How to Create a Home Workspace

Your environment has a huge impact on how productive you are. If your workspace is full of distractions and is unorganized, you will have a harder time getting your work done efficiently. By taking the time to put some thought into your workspace, you will end up being a much more successful student! Use the tips below to help you create a great home office!

• Eliminate distractions – Try to set up your workspace away from the TV, any other screens (like a phone), siblings, or areas with lots of heavy foot traffic.

• Work at a table/desk.  Although you may not be aware of it, sitting and working at a computer for many hours each day takes a heavy toll on various parts of your body. If possible, try to work at a desk or table, and have good posture. Working on the floor or in your bed may not be good in the long run.

  • Click here to watch a video about using laptops correctly at home!

• Set boundaries. Establish boundaries for your work zone and stick to them. Do not allow stray papers, folders, sticky notes, notebooks and the like to escape these borders. Do your best to work only in this space (not in your bed or at your kitchen table). Preventing your workspace from taking over your entire home will help you to relax when you’re not plugging away at your work, and to locate materials more easily.

• Have all supplies nearby. Intentionally set up your desk so that your materials are within arm’s reach. Pens, pencils, highlighters, scissors, Sharpies, paperclips, calculator, rubber bands, whiteout, tape, stapler, sticky notes, planner, notebooks and even your textbooks. This removes the problem of having to get up and risk losing your train of thought and throwing off your productivity.

• Create an organizational system. How are you going to keep track of when classes meet or when assignments are due? (Paper agenda book, online calendar, reminders in your phone?)  How will you organize work from different classes? (Try color-coding, especially when it comes to your class notebooks. Creating some kind of color/filing system helps organize your workspace and decrease clutter and confusion.)

• Schedule time to keep your space organized. School is hectic! You will be juggling coursework for 6 different classes, and sometimes this will make your head spin. Create a routine for re-organizing your office area on a regular basis, so that your workspace makes you feel a bit more in control. Maybe you take 15 minutes every Friday to file assignments in Google Drive into folders, find a place for the mountain of papers piled on your desk, or to re-shelve stray piles of books. It doesn’t have to take much of your time, but it should be consistent.

• Add some life to your workspace –whether it is a desk plant, stuffed animal, or a photo that makes you smile, it will help you feel more relaxed in your workspace.