Is this the study tool you've been looking for?

You have probably noticed already that I like to study in cafes – which is a habit I picked up from a friend who is a self-acclaimed caffeine-addict. It’s a totally personal choice, but one that came as a surprise to me.

I’ve listed out some reasons why you too should give studying in a café a go.

1.       The noise is actually good for you

I have for years complained about the noise in the classroom – and preferred the quieter, more controlled university environment where I could study in a relatively quiet hum while listening to the lecturer.

Yet I had my usual study expectations inverted this year when I read about the benefits of studying elsewhere. The bulk of the research about changing where you study encourages individuals wishing to improve concentration to move to different areas in their environment.

This counter-productive measure sounded so incredibly strange to me. After all why would individuals deliberately carry around the arm loads of stuff needed to study only to do it all over again an hour or two later. What possible benefit could I ever get from that?

Actually…a lot.

According to the Journal of Consumer Research, 70 decibels, the noise usually found in a coffee shop is perfect for enhanced creativity. This creativity can help you to create new associations with information that you are learning.

2.       You will learn to minimise what you take

When I study from home, I create a nest of stuff to surround myself with and by that I literally mean I surround myself in towers of books, notes, pens and stationary, magazine articles and blankets. If you want to see excessive just study with me.

But that’s not practical when studying on-the-go. Instead, you’re going to shrink a number of materials you take down the bare essentials. I own a kiki-k planner, and it has in all honesty helped me to prioritise my study so that when I study I can take a notebook, three pens, a ruler and my planner.

This minimization has the ability to help you to narrow down your focus. I wouldn’t recommend it for an assignment because it’s difficult to give yourself the broad spectrum of resources that you need to draw from. But when learning core essentials for exams and tests – even in preparation for an essay. This kind of minimisation method is an amazing key for aiming your focus.

3.       Let’s face it, it’s all about the aesthetic

I’m no cover girl, but there’s a pretty cool feeling about studying in a café. It reminds me of those people you see on Instagram and Tumblr, photographing their coffee in a black and white filter and quoting John Green beneath.

But why do I bring this up?

I bring it up because associating positive things with your study will encourage you to study more. It’s a no-brainer, but there’s more to it than personal experience. Classical conditioning a theory patronised by IvanPavlov and then developed further by John Watson provides us with the theory that behaviours which are associated with positive things will occur more frequently than those which are associated with negative things. When we get our coffee – or hot chocolate, whichever you prefer, it acts as a reward or the positive association.

This positive association is referred to as the conditioned response – and what we learn from this positive experience, is that when we study we get a reward. This is also similar to positive and negative reinforcement principles from the works of B. F Skinner.

Skinner created a psychological theory called operant conditioning in which the limbs are created. The first, is positive reinforcement, second negative reinforcement, the third is punishment. The first two can be grouped together because they are easy ways to ‘strengthen’ an action whereas punishment merely weakens the action.

Hence, positively reinforcing your study habits by making yourself feel awesome and getting yourself a great cup of coffee will help you to build some perfect study habits to boost whatever ever it is you’re researching.

4.       You can’t use excuses

Once you’ve dragged yourself all the way to a café, you can guarantee that you’ll be studying there for at least an hour. This is fairly  self-explanatory. After you’ve mastered minimising your materials, and you’ve become hooked on a drink or cake at your chosen café it becomes an experience. This experience is the kind refreshing time that you need to focus on the essential parts of your course.

Don’t fall into the trap of expecting to learn everything at a café. Allow natural progression in your study, sometimes you’ll want to gloss over details. The atmosphere around you may be loud, there may be distracting conversations and this is okay.

What lots of people forget when they study is that they should enjoy the journey. Learning is an experience, not a chore. Guaranteed that you give yourself time, you can truly enjoy studying and take the time to immerse yourself in what you’re learning.

5.       You can learn to study without electronics

A few months ago I thought that my study was entirely reliant upon my laptop and how wrong I was. While a lot of my notes are on my laptop, I found that it was easy to print out key lecture notes and summaries and then take a textbook or  further reading instead. I then draw all over my notes using the extra information I get from this further reading.

Now, while I still need my laptop for things like assignments I find myself using my planner and notepad more often. It’s always a great feeling to fill a page with colour.

I am a visual learner so it will depend on what type of learner you are. However, I always recommend trying to diversify your study activities. While you may be doing well now, always think about your weaknesses and try to find new ways to fix them up.

6.       You connect better with the work

It’s definitely a subjective view, but in my personal opinion when you study one subject at a time over a comforting pot of tea or coffee you delve deeper into the work. One of my hardest subjects is psychology.

I work very hard to remember and position the massive amount of information in a logical order in my head. One of the best ways I’ve found to do this is to work at overcoming ‘mental blocks’. I’m not sure of the ‘technical’ term, but often my biggest problem is that I have told myself so much that it’s difficult I’m not putting my real energy into it. As I said earlier, when you study in a café you associate studying with positive things.

Studying in a cafe has a very relaxing effect on me and so now when I study psychology even at home I feel less anxious about understanding and applying the information.

7.       It’s all up to you

I hate to be so corny but at the end of the day, studying is a specialised activity for each person. I’d recommend trying out studying in a café. It may not become a regular thing for you, but I hope when you try it, it’s as enjoyable as I find it!

Also for those of you who aren't sure what their learning style is here's a link below with a short test you can use to give you a good idea about your best learning style

http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml

PS: If anyone is wondering. There was no paid endorsements in this article...I just have an embarrassingly big love of cafes. 

Love,

The Underage Lawyer