Study Locations

Like many, I have issues getting down to studying or cranking something out.  It's a tough challenge, and there's no one solution that works for everyone.  It has to be quiet enough that you can focus at the work on hand, often you need a large enough work space to make it useful for writing/drawing/sketching and one factor that most people don't consider is the creativity of the location.




If you wake up every morning and go to your office cubicle, and sit in the same spot, you're not being very creative.  Our minds function more creatively when their routine is mixed up, even just a little bit.  One way to do this is to change where you study.

I have a cubicle in my advisors lab with a PC - but I am fortunate enough to not be particularly tied down when I bring my laptop with me.  While the building is highly populated, it's often very low traffic in the different sections.  Each floor is shaped like a large H.  Where one side of the H is dedicated to professors offices and the other to labs and administrative functions.

I find that randomizing the floor and rotating somewhere around these locations make it slightly more exciting to get down to work, and helps get the creative thoughts flowing more freely.

Places I like to study in the Engineering department:

1. Waiting areas between professors' offices
2. The kitchen areas on the floors
3. Quiet interactive rooms
4. In the hallways
1. This actually works quiet well.  I like floor spaces because you can spread out and you often look like you're waiting to speak to a professor, so no one bothers you
5. Student Groups offices
   

Ultimately, it would seem that randomizing your location makes it both more exciting to be getting the work done, and aids in your ability to think creatively.