clear idea of the days when you are free and can study uninterrupted.

Put that phone away

I cannot stress this enough. Okay, maybe not for everyone, but if you don’t need your phone for actual studying, like if you don’t need a specific app to study, then put it on silent and get it out of your site. Our phones are some of the most distracting things, and to make things worse, we have grown so used to them that most of us can’t even imagine turning them off for even a couple of hours. Remember, no distractions! You don’t need random notifications to break your focus; the memes can wait.

Routine is essential

Everyone needs structure. If you want to be successful, you need structure in your life. There are no two ways about it. Whether they be professional athletes, CEOS, Generals, you name it; all the most successful people have in common is structure, discipline, and routine.

Make yourself a study schedule, or better yet, map out your entire weekday by day and break everything down in terms of hours. Also, don’t magically expect to become a perfect human being overnight. Habits take time, you have to diligently follow whatever routine you set for yourself for at least a couple of weeks, and if you do it right, you will barely even feel it. It will come naturally to you in time.

Ask yourself what time works best for you? Do you study better in the morning or in the evening? Whatever your answer is, build your routine around that.

Sleep well, study well

There is an enormous body of research that suggests all kinds of adverse effects of restlessness. You need to get your 8 hours in every night. Nothing affects your concentration more than inadequate sleep. Staying up all night, moving in your bed while holding your phone in one hand has sadly become the norm for most people today, but this is destroying your brain chemistry without you knowing it.

Go to sleep at a fixed hour every night and wake up at an appointed hour as well. Do this for at least a couple of weeks, and it will become second nature. It would help if you get your biological clock back on track, and it may not be comfortable in the beginning, but it is essential. I hate nothing more than waking up in the morning and feeling as if all life has been sucked right out of me.

Reward yourself

Studying doesn’t have to be this arduous and mundane activity that you somehow have to put yourself through. Set up personal goals every time you sit down to study. This can be something as little as studying continuously for an hour. When the hour has passed, reward yourself with a healthy meal, a walk, a song or some on-screen time, or whatever works for you. Positive reinforcement is a useful tool to keep yourself motivated. Use it.

Don’t forget to take a break

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Breaks are an essential part of effective study. Your brain can only take so much info in a given amount of time. After a while, you will notice that whatever you study goes over your head, and your focus is nowhere to be found. This is an excellent time to take a break and relax. Get up and take a few steps, stretch a little even. Ideally, it would help if you were having a 10 min break every hour of studying but play around with different times and see what works best for you but don’t overdo it.

Keep in touch with your learning community

Whenever there is a concerted effort, people tend to do good individually. Call it a competition, determination, or whatever, but interacting with likeminded people is very important. It would help if you established a connection with your course-mates via zoom or skype etc. This will help you get an idea of where everyone else is in terms of their studies and help you keep track of your progress. Moreover, you can also seek help with your coursework and help others as well.

Exercise helps study

Again, many studies back up exercise and its effects on your studying abilities. Going for a jog every morning or doing some light weight-lifting can have excellent effects on your concentration throughout the day. It can even boost up your memorization skills, no kidding. However, make sure you make it a habit; all good things take time, and going for a jog one morning in a week isn’t going to do that much. Routine remember?

Keep things separate

It helps tremendously if you assign different spaces to different things. Doing multiple activities at the same spot blurs the line between work and leisure. When you are done studying, get up from your desk and instead do something else. This can be anything but make sure you don’t simply pull out your phone while at the desk and start scrolling. It would help if you associated the desk with studying so that your mind is already prepared when you sit down each day.