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Most of the time, you’re going to be working on your own in your own work environment. Even before the shift to online school and working at home, a lot of your homework was done at home (homework).

So, with how much time you spend (and are going to spend) working from home, it would probably be a good idea to optimize your work environment. Let’s look at doing that.

Remove Distractions

First on the list is distractions. This one’s fairly obvious, right? If you’re going to get some work done, you can’t be playing video games. Removing distractions allows you to focus more, which can help you to get into flow easier.

Here are some common distractions to remove from your environment:

• Video games.
• Videos.
• Your phone.
• Notifications.
• Email.
• Unnecessary tabs.
• People aside from yourself (unless you’re working on a group project or work better with other people in the room).
• Noise (if you’re the kind of person who can’t work in a noisy environment).

Basically, you want to get rid of everything that takes attention away from studying/working. This includes multitasking with things like videos. Multitasking doesn’t work and hampers your ability to get into a flow state, which is where you’re “in the zone” and everything becomes effortless and enjoyable.

Get Everything Lined Out

After you clear out all your distractions, you’re going to want to get everything you’ll need for working. This can include things ranging from school books to food. 

If you can, try to line out everything you’ll need the night before, that way you can just roll out of bed and get straight to work.

Here are some of the more necessary things you’ll need:

• Textbooks.
• Calculators.
• Notebooks.
• Writing utensils.
• A computer.
• A place to work (a desk, the floor–whatever works for you).
• Light (you gotta see the work you’re doing, after all).

A lot of these things can vary. For instance, you may not need textbooks for what you’ll be doing, your workspace could also just be the floor instead of a desk, or you may not need a computer. Whatever it is you’re going to need, get it out and line all of your work up so you can knock it out one after the other.

Also, make sure they all work. Because it would be awkward if you got all ready to do a bunch of work, but your computer was broken…

Aside from the necessary things, you’ll want to get everything else you think you’ll need while working to minimize interruptions and distractions. For instance:

• Snacks.
• Drinks.
• Music or earplugs/headphones (study music if you prefer working with noise, earplugs if you prefer silence).
• Clicky things–or just stuff to play with if you like to have something in your hands while you think.

Just try to line up everything that you need so you can work without any distractions or interruptions. That way, you’ll be able to slip into a flow state and crank through a ton of work. You won’t need to leave your work space to go get snacks or drinks, for instance.

Having a plan of how you’re going to work through your school makes it all way easier. You just line it all up and follow the plan you set up. Just line them up and knock them all out one after the other and you’ll be done in no time.

Make it Comfortable

All right, now that you’ve got all the distractions out of the way and have everything lined out, let’s work on making it a comfortable and fun place to work in. Maybe you can make it so fun and comfortable that you even want to do school… Yeah, I don’t think that’ll happen either, but let’s make it as fun as possible.

Make it Ergonomic

Ergonomic. There’s a fancy word for you. 

Now, you probably associate the word ergonomic with weirdly shaped chairs, computer mice, and keyboards, but in reality, it’s really just about making your workspace comfortable and efficient. Which is exactly what we’re going for here.

Basically, when it comes to making things ergonomic, make all of your stuff comfortable in a way that promotes good health. For instance, don’t slouch, try to keep your computer screen or reading material at eye level so you don’t crane your neck, and stand when you can. If you’re sitting, then keep your thighs parallel to the floor.

You can get mice, keyboards, chairs, etc. to promote a healthy, ergonomic environment, or you could just iron-will your way into becoming ergonomic. It’s up to you.

If you’d like to make your workspace more ergonomic, my brother likes this stand-up desk converter (link to Amazon). It sits on top of your sitting desk and raises everything to standing level, basically converting your sitting desk to a standing one.

Make it Fun

When it comes to making it fun, I’m not saying convert your workspace into a man cave filled with video games, root beer, a mini fridge, and a gigantic flatscreen TV. The man cave is a sacred space reserved only for man cave activities. We can’t be mixing workspaces and man caves (or whatever the female equivalent of a man cave is).

What I am suggesting, though, is that you add things that make it easier to get work done. Things like music, things to play with while you think, and snacks and drinks are all stuff you can add to make it more fun.

The only thing to keep in mind with music is that some music can make it almost impossible to get work done. Some people also cannot get work done with music going on. If you’re one of those people, or try to listen to the distracting type of music, I’d suggest staying away from music and instead working in a quiet environment.

Snacks and drinks not only make it more enjoyable, but it also makes it easier to stay in one place and focus for long periods of time. When you’ve got your snacks and drinks in your work environment, you don’t have to leave and get exposed to a ton of distractions and interruptions, making it easier to stay in flow while you work.

Just don’t get a bunch of messy snacks or drinks, because then you might make a mess and have to leave your workspace to get something to clean it all up.

Make it Clean (or Messy…)

I would suggest that you keep everything organized so you know where everything is and can focus better. But there is some research that suggests that having a messy workspace can lead to creative thinking because they encourage unconventional thinking.

Ultimately, it’s personal preference. If you think you work better in a messy environment, keep it messy. If you think you work better in a clean, organized environment, then keep it clean and organized. Either way, experiment with your work environment to find what best works for you.

If you do want to have an organized workspace, I’d recommend keeping things as minimalist as possible. If you don’t need it, then get rid of it. It makes keeping a clean, organized work environment way simpler.

Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to organization is physical storage. Generally, if you have the shelf of a bookcase, you’ll be able to put everything there: Textbooks, notebooks, your computer, writing utensils, etc. It’s what I use to store all my stuff. 

You can also use a desk drawer, but I prefer a bookshelf because it’s easier to see all of your stuff. With a drawer, you have to pick things up to get to what you want.

If you have neither of those, then you can just stack them all on top of each other on the floor. I’ve done that, too, and it’s also worked.

If you’d rather keep it messy, then I guess you can disregard everything I just said.

Take Breaks

Properly resting is actually super important. Getting enough rest is the key to getting into flow. It’s also just plain fun to do something different for a while.

We actually have an entire article on resting here, since it’s such an important topic. If you’re interested in learning more, then check out that article.

Maintaining Your Workspace

After you get your workspace all optimized, it’s important to keep it in its optimized condition.

This is pretty simple, though. Basically, just put everything up as soon as you’re done using it. Then, you’ll keep your workspace clean and organized. If you prefer a messy workspace, then just go ahead and disregard that part, I suppose.

Another tip for you is to prime your work environment the night before as much as you can. So, get out your textbooks, notebooks, writing utensils, and whatever else you’ll need for the next day. Then, when you get up, just boot up whatever you need to, get any remaining items (like snacks or drinks) and get to work. It’ll be all lined up for you.

Now that you’ve got your environment all set up, go get some work done!