A writer for the Paris Review once asked
the great science fiction
writer Ray Bradbury
where he did his writing.
His response?
"I can work anywhere.
"I wrote in bedrooms and living
rooms when I was growing up
"with my parents and my
brother in a small house
"in Los Angeles.
"I worked on my typewriter
in the living room
"with the radio and my mother
and my dad and my brother
"all talking at the same time.
"Later on, when I needed an
office and wanted to go write
"my novel Fahrenheit 451 25 years ago,
"I went up to UCLA and
found a basement typing room
"where for 10 cents, which you
inserted into the typewriter,
"you could buy yourself 30
minutes of typing time."
Now this seems a bit
surprising at first, especially
given all the other famous writers who had
a very let's say,
particular writing habits.
For instance, the author
Gertrude Stein chose
her writing space on
whether or not she'd be able
to see a cow walk by.
But Bradbury's ability to
work anywhere makes more sense
when you hear his answer to
the interviewer's followup
question about whether or
not he enjoyed writing.
"Yes, it's obvious that I do.
"It's the exquisite joy
and madness of my life
"and I don't understand
writers who have to work at it.
"If I had to work at it, I would give up
"because I don't like
working, I like to play."
This is the kicker.
Bradbury's intense love of
writing is what enabled him
do drown out all distractions.
He wrote because there was
nothing else he would rather
be doing at the moment.
You can probably think back
to things that have consumed
your attention in a similar way.
For me, at different points in my life,
those things have been
UI design, programming,
and most recently, playing the guitar.
When I'm playing guitar,
nothing is going to distract me
because that's exactly
what I want to be doing
and I get into it, but there
are always less interesting
things that we just have to
do like calculus assignments,
ironic essays about the
Virgin Islands, and crucially,
as you're interest in the
work diminishes, the more
important the optimization of
your work environment becomes.
So today, I want to explore
what goes into creating
the perfect study space, one
where you can easily slip into
the flow state, resist
distractions, and actually
get your work done fast
enough to have some time
left over to play Cave
Story before you got to go
to bed.
And when it comes to
creating a great study space,
the first thing we need
to talk about is context.
You have a ton of choice
when it comes to study spots.
You got libraries, you got coffee shops,
you got basements of academic
buildings that nobody else
knows about, and then
there is your dorm room
or your bedroom, but
wherever you decide to study,
you want to make sure
that the place you select
is exclusively for
studying and nothing else.
That's because context is everything.
Environmental factors influence
a lot of our behavior.
So if you put yourself in
the place where the purpose
is ambiguous, you're going
to be a lot more likely
to slip into the path of least resistance
which is usually taking
quizzes to find out what your
Hogwarts house is.
Now this is definitely
easier to do if you select
the library or the academic
basement, as you probably
aren't going to go there
for any other reason.
But if you happen to pick
your dorm, it's much more
important to consider.
So for example, check out
how my friend Martin set up
his study space.
He did decide to study
and work in his room,
but he divided that room
up with a Shoji screen
so that way he had one isolated area
that was only for work.
Now you definitely
don't have to go all out
and buy a Shoji screen like he did.
In fact, he didn't even buy it.
It was just laying around,
but you can use his example
to tailor your own study space.
One alternative method
would be to turn your desk
into a corner of the room and
make sure that all of your
fiction books and your
video games and any other
distracting materials are just
out of your field of view.
That will make sure that
what you're looking at
is exclusively about the work
you're supposed to be doing.
Secondly, think about the
quality of your lighting
because it really can
affect your productivity.
Now if you can get natural
light, that is definitely going
to be your best option, but
if you have only artificial
light to work with, you
can work to control that
because it does make a difference.
While I was doing the
research for this video,
I was especially interested
in a German study
that looked at the affects
of color, temperature,
and light intensity on the
productivity of students
at the Cologne University
of Applied Sciences.
Now this study only tracked 50 students,
so this area of science
could definitely use
more fleshing out, but what they did find
is that students were more
creative under warm light
at about 3,000 kelvin and
they were able to concentrate
better under colder light,
at about 6,000 kelvin.
To add to those findings,
another study done
at Cornell University found
that light that was too dim
or too bright also negatively
affected productivity.
So with those findings in
mind, it might be a good idea
to experiment with lighting
in your study area.
