If you want to enjoy the sun despite a full learning schedule, you have only one option: learn outside. But this outdoor learning is treacherous. Because instead of productive work, your learning sessions in the open air quickly become pure alibi actions that don’t get you any further and ruin your plans for this semester.
If you’re serious about learning outside, you need discipline and a smart strategy. But please don’t get me wrong: You shouldn’t stuff every free minute with work and spend even the little free time you have left with learning. But if you’re going to move your workplace outside – then at least do it right! To make it easier for you, I will now give you tips on how you can learn outside more successfully.
Choose The Right Tasks
Learning is multi-layered and can include very different tasks: reading, summarizing, researching, memorizing correctly, thinking, arithmetic, and much more. You can’t take all of it outside with you – some tasks you just have to solve at your desk. Therefore, think about which tasks can be carried out comfortably and without large tools from the deck chair.
If you have to write a summary of 8 different sources or want to calculate an empirical case study with 4 intermediate steps, you are better off doing these tasks in your room. But if you want to review your summary, read a book chapter, or revise your flashcards, feel free to take your study session outside. And if you don’t want to do some of your written papers you can delegate them to an essay writing service of your choice.
Reflective Displays On Electronic Devices
Anyone who has ever tried to work with a notebook in the sun knows how annoying a reflective screen can be. You can’t see anything. It’s no better on many smartphones and tablets.
This helps:
- Use a device with a matt screen (finish).
- Working in the shade.
- Increase screen contrast and brightness.
- Use laptop hood (looks very stupid).
Even with these steps, working with the display in the open air is not ideal and always has limitations. Therefore, consider whether you can do without electronic devices when learning outside.
Keep A To-Do List
As you study outside and go through your tasks, you will probably come up with additional intermediate steps and questions that you cannot work on at the moment. At your desk you could quickly google, look up a book or add to your documents – unfortunately, this is not always possible outside.
Therefore, when learning outside, make a rough to-do list on which you write everything down. You can then work through the list at your leisure later.
Avoid Sources Of Interference From The Start
If you want to study outside, your concentration will be put to the test. Almost everywhere there are sources of interference that can distract you and keep you from learning. Therefore, try to avoid these disturbers from the start. Watch out for lawn mowers, noisy, busy streets, or playing neighbor children, which could get on your nerves after a short time.
It is better to invest a little more time in the right choice of location at the beginning than to have to move on later, annoyed and unmotivated.
Listen To Music
A good antidote to the noise and other distractions is music. So put together a suitable playlist that you can take with you outside to learn.
In this way, you isolate yourself a bit from the environment and can approach your tasks in a more focused manner. The music should not distract you but relax and motivate you.
Alternatively, you can record your summaries and learning content and listen to it while lying in the sun. So, you have your own little podcast, so to speak, and you can do without additional documents.
Don’t Forget Your Sunglasses
Always take sunglasses with you when studying outside. Without sunglasses, reading becomes too tiring over time and your eyes get tired. You’ll also get a headache more quickly and lose concentration.
Change Of Location
You will make greater progress in learning if you change your location and work at different locations in between. By changing your environment, different brain regions are stimulated, making the learning content better and easier to remember.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that you should pack your things every 20 minutes and study somewhere else. Divide your learning session into meaningful units and realign yourself in between. If you realize that a change of location would do you good: change.
