Whatever you use your learning area for, be it university studies or for a home business, you need to ensure it is working as hard as you are in order to achieve success. Of course, procrastination is natural to a point — but did you know that procrastination costs businesses around £76 billion annually? It not only taps your workplace’s wallet, but it also taps your potential.
Optimising your learning area can aid you in avoiding this. Whether you’re honing old skills or picking up new ones, having the best learning space is crucial to success. Here, we take a look 4 of the most successful ways to optimize you learning area:
1. Going green
Having greenery in your workspace can be highly beneficial. Flowering plants are great ways to increase our concentration levels and lower the sensation of stress. The likes of ferns clean our air space, while the snake plant also cleans up toxins. Succulents such as a cactus are also a useful addition to your space for decoration purposes as they don’t take a lot of looking after. If you really wanted a personal touch, you could even grow your own desk plants from seeds and watch them progress at your desk as you do!
2. Personalisation
It’s your own space, so don’t be scared to add personal touches to make your space your own and more comfortable for you. Photos of family and close friends or postcards of your favourite quotes are both great visuals that can help get your creative juices flowing.
3. Letting in natural light
Many of us spend so much of our working lives in front of a computer screen. Letting in natural, organic light is an amazing way to counteract any effects of sitting in front of an artificially lit computer screen. It is also known to enhance our mood by increasing our happiness. This is because natural sunlight is a great source of vitamin D. Without this, some people experience seasonal affective disorder. By being exposed to natural sunlight, you will also have a sense of contentment thanks to the production of vitamin D. A room brightly lit with natural light can help boost productivity and creativity.
4. Adding colour
Making your workspace more colour can have a positive effect on your overall productivity. Red has been linked to boost how alert we are. It’s looked upon as the ‘colour of passion’. Elsewhere, blue can help us generate ideas and keeps us focused on the task at hand, while green helps avoid eye fatigue and stay efficient. If you were looking to keep stress levels to a minimum, you should look to include white or beige as this can have a calming effect.
5. Getting rid of clutter
Having an untidy desk can have a negative effect on productivity. A clear desk can represent a clear mind. By ensuring that your workspace is free of unnecessary distractions, you are more likely to remain focused on the task at hand. You can do this by having a bin within reach, setting up a physical inbox for your papers, and scheduling regular cleaning times.
The right music
This last tip is something that will be completely unique to you. While some people work best in silence, others prefer a bit of background noise. Everyone benefits in their own way. Either way, a good set of headphones could be the ideal solution as they can either block out the tones around you or provide the tunes/podcasts best suited to keeping you productive. Other low-level noise could distract you from your studying or work and have a negative effect.
Classical music has proven a good option. Italian researchers found that this genre can significantly enhance your working memory performance, while research in the Journal of Consumer Research also found that a moderate level of ambient noise can benefit our creative senses.
There are several different ways to optimise your workspace to suit your own unique needs. In the end, each of us learns in a different way, but by following the above steps, you will set yourself up nicely to succeed in your end goal and boost your productivity levels.