Maybe get a lamp for
your desk and experiment
with different color temperature
in the bulbs that you
choose for that lamp.
And on the brightness end of
things, you definitely don't
have to go out and buy multiple
bulbs at different levels
of brightness to figure
out what works for you.
Instead, for about 10 bucks,
you can go to your local
hardware store and get a lamp
side dimmer and if you get
a dimmable bulb, you can
experiment just by toggling
the switch and seeing what works.
Now in addition to the color
temperature of your light,
the actual temperature in the
room matters a lot as well.
Not only can an environment
that's too hot or too cold
consciously distract
you and make you look up
and daydream and not want to do your work,
but it can also unconsciously
cause you to make mistakes
while you're actually working.
That same Cornell study
that I referenced a couple
of minutes ago also looked at temperature
and they found among other
things, "when temperatures
"were low, 68 degrees
or 20 degrees Celsius,
"employees made 44% more
mistakes than at optimal
"room temperature, 77 degrees
or 25 degrees Celsius."
So if you have access to
the thermostat in your study
area, make sure you're
setting it to an optimal
temperature for studying.
And if you don't, maybe
try a different location.
Regardless of where you decide to study,
you want to make sure that
you have access to all
the things you need
for the particular task
that you're doing.
That includes notebooks,
textbooks, index cards
if you're going to make
flashcards for studying,
and pens and pencils.
And on the note of pens
and pencils, make sure
that what you're writing with
is something that you actually
enjoy writing with.
Now some people definitely go away further
than I would go with this.
In fact, there's an
entire podcast out there
with literally hundreds of episodes
call The Pen Addict that's all about pens,
but I would say don't
go for the cheapest pens
that are a pain to write
with because they're just
going to distract you and
make the process of writing
notes down unenjoyable.
Additionally, make sure
that you have a somewhat
comfortable chair to sit
in or maybe even experiment
with a standing desk.
Now I've got a standing
desk In my room right now
that cost, well, it cost a lot of money.
But back when I was in
college, I actually tried to
build a much cheaper
standing desk using tables
from Walmart and screws and
a little bit of ingenuity.
But I'm going to be
honest, it wasn't enough
ingenuity because that
standing desk kind of sucked.
But luckily, there are now
standing desks for about $25
like the Spark standing desk
that are made of cardboard
that you can set up very, very easily,
so that might be something to try out.
Also, one additional thing
that you might not have thought
of having with you while
you study is a notebook
or piece of scratch paper
or maybe an app where you
write down things that come
to mind or distract you.
One of the things that
can completely wreck
my concentration and
absolutely kill a study session
for me is if something
comes to mind that I just
can't get out of my head, and
it could be something stupid
like needing to do the
laundry, but if I take the time
to write that down in
a system that I trust
where I know I can come
back and see it later,
that allows me to get
back into my work and let
that thing go.
Additionally, that piece of
paper can also be a record
of the things that distract you.
Maybe your environment is
really prone to having people
come in and ask you to do
things, or maybe it's just
really noisy.
I you write those things
down, you can start to
consciously make improvements
and maybe just select
a different spot altogether.
Now in addition to the
things that you need to have
available to you, you should
also consider the things
that you shouldn't have available to you.
This is often why your
room is often not a good
study area and why you have
to work hard to make it so
because remember, it's context.
Your room has your video
games, your room has your bed,
your room has your nine foot
tall stack of Cup O' Ramen.
It's not always the best place to study.
And speaking of things that you don't need
while you're studying, the
big elephant in the room
is the thing that you're
using to watch me right now,
which is the internet.
Now I know what you're going to say.
I need the internet for
research, I need the internet
to get on my math lab.
And yes, sometimes you do,
but remember, tasks can almost
always be broken down
into individual sub tasks
or mini tasks.
This video that you're
watching right now is a good
example of this because to
make this video, I had to write
a script, which is basically like an essay
and writing a script
isn't a singular task.
It's a sequence of sub tasks.
There's the research phase,
there's idea generation,
there's the rough draft
writing phase, and finally,
the editing phase.
And guess what?
I only needed the internet
for one of those phases,
the research phase.
So during the other
three phases, especially
that rough draft writing
phase where I'm very prone
to distractions and I don't
really want to be writing
for a lot of it, I will
often turn the internet off
or I'll use an app like Cold Turkey Writer
which will literally
block my ability to do
anything else but write.
