Making the most of your space can be crucial to achieving your required results. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in school, university, or the workplace optimising your space should be top of your agenda. Did you know that procrastination costs businesses in the UK in the region of £76 billion every year. That’s crazy, right? Procrastinating is a major reason as to why we don’t learn to the best of our ability as well.

 

One way in which we can ensure that we focus on the task at hand is to optimise your space. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to learn new skills or putting old ones to good use, being in the right environment can go a long way to successfully complete your objective.

 

Here, we look at the best ways in which your learning space can be optimised:

 

Make it personal

 

Although it may sound like an obvious recommendation, it’s something many of us don’t make the most of. Home comforts and personal touches can go a long way to increasing your productivity levels. Family photos and postcards of your favourite quotes are both great visuals that can help get your creative juices flowing.

 

Add greenery

 

Studies have found that adding greenery to your workspace can provide a host of benefits. Flowering plants are great ways to increase our concentration levels and lower the sensation of stress. The likes of ferns clean our air space, while the snake plant also cleans up toxins. Succulents such as a cactus are also a useful addition to your space for decoration purposes as they don’t take a lot of looking after.

 

Let there be light

 

More of us are spending longer in front of a computer these days. Natural light is an amazing way to counteract any effects of sitting in front of an artificially-lit computer screen. It is also known to enhance our mood by increasing our happiness. This is because natural sunlight is a great source of vitamin D. Without this, some people experience seasonal affective disorder. By being exposed to natural sunlight, you will also have a sense of contentment thanks to the production of vitamin D.

 

It has been recommended that a brightly lit room can actually encourage a critical and analytical thought process.

 

Stay organised

 

One main downfall if you’re looking to be productive is being surrounded by clutter. It’s not a coincidence that a clear desk can represent a clear mind. By ensuring that your workspace is free of unnecessary distractions, you are more likely to remain focused on the task at hand. You can do this by having a bin within reach, setting up a physical inbox for your papers, and scheduling regular cleaning times.

 

Be colourful

 

While you may not realise it, your space’s colour can play a huge part in your mood. Red has been linked to boost how alert we are. It’s looked upon as the ‘colour of passion’. Elsewhere, blue can help us generate ideas and keeps us focused on the task at hand, while green helps avoid eye fatigue and stay efficient. If you were looking to keep stress levels to a minimum, you should look to include white or beige as this can have a calming effect.

 

Choose sounds to suit you

 

Of course, this is a factor that will depend on the person in question as it can differ for each person. While some people work best in silence, others prefer a bit of background noise. Everyone benefits in their own way. Either way, a good set of headphones could be the ideal solution as they can either block out the tones around you or provide the tunes/podcasts best suited to keeping you productive. Other low-level noise could distract you from your studying or work and have a negative effect.

 

Italian researchers suggest trying classical music as it can improve your working memory performance. Elsewhere, research in the Journal of Consumer Research also found that a moderate level of ambient noise can benefit our creative senses.

 

Of course, you can’t pinpoint a definitive solution to an optimum workspace. In the end, each of us learns in a different way, but by following the above steps, you will set yourself up nicely to succeed in your end goal and boost your productivity levels.