For most college freshmen, living on campus is the first time they’re having their own space away from family. Many feel a sense of overwhelming freedom. They are able to decide on things for themselves they never could before such as the layout of their side of the dorm, what time they want to eat dinner, how often they do laundry, and when to do their schoolwork. Living at home during high school is far different than the college experience. In college, the amount of time spent in classes per week is less than what high schoolers are used to. It’s expected that students in college perform a large amount of work outside the classroom. Staying focused in a dorm can be difficult. Dorms are multifunctional; it’s where students sleep, get alone time, invite friends over and much more. Here are five tips on staying focused in a dorm room.
Make the bed every day
Many people don’t think to make their bed every day when they first wake up, but there are numerous benefits of starting the day off this way. Beginning the day with a tidy bed puts the mind in the right headspace to focus on important tasks throughout the day such as schoolwork. It’s been proven to lower stress and improve overall mood.
This encourages an individual not to climb back into bed. If the covers are pulled back and it looks inviting, the more inclined a person is to want to climb in and go back to sleep. Therefore, this encourages deskwork. In a dorm room there isn’t really anywhere else to work except for the desk or using the bed like a couch. Speaking from personal experience I find it much easier to stay focused when I’m working at my desk rather than on my bed (even though it’s much more comfortable).
Different To-do lists for different categories
College students have a lot on their plates ranging from things such as going to the store to pick up laundry detergent or writing a final eight-page paper for their psychology class. While creating a central to-do list can be beneficial for some, I find it helpful to create numerous lists for different categories such as school, housekeeping, and errands. For me, when all tasks are on a cumulative list, it appears extensively long, and I become easily overwhelmed by simply looking at it.
To go further into detail, a number system can be used for labeling importance to each task. This highlights the more important tasks, therefore encouraging high focus on them.
The Labeling System
- 1: Most urgent to get done
- 2: Moderately urgent
- 3: Not as urgent
Set a designated schedule: when to work and when to break
It’s easy to get distracted when doing homework, especially in a dorm room. Setting an alarm indicating when to start and stop working might help an easily distracted person stay focused, and get more schoolwork done in the long run. There is an important rule for the timer system: the amount of time spent working should be at least twice the amount of time spent taking a break (for example 30 minutes of work and 15 minutes of break time).
It’s also important to provide a separate space to do work and a place to take a break. Physically moving from the workspace to somewhere else to take a break when the timer goes off, encourages focus when working. Working and taking a break require two separate mindsets, and if they are taking place at the same physical spot, they start to merge in the mindset. This makes it harder to stay focused.
Keep a visible calendar on the wall
Writing out all due dates on a wall calendar (paper or whiteboard) allows for easy visualization of when tasks are due. It’s simple to look at the wall and see everything laid out for the coming weeks rather than keeping a notebook planner. Personally, I use a monthly calendar, but a weekly one allows for much more detail such as what time a paper is due or the location of a meeting with a professor.
Another option is keeping a continuous calendar and to-do list on a personal laptop’s homepage. This allows for easy additions or subtractions from the calendar as they come or are completed.
Keep an organized laptop space
Easily finding files helps me focus because I don’t have to hunt for the class notes I was reading a while ago. My advice is to keep everything labeled; there have been numerous occasions where I’ve had to sift through my downloaded PowerPoints from all my classes to find a certain set of notes. Each professor labels their presentations in a different way, and I have found it very helpful to create a system to relabel each saved PowerPoint. Examples listed below.
- From “Psychology 231A -chap1 section5” to “PSY231-1.5”
- From “environmental sciences chapter3-4” to “ENV200-3.4”