Now the internet and its
many, many cat pictures
is probably the greatest
threat to your concentration,
but there are many other things
that can derail you as well.
So before you settle into your study spot
and start on your first
task, make a mental note
of all the potential things
that could derail you
in the future.
If you're going to get hungry
or thirsty during study
session, make sure you bring
a snack or water bottle
with you.
Or if you need your laptop for a task
and it has a really bad
battery, make sure you've packed
your charging port.
I've had several times in my
life where I go to a coffee
shop, I have every
intention of working hard
for several hours, and
then, of course, I forgot
the charger, so I derail.
Also, when you finish studying
for the day, make sure
you clear your space to neutral.
Bring it back to its clean, pristine state
because the next time you
come to it, you don't want
to have to clean it up because it's likely
to make you procrastinate.
You want to be able to just
smoothly roll into the work
immediately.
And lastly, this is a bit
of a weird one, but try
to view your study space
as a work in progress.
I know we kind of talked
about making the "perfect"
study space here, but if
you're always seeking out
perfection, you're never
actually going to use
your study space to get
work done, so just view it
as a work in progress that
is constantly improving,
but that will never be
perfect and that's okay.
And one idea that might
help curb that perfectionism
and make your more productive
is to switch locations
in between tasks.
This is something that I
really enjoy doing myself
and I'm not alone.
The author Cal Newport does
it as well and he calls it
the concentration circuit.
Here's what he has to say about it.
"Something about arriving
in a new and novel location,
"somewhere different than
where you normally work
"provides a boost to your
motivation and aids concentration.
"Over time, this effect
will wane, but if you keep
"switching locations, you
can keep re-stimulating
"this reaction again
and again, maintaining
"an average level of
concentration that's potentially
"much higher than if
you had slogged through
"the deep task in one literal sitting."
All right, so because we
covered a lot of ground
in this video, I want to do a quick recap,
just like we did last week.
First, make sure that your
study spot is exclusively
for studying.
Context is king.
Second, keep your lighting
in mind and opt for natural
lighting if you can.
Try studying near a
window and if you can't,
at least experiment
with your light's color,
temperature, and intensity
until you find something
that works for you.
Third, if you have control over it,
try adjusting the temperature
of your study space as well.
Ideally, somewhere around
77 degrees fahrenheit,
but it might vary for you.
Fourth, before you start
studying, make sure you have
access to all the materials
that you're going to need
and make sure that
access is easy and quick,
but number five, also make
sure you don't have access
to things that you don't
need because they are likely
to destroy your concentration
and make you procrastinate.
Number six, make plans in
advance to deal with possible
derailments in your
productivity and number seven,
try switching up locations
in between tasks.
Now taken by themselves,
these tasks will hopefully
help you make some meaningful
improvements to the place
where you work, but it
is also sometimes helpful
to be able to see how other
people work and to get
inspiration from them.
So to that end, I've set
up the following website
called Study Spaces where
you can see other people's
study spaces and even submit your own.
Now the idea for this site
popped I my head while I was
writing the script for this
vide and once I realized
I could use the .es extension
to get that cool-looking
domain name, I was able
to get it registered
in just about 30 seconds over at Hover,
which is exactly where you should register
your domain names as well.
Hover makes it incredibly
easy to find and secure
basically any domain name
that's out there and available
for the taking.
With extensions including
the classics like .com
and .net and cooler ones
like .es like I used here
and .me.
When you want to actually
build a website for that
domain name, Hover's
connect feature will easily
let you hook it up to tons
of different web services,
including Square Space and Shopify.
And if you want to create a
professional-looking email
address attached to that
domain, then you can do that
easily with Hover as well.
So if you have an idea for a
fun side project that needs
a domain name like I did,
or if you haven't yet
secured a professional
domain name for yourself
in your job search, give Hover a try.
And if you're among the
first 100 people to grab
your domain with the link
below, you're going to get
10% off of your first order.
I want to give Hover a
big thanks for sponsoring
this video.
And guys, as always, thank
you so much for watching
as well.
I really hope you found this video useful.
If you did, you can give
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Alternatively, you might want to check out
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That works as well.
Anyway, thanks so much for
watching and I will see you
in the next video.
