3 tried-and-true ways to make your learning space your own

Earn your diploma online in your happy place

Maybe you chose online high school for the convenience of studying at work or at home, but if you're like many online high school students, you enjoy a lot of leniency where workspace is concerned. From the dining room table of your parents house to the backseat of a camper with wifi, you've got your pick of hotspots and wifi locales.

Where you study is important

You’re getting used to making good decisions. And with the freedom to choose where you study and do your homework comes a new responsibility. From consistency to sunlight, where you hit the books has an impact on your success.

1. Avoid the many little things

Distracting environments are the number one danger when selecting your place to log in and get to work. It's bad enough that you have access to the internet—tack on a video game console, noisy friends and unhindered access to a refrigerator and you can bet on a long, unproductive night.

Everyone is different, but for most people the place where you want to be and the place where you want to work are rarely one and the same. Choose a place that's quiet and reasonably comfortable. Coffee shops are for starving novelists, not online high school students.

2. Find that sweet sunshine

We're not saying you have to work outside; desks, chairs and healthy wifi are good things for online courses. But learning in a place filled with natural light is a must. Sunshine keeps you alert, happy and can stimulate creativity. So, look for wide windows and lots of sunshine.

Be careful not to work too close to a window, however. Window gazing is a tempting distraction and can make you antsy to quit the books and head outdoors.

3. Customize and be consistent

Routines and familiarity are tonics for building habits. Bouncing around from place to place makes it hard to get into the swing of staying on top of school work. Freedom from a campus doesn't mean you shouldn't have a consistent place to work; it means you get to choose and personalize that space.

Buy a chair that's comfortable but not overly relaxed. Put a picture of your role model on the desk. Keep a jar of your favorite flavor of jelly beans handy. And when you sit down to work, get to work. Over time, studying in your space will become second nature.

Summary

Good places: Libraries, home offices and spare bedrooms
Bad places: Your bedroom, coffee shops and living room couches

To sum up: Pick a place that's as close to distraction-free as you can get it and near enough to sunshine that you’ll stay awake. Then, make that place the-place-you-study.

P.S.

Wherever your place is, remember to keep it Facebook free.