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STUDY AREA Setting up a study area will help you get into the "study habit". If you always work in this one place your brain will begin to switch into "study mode" as soon as you sit down. In other words, you "activate" your ability to concentrate. In an ideal world the study area would be: QUIET FREE OF DISTRACTIONS COMFORTABLE WELL LIT AND VENTILATED In the real world the first two are difficult to achieve! There is no ideal place to study, only one in which you are able to study. This is a very individual place. Firstly, decide what your study needs are. Do you need silence or some background noise?The choices are entirely up to you.Do you study best when sitting or lying down?Do you prefer the room light or direct light from a table-lamp? Secondly, once you have decided upon your needs, claim your territory! When setting up your workplace you will need to organise your materials so that they are ALWAYS at hand. There is nothing worse than interrupting study to find something that should have been there already. You will definitely need a bookshelf for books and notes and a container or drawer for things such as stationery. IF YOU MIGHT NEED IT, IT SHOULD BE THERE!! It is also helpful to have a large noticeboard in front of your study area to pin timetables, short notes, "find-outs" and "must-do's". It will also be an ideal place to put memory aids so that they are always in sight. Finally, keep it tidy and organised! If you always have to search for materials you will waste valuable time and your concentration will fade. In fact, make it very clear to everyone who may use that room that your study area is sacred - if something then goes missing or runs out then you only have yourself to blame. KEEP IT EQUIPPED - KEEP IT TIDY - KEEP USING IT!
It is perfectly OK to listen to music while you are studying. But choose carefully! Educational psychologists have discovered that music with a rhythm of 60 beats per minute actually helps you learn!! However, most contemporary music has a rhythm of 100 - 140 beats per minute which lowers your brain's ability to retain information. Don't believe it? Try it... For your information Classical Baroque music has the correct rhythm of 60 beats per minute or so.
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