There is a resource I would like to make known to everyone. 

At 2501 Coit Rd is the Haggard Library, and it is a prime place for studying.

I have had a difficult time making do with the conditions of my natural place of study. There are distractions galore in my room. 

On the couch adjacent from my bed I have what I might consider an “impulse grab section.” Clay materials, books strewn across, graphite pencils poking from here and there; anything I might want to toggle with if I get restless, and all conveniently in my direct line of sight. 

Then there’s YouTube. I open it, looking to put on the queue some nice lo fi study music, but alas so many things redirect my attention. I type in “lo” and before I know it I’m scrolling through Loki compilation videos. I don’t even really know who he is.

Besides, the place where you watch YouTube (in bed, probably) and the place where you study should not be the same. A proper separation of spaces is crucial to both your waking and sleeping activities when that ‘space’ is your bedroom. 

Studying, or working no less, in bed makes you less productive. A bed is meant four you to sink into, to sleep in and feel restful, and none of this fixates you any more. 

As for the productivity of sleep processes, they lack too once you’ve turned your bed into a workspace. Your psyche needs a physical separation of spaces. 

As psychotherapist and behavioral sleep medicine therapist Annie Miller explains, “when we use our bed for other activities, like working, reading, watching TV, etc., we create an association with wakefulness. We want the bed to be a cue for sleep, and working in bed weakens this association.” 

I think that point is sufficiently proven, but maybe you’re wondering why you shouldn’t just use the dining room or office space. 

If that’s a good option for you, I heartily salute your decision. In my hectic household, however, with birds always chirping and TVs always blaring, it’s just not practical. 

So for a long time, I have done all my school work at school (what a concept). And largely, it has been successful. When the teacher gave us class time for a project, I utilized it and when I found spare time in a class, I’d fill it. But, there are things you can’t cram into a single hour and a half slot, studying for important tests being the biggest.

Well last night, I changed this seemingly immovable fact. In under an hour at the library I got done what would have taken me three sparsely spread out study sessions at school. They had little first class looking pods to provide solitude and separation and the sweetest librarians to quietly cheer me on. It was a triumphant moment leaving that library feeling thoroughly prepared, and I will continue to take the 11 minute drive to get there whenever I have another thing come up. 

I hope to see you there, it is a magical resource which I wish I would have discovered earlier on but am nonetheless glad I finally have.