How to design our study environment

"The best way to predict the future is to design it." - Buckminster Fuller

Environment design is one of the key ideas in James Clear's book Atomic Habits.

Environment design is described as creating a space where our desired habits are encouraged and our undesired habits are discouraged. This means that if we want to eat healthy, we don't keep chocolate at home but instead keep fruit. When we crave chocolate, we have to make an effort to go out and buy it, whereas we have an apple readily available at home. Of course, there is still a possibility that we may decide to go out and get chocolate on that day, but it is much harder than simply taking an apple from the fridge.

So how can we apply this advice to studying? While we were studying medicine and pharmacy, we have discovered many parts of our environment that have either encouraged or discouraged us from learning. What we have done is either eliminate those that were detrimental to us or have used others to stimulate our learning.

It is essential that this environment design is tailored to us. This is the only way it can serve us well. We have discovered our own ways of environment design over the years and suggest that you experiment with your environment to see what works for you.

Here are some solutions that have helped us create an environment that encourages studying:

1. Designate a table specifically for studying. This ensures that other items such as food, clothing, letters, and the like do not end up on the table. If the table is empty, it is much easier to start studying because we do not have to first prepare the surface.
2. We use the Forest app on our phones, which disables other applications while studying.
3. We set our phones to "do not disturb" mode during studying, or use "airplane mode" to prevent messages and notifications from disrupting our focus.
4. We have set up two user profiles on our laptop: one with the ability to watch movies, play games, or watch YouTube channels, and another without access to these activities. The profile with these activities is inaccessible during certain hours of the day, such as until 5 pm in the afternoon. This measure has greatly helped us since it is much easier to sit down and focus on studying when there are fewer distractions.
5. We use add-ons on our laptops that block or limit access to certain websites during studying.
6. We have placed a note on our bedroom door that says "The first thing in the day should be Forest."

These are just a few tips for creating an environment that has helped us form a habit of studying. We suggest trying one of the above measures or thinking about which aspect of your environment is most hindering your studying and finding a way to eliminate or reduce its impact.

Have you tried any environment design ideas yourself? How did they impact your studying?