hello, it's seo from tbhstudying and today we're going to talk about how to make a good study space
this is a request that i've gotten a lot on instagram, so
I'm just combining all of your different requests for aesthetic study space, how to make your study space effective,
and how to create one in the first place so i'm just gonna combine all of those requests into one video
and without any further ado, let us begin
I'm going to start off with what a good study space is
a good study space is a space where you can work, where you can do homework, where you can study
where you can be productive and get your things done
now, keep in mind that I haven't said anything about the supplies or products that you will need
This is not designed to be a shopping list because in truth, you don't need to have the most expensive products
nor do you need to live in some sort of luxury penthouse or something like that
in order to have a good study space.
Everyone's study habits and workflow styles are different so your study space will look different than someone else's
This video is just designed to give you tips on how to improve and create your own
and just give you a good starting place, so do take everything that I say with a grain of salt
keep in mind that everything is catered to you and needs to match what you find to be the best for yourself
Now let's go into the three things that I think every study space needs
and those are light, a surface to write on, and wifi / internet access
Light is important because you need to see what you're studying
You need to be able to read, you need to see to write
And a surface to write on typically manifests as a desk for most people
but it can also be alternative forms of spaces and then third, wifi / internet access
This is probably the closest i'm going to get to referring to a specific product that you need
because a lot of schools nowadays have some sort of like homework or program that students need to
access online. this entails that 1. you have access to wi-fi
and 2. you have a device to access that wifi on so this can be something like a phone, a laptop, a computer
whatever you use to access the internet. of course you can have other things such as stationary
but because that's so different for everyone ,that is up to your discretion and what you personally prefer
Let's talk about the first thing which is light
your first option is natural sunlight. this entails that you study next to a window or you study outside
so that you have the natural sunlight to light up whatever you're working on.
however, there is a caveat with natural sunlight
you can't use sunlight when the sun goes down, which is a bit of a problem if you prefer to work at night
This natural sunlight option is probably better for people who prefer to study in the morning
or in the afternoon or outside when the sun is up. if you don't have that kind of option to you
for example, you go to school in the morning, you have work after school
you can only study at night or if you are a night owl, then a lamp is probably the better option for you
You can get a lot of lamps for cheap at thrift stores and during back to school sales supermarkets like walmart
fred meyers, things like that. if you already have a lamp but the color of the lamp isn't very appealing to you
You can switch out the light bulb in your lamp for a different light bulb of a different color temperature
And if you don't like the way your lamp itself looks, you could paint it, you can add some stickers on it
Just make sure whatever decoration you're adding isn't too close near the light bulb in case it's a fire hazard
now, the second thing is a surface to write on
like I said before, for most people this is a desk
you can just put your books and your papers down on the desk and get right to work there
but if you don't have a desk, then you can also use different options like a clipboard
you can even use a dresser, the top of a bookshelf or you can even study on the floor
and third, wi-fi / internet access. the library is probably the best long-term reliable source of wi-fi
if you don't have wi-fi at your house, but if you're in an emergency,
you can go to a cafe or a friend's house
The reason why I wouldn't recommend a cafe or a friend's house right away is because
1. cafes are expensive
If you go there, you're typically expected to buy a coffee and over time, that cost can build up
and 2. your friend's house may not be a viable option depending on the schedule that you have
as for internet access, again, the library is probably the best long-term option
if you don't have electronic devices available at your home. if you're at college
and you need financial aid to get electronic devices,
you could put in an appeal to your dean
or you could try talking with your professor to see if they can connect you with some sort of grant or some sort of
organization at your college that can offer you access
now, let's talk about some troubleshooting
so a while back, I asked on instagram
what were the most common problems when it came to refining your study space and making it the best
study space for you, and I just collated all of the most highly mentioned problems
and we're just going to troubleshoot them one by one
If you're interested in a specific problem, I will leave time stamps down below
So just feel free to go to the description and go to the part that you need
The first and most common complaint that a lot of people had was about noise
Some people have large families, some people share study spaces with their siblings
Some people just have to study in different areas such as like their workplace during break times, things like that
The easiest way to get this done is to use those foam earplugs
they're like small, about this big, you can get a box about of like 50 for fairly cheap
the second option is to listen to music and also i'm operating under the assumption that you're not able
to move your study space to a more quiet zone
If you don't like listening to music
then the foam earplugs are going to be your best bet but if you like listening to music, look for headphones
here let me show you
earphones with this tend to block out sound better than just like the normal smooth ones
If you have the budget, these do actually work in terms of like noise cancellation but if you don't have the budget
for these I would suggest looking for something like this with the little rubber stopper
another issue that a lot of you guys mentioned was having no desk at all or not having the space
here's where a different alternative surface comes in
If you guys remember when I talked about the three things you need for a study space
number two is having something to write on that doesn't necessarily have to be a desk
It can be a top of a dresser or a vanity. It can be on the top of a bookshelf
I've compiled together some different options that you guys could use.
