Unfortunately, due to the pandemic or lockdown, we have to stay at home and study every day, but there are some ways to study productively at home.
Home is a good place to study. Different homes have different environments. You can make a good studying environment like a café at home so that you can study faster and effectively.
Sometimes, there are loud noises while studying outside, so home is the best choice for studying. It is the best way to isolate the annoying noise.
Nowadays, there are some high-tech things so that we can keep in contact at home. We can chat with each other using social media.
Do you know how to study at home at a fast speed? I will tell you some suggestions.
1. Plan your Study
The first thing you need to do is to create your study plan and goals.
I have set my explicit study plan, daily goals and final goals that allow me to check my study progress and whether I have achieved them.
You need to set your study plan, daily goals and final goals. This will motivate you to study towards your aims.
You can write them on a paper or notebook, and then check your daily goals every evening.
Stick your Plan and Goals
After writing your daily goals, you always need to achieve them or they will not be useful.
When I was in junior high school in 2020, I stuck my study plan and daily goals on my bedroom's pinboard.
My 2020 Study Plan and Daily Goals
I used a daily goals checklist to check whether I have achieved today's goals.
My 2020 Daily Goals Checklist
As well as the checklist, I also have used a booklet to store my daily goals, which can be used while I was at school.
My 2020 Daily Goals Checklist Booklet
Using Ken's Study Planner
However, managing my daily goals can be a complex task including calculating the achievement rate for each goal in a month.
Since I am a Computer Science student with programming skills, I have made my website and this web-based Planner app by myself to solve my planning difficulties.
With this app, I can easily make a monthly summary of my goals because my computer and servers will help me to handle all the work.
Ken's Study Planner Home Page
Learn More Sign up and UseSummarise your Goals
At the end of each month, I summarise the achievements of my goals, calculating the achievement rate (percentage) for each goal in the month and setting my goals for the next month.
If you are using my Study Planner, you can choose Monthly Summary to see your achievement rates.
Daily Goals Monthly Summary on my Study Planner
2. Tidy up your Bedroom
The next step is to tidy up your bedroom.
Messy environment can create hurdles on your study path, in which you need more time to find your items you need in a pile.
So, you need to organise the items in your bedroom to save your study time.
For example, I have stuck some labels on my bookshelf, putting my items at correct places.
Labels on my Bedroom Bookshelf
Organise Cables
As well as organising your items, you also need to organise the cables around your desk.
Messy cables appear everywhere around the desks. You may kick them accidentally while you are studying without realising it.
Once the cables are disconnected, you will lose the data on your PC and you will need some time to restore and restart them.
However, if the cables are hidden around the desk, you will not be distracted by them. You will have a sense of tidiness and a wider study area.
If the cables appear at the centre of your desk, you can put and bind them at the edges.
Organising Cables around my Desk (2021)
You can simply tidy them up using some stickers, plus some bandages for binding the messy cables. They can be stuck onto the wall or around your desk without any extra tools.
Organising Cables is Simple
Clean your Desktop
Having enough studying space is important in order to study faster and effectively at home. You will be fast to do different homework or tasks.
However, if the space is too small, your studying speed will be slower and slower. You will not be able to switch homework or tasks, drink water (H2O), write on a paper, type on a computer keyboard, find books, and so on.
I have separated my desk into 3 parts so that I can clean up my desktop and find study things easier and faster. They are Things Temporary Storage Area, Working Area and Electronic Devices Area. I usually do my tasks in my Working Area and find things in other areas.
My Desktop Parts
Bookshelf on the Left
Charging Area on the Right
3. Decorate your Bedroom
The third step is to decorate your bedroom to create a café-like study environment.
Decorating your room can give you motivations while studying on your desk.
For example, as well as organising cables, I have also entwined the cables with some rattans and fairy lights to hide the cables and improve the overall appearance.
Improved Cable Management with Decorations (2022)
I also have installed these items around my bedroom's pinboard and bookshelf.
My Bedroom Bookshelf and Pinboard Decorations
In addition, I also have put a perfume and some electronic fake candles on my desk.
Bedroom Desk with Candles and Perfume
For more information, you can look at my bedroom tour.
My Bedroom Tour4. Avoid Distractions
Close the Bedroom Door
A house has multiple rooms, such as living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, study, etc.
The noise between rooms can interrupt each other, so you need to close the bedroom/study door while you are studying otherwise you will be interrupted by the noise from other rooms. This is a physical way to obstruct the noise from spreading.
As well as closing my bedroom door, I also put a sign on the door indicating that I am studying. So my family members will not make any interruptions.
My Bedroom Door Signs
Block Notifications
As well as the noise, some notifications on the phones can also be distracting.
If you receive a message notification on your phone, you will go forward to look at your message contents instead of continuing studying.
So, you also need to block some unnecessary notifications during the studying process by muting the phone or enabling the Do Not Disturb mode.
For example, on the new iOS, iPadOS and macOS, you can set up some focus modes.
My Self-study Focus Mode
5. Sleep early, get up early
Do you want to be energetic while studying? You need to have a good sleep. Sleeping early and getting up early is a good way to get enough energy to study at home.
I usually sleep at 22:30 or I feel tired, and I usually get up at 06:30.
The first 45 minutes and the last 45 minutes of the day are my relaxing time when I can read blog articles, watch YouTube vlogs, open emails, and use social media.
In the evening, it is good to sleep early so that you can get enough energy for the next day. When you are tired in the evening, you can sleep earlier to get energy.
6. Take Rest and Exercise Regularly
In order to study faster and effectively for a long time, you also need to take a rest and exercise regularly.
Taking a rest and exercise is important so that you can always study with enough energy. You will feel tired without them when you are studying for a long time.
I recommend taking a rest for 5 to 15 minutes every 45 to 60 minutes. I usually take a rest for 10 minutes every 45 minutes.
I also take exercise for about 30 minutes in a day which is part of my daily goals.
7. Chat with your Friends
The next tip is to chat with your friends.
You can chat with your classmates at school, but when you are at home, you can chat with them using messaging apps.
I usually chat with my classmates, teachers and Chinese friends on WeChat, and my foreign English friends on Skype and Instagram.
Studying at home can be boring, so chatting with friends can reduce the boredom.
8. Play Background Music with Low Volume
Café usually plays background music with low volume to encourage students to study productively. Background music can adjust your spirit while you are working, doing tasks, reading books or studying.
Playing background music is also an excellent way to study faster and more effectively at home. However, loud music has negative effects because it can distract you away from your normal tasks. You need to control your background music volume.
You also can use a headphone to prevent conflict between each room. It is a good way to avoid noise outside.
You can find music that is usually played in cafés. You can search 'café' on Apple Music, or '咖啡厅' on QQ Music, Kugou Music, Netease Music, etc. and find playlists.
Explore More Study Tips
These are my recommendations for studying productively at home. Don't worry if you are not able to go outside. Home is also a good studying place. I hope you can study faster and effectively at home with my recommendations.
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