Productivity isn’t just about motivation or willpower. It’s also about where you’re studying and how that space makes you feel. While you can’t always change what you need to work on (deadlines are deadlines!), you can absolutely improve where and how you work.
The more productive you make your study environment, the easier it becomes to stay focused, creative, and on top of your workload. Here are three environmental factors that can quietly sabotage your productivity and how to fix them.
1: Noise
A noisy environment can be one of the biggest distractions, whether you’re studying in a busy flat, a library café, or a shared workspace. Background chatter, notifications, or even traffic noise can quickly chip away at your focus.
Noise levels can also be overstimulating! especially during intense study periods like exams or dissertation writing. If you’re studying from home, try softening background sounds with rugs, curtains, or even potted plants near windows and doors.
But most of all, see if you can work using earplugs like Loops, which come with a sound dampening feature.
2: Mess
No one likes a messy space. Even if we let things pile up, like dishes, rubbish, and dirty clothes, we don’t actually enjoy spending time in the mess. We just haven’t had a chance (or the energy) to deal with the mess yet.
So that’s the first thing to tackle, even if the amount of mess you’re looking at seems like a mountain in the middle of the room.
Whether you’re working from home or do actually have an office space to use, take 15 minutes before you next get to work and tidy it up. Start with something small, like simply picking things up off the floor, and let this encourage you to keep going.
3: Light
You always need a good amount of light in the workplace, for the simple fact that we need to see what we’re doing! But other than this, the tone of the light, as well as how much natural light is available, can impact how productively you work as well.
That’s why any and all office design layouts should try to maximise on window space and sun exposure. Letting natural light in is good for everyone in the office, and even those with north facing or obscured office buildings aren’t out of luck here.
Skylights are a very popular commercial window option, and if you’ve got some room in your interior budget, they’re a good choice to consider.
Want to boost your productivity, but aren’t sure what you can do to help yourself? Watch out for the three environmental factors above! They can have a big effect on the way you feel and how focused you can be, but you can change them.
;)