The first option is to use your dresser or vanity
Just clear some of the things off the top of it and make space for your books
whatever you need to do your homework or study as well as your lamp and then a chair if you need to because
most dressers tend to be a little taller so having that chair is easier for you
the second option is a bookshelf
If you clear the top part of a bookshelf off, typically most bookshelves have a removable top to them
so you can take that removable top off the bookshelf and then clear out the books
so you have that top surface to work on
And another option that i'm giving you guys is to use a chair
this works with like wooden chairs or chairs that have sort of a harder seat to it. sit on the floor
and then use that as a surface to right on top of
and you can also use a closet. I mean, not to make i'm in the closet jokes, like, you know
but yeah, you can use a closet
and if you need some sort of writing surface
then you can use a binder as i'm doing in this clip or you can use a clipboard
and just for added comfort I added in a pillows for back support and of course the lamp
I think the only thing that you really need for this method is potentially an extension cord
If the plug is far away from the place that you want to make your study space in
but it is possible to find small spaces within your
apartment or house where you could potentially find places to study
This is sort of related to the previous point, but some people asked what to do if you share a desk with a sibling
so you could use one of these alternative study space methods or
you could divide the desk in half if the desk is big enough
my desktop is a long rectangular desk which has space on both ends.
split that table in half and then you could have two chairs on either end
alternatively if your sibling has a lot of extracurriculars or if you have work, you could potentially make sort of
shifts for your study space. So for example while you're at an extracurricular meeting after school
or if your school gets out later than your siblings, your siblings could start using the desk first and then later on
once your siblings have like piano practice or football practice
they can go to that and you can use the space while they're gone. Of course
this isn't ideal because sometimes your studying or your projects or your homework may take more time
than you expect but having sort of that time division may allow you to have more space on the desk to work with
if worse comes to worst, you can just make another study space or ask your sibling to make another
study space within the house or you can go to the library
and then a lot of people asked about how to have more space especially if you have
cramped quarters or a small desk
my number one tip with this is only take out the materials that you know you're going to use
for example, if i'm studying history, i'm not going to pull out my science textbook
and put it on the desk with all my history stuff as well
keep one subject at a time. don't try to multitask because when you try to multitask
usually you just end up doing a low quality job on all the things you're trying to do versus just
getting that one homework assignment for that one subject done
and then moving on to the next subject
consider using organization tools.
I like to use mason jars and empty peanut butter and cookie butter jars to store my pens
if you have a daiso nearby you you can also get little
organization units for $1.50
you can also go to your local dollar store to see if there are any storage options available for you
having some sort of container to corral all the loose bits can give you a little bit more desk space
and another way to conserve space is to store things underneath your desk
you could get a drawer unit that fits underneath your desk to hold all of your papers and books
and also do keep in mind, a lot of people need far less things than they think they need.
You don't need watercolor. You don't need brush pens
You don't need markers in 50 different colors to do your homework
And then the final thing that a lot of people asked about was how to improve the aesthetics of your study space
everyone's aesthetics and personal tastes will differ but you know
It's just nice to keep your area clean and organized and pretty
so you feel more motivated to sit down and get the work done
how I like to address the aesthetics is 1. I always like to have natural sunlight nearby my desk
so if you have a window available, try to position your study space nearby that window
to maximize the amount of sunlight you get
south-facing windows will have the most amount of light due to the way the sun rises and sets
and then after that I feel like north is pretty good
eastern and western windows will tend to have a lot of light either in the morning or in the afternoon
depending on if it's east or west
the second thing that I like to do to sort of jazz up my study space is plants
i'm really into plants and I feel like adding one plant to your area if you can afford the space
is just a really nice way to brighten things up
It's a pretty splash of green and it's also very gratifying just to see the plant grow and to take care of it
the easiest plants that I think are pothos plants
they're pretty hard to kill. the only way you can really kill them is if you over water them, they are low light tolerant
they grow very quickly. depending on where you get them, they're fairly cheap and also
pothos plants are very easy to propagate
if you're going to plant succulents, then I would suggest getting
well-draining soil and be very sparing with your water
another plant that is easy to grow is sansevieria
They're also known as snake plants. They're also low light tolerant and they're pretty hard to kill. again,
just don't over water them and you'll be fine
the third thing is to just add a little bit of art, add a little splash, add your own personal taste to it
unsplash.com is a website with a lot of free photographs that you can use
you can also add fairy lights, and the rest is really up to your own personal taste.
I hope this video helped. thank you so much for watching and
let me know what your study space is like
and maybe i'll take some tips from you guys and make my own study space better as well
I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I will see you in the next video
bye!