How a “study Suit” Can Help You Learn
The work-from-home era is in full swing and I find myself leaving the coffee shop every few days to do my work. Something in a change of scenery helps and sets me up for work. It is difficult to live, work, eat, sleep, clean, study and relax in the same space; at some point, when you’re stuck in the same room, all of these things start to mix into each other, and it becomes too easy to check private messages while you’re at school, or clean up when you have to answer emails.
Sometimes, however, you cannot change the scene. If you live in a shared space and are confined to your bedroom or are in a dorm and the library is closed, you can’t just go somewhere else. Hell, you don’t always have the time or energy to go somewhere else. You can still separate: just by changing clothes.
Benefits of Separation
The idea of separation involves focusing on only one thing at a time, ideally in different settings. The advent of online classes and work from home was great for many reasons, but it really killed our ability to associate different places with specific tasks.
Finding a way to separate is important, but it can be as simple as doing your work at the kitchen table and doing your homework from your bedroom. Whatever helps you change the setting a bit to get your brain into “work” or “study” mode. But then again, it’s just not always possible.
How a change of clothes can help you separate
During the pandemic , career advice websites were full of articles saying you should still “get dressed” during work hours. Without taking it to the extreme, it’s actually a pretty good idea, even if at the time it seemed insulting to think about wearing real business casual when the world was in a hustle and it seemed there were more important things to think about. No, you don’t have to wear itchy nylons or tight pants, but if you stay in your sweatpants from morning to night, you may find that you have a lazier type of day.
An exam study expert says changing clothes helps mark the transition between different tasks, so if you need to prepare for something big, consider having special clothes for it. I recommend a “study hoodie” – really, just use a hoodie from your school. If you put it on at the same time every day and then go to work, your brain will start to associate that change of clothes and period of time with studying, even if you don’t change anything in your environment. According to USA Today , fashion psychologists say people attach sentimental meaning to their clothes without even realizing it.
There is even a scientific term for this phenomenon: hidden cognition. In a 2012 study, participants were given a white lab coat, but half were told it was an artist’s coat and the other half a doctor’s coat. People who thought they were wearing a medical gown had more sustained attention during tasks.
The researchers found that the symbolic meaning and experience of wearing clothes played a role in participants’ productivity and focus, so you have to stick with it for it to be useful. The repetition of putting on a “training hoodie” is just as important as its purpose. Do not wear the training sweatshirt for anything else and at any other time of the day. When it’s time to study, that’s when you pull it out. In the blink of an eye, you will be just as dedicated to your work as those people in doctor’s coats.