It is good to have a dedicated personal organized reading space because this provides important benefits to the study process. It is a physical and psychological necessity for anyone taking a professional development course by distance learning, online, or correspondence studies.
If at all possible, buy a traditional desk. It doesn't have to be large, or expensive (a low cost, second-hand, used, the desk will be perfectly suitable). This will immediately give a professional, workplace, feel to your study area, and give you drawers and surface space to place your pc, laptop, papers, printer, pens, study books, on.
Next, make sure you obtain a suitable chair. An office-style, swivel chair would be best, but a fixed chair will suffice. No matter what style, make sure that it is comfortable to use for long periods. Again, a used chair will be just as good as a new one, if selected carefully. For most courses of study, a PC or Laptop will be essential.
A mid to low range one will be suitable for most courses. Ideally, an office suite such as MS Office should be used, but lower cost, simpler packages are fine too (and Microsoft itself offers an MS Office in Student-Teacher version, at one-third of the cost of the commercial price). With your PC or Laptop, comfort is much more important than power.
The essentials are a keyboard that is comfortable to type on for long periods, and a screen that is comfortable on the eyes for long periods of work. A printer is essential (a basic, low-cost one will do) even if you email your documents to your tutor.
It is good practice to print off your assignments (outlines, drafts, finished versions) and read them to proofread them and see them as your client or tutor will (most clients or tutors will print off your work and then read and assess it). Lighting is important. A well-lit room is vital, and a desk-top lamp can add focus to the working area.
Having supplies and peripherals nearby is helpful. A set of drawers in the desk, or a cupboard, or wall shelves, specifically for books, paper, pens, pencils, cartridges, etc., will help you to be organized, keep your study area tidy, and have essential supplies available when you need them.
Choose a layout that suits you, but organizes your equipment and furniture so that when you sit down to study you are not distracted by activity in a doorway, window, or another part of the room.
For most people, keeping it tidy would be good advice. However, some people can't work in a tidy fashion but are very comfortable working in what others see as chaos. If that is your natural style, that's fine, but even then, try to be as organized, as neat, as you can be this will help to keep you on track with your timetable of studies.
Your study area should be used whenever you have planned, scheduled, study activity that requires you to read and reflect on what you are reading, carry out research on the internet, correspond by email, telephone, or letter with your tutor, or write responses to exercises, tests, or assignments.
Don't use it for anything else. It isn't the place to eat a snack, watch television, plan your next holiday, paint your nails, or chat with other family members. If you want to do any of these, leave your study area and do them somewhere else!
If you have family or friends who live with you or work close to your study area, talk with them and agree that when you enter your study area they will not disturb you. Make this a permanent, non-negotiable, rule, broken only in cases of emergency.
You can help by scheduling your study times when other people are less likely to disturb you, and by building in time to spend with family and friends when you are not studying. If you like to listen to music, or the radio when studying, that's ok, but make sure that it is not, in reality, distracting you. Television is not a good idea, because of the distraction caused by the moving images.
If your study area is, by necessity, near a busy area where people are active, try to schedule your study time when that local activity is at its quietest, less busy times. Keep your mobile phone switched off unless you have to be available to colleagues from work. If you do have to be contactable at home by work colleagues, try to make contact first, to stop calls coming in when you are studying.
For some students, it is not possible to have a dedicated personal study area in the home, or at least not a permanent one. External locations are available which, although not capable of being personalized, could be regular locations in which, with regular use, you can feel familiar and comfortable. For example, Internet Cafes, where there is most of the equipment and furniture that you need.
You can supplement these by taking carefully selected study aids such as coursework books. Internet Cafes usually do charge an hourly fee, which is usually a reasonable price, but most will give discounted prices for regular users. Libraries, where there is usually plenty of desk space, a very quiet and studious atmosphere, and, of course, reference and subject textbooks which, if not permanently available, can be ordered and loaned for short period.
Today, many libraries also have personal computers and internet facilities. Libraries are virtually free to use, apart from a low internet usage fee. Your Work space, where you may be able to use lunch breaks, an and-or time before or after work, to fit in some study time. It may also be possible to arrange to use a meeting room or unoccupied office, at least on a short-term basis.
Some of our students who find it impossible to study at home, and who work in organizations that operate on a 5 day week, make arrangements to go into the workplace on weekends and study there.
Establishing a Personal Study Area is one of the most beneficial actions that you can take when starting to study for a professional development qualification. A properly equipped, well-organized, study area becomes a recognized space that you enter into when you are scheduled to carry out some study time.
It becomes a place where you are comfortable and familiar with the layout and facilities, and where you feel confident that you can work without interruption, without distractions, and most importantly, study effectively.
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