Guide to Studying in Bed:
I study in bed relatively often. Is it a good idea? Probably not. You should prioritize your bed for sleeping, but it happens anyways so I’ve learned to try to make the best of it. The ultimate goal is to be comfy but not too comfy and nothing gets done.
Get (almost) everything you need.
Nothing is worse than having to get up and discovering you still need your textbook that’s in the other room. Collect your writing utensils, books, paper, food/water, power cords, blankets, and anything else you need to study. At the same time, you also should consider things you don’t need. Maybe you should leave your phone in the other room if you know you’ll just end up watching YouTube videos in bed. If you don’t need your laptop, keep it out of reach.
Sit up straight, in the sunlight, you blooming flower you. Avoiding the temptation to sleep is easier if you’re not putting yourself in a position to sleep. If it’s easy to fall asleep when your studying, then try propping yourself up with pillows or blankets so you’re sitting up straight. Consider setting up at the end of the bed where you don’t sleep. You don’t want to be too comfortable that you slip into unproductively laying in your bed. I like to set up next to my window so I have enough light and the conscious acknowledgement that passers by can see me studying. It helps keep me from just laying in bed.
Set some alarms. Taking breaks and getting up every once and awhile is a good idea. I’ve studied in bed long enough to know its much better when you take breaks and get up for a drink or snack and get the blood circulation flowing. Setting up alarms also helps you keep track of time and get you back on track if you’ve fallen prey to your temptations. I like setting up an alarm every half hour. You can also set up your timer for the pomodoro technique.
Ready the playlists, prepare the productivity tools. I like to study to music. I like to set up a playlist on my phone and then forcing myself to not touch the phone until the playlist is over. This way, I have my phone with me incase I have a text I need to take, but I ultimately can’t just lay down and play with it instead odd thing.
I recommend setting up a YouTube playlist or one of these 8track playlists from my Celestial Instrumental collection.
Here are some other resources to consider:
Rainy Mood - Website for listening to rain sounds.
RainRain - A free app (iOS, Google) that you can use on your phone to make your own rain mixes (i.e. the greatest rain app ever)
Tomato-Timer! - An online pomodoro technique timer
WasteNoTime - A Safari extension for blocking websites, setting certain times for unrestricted browsing, etc. I use this a lot.
Stay hydrated. It’s easy to lay in bed and forget to drink water. It’s even easier to sit in bed, study, and forget to drink water. I like to keep a thermos or large glass of tea near me. Then once I finish the drink, I’ll take a break and get up to refill it. I also sometimes like to have a small snack break but I don’t recommend snacking in bed. Firstly it’s easy to spill things in bed (especially if your clumsy like me) and secondly you should prioritize your bed for sleeping. As always, this is just how I study; these methods may or may not work for you.
