Distracting Environments
Sights, sounds, smells, and social components
Your environment plays a big role in your learning, and sometimes it can be distracting! Have you ever smelled coffee brewing and immediately your brain is telling you that you could use some extra caffeine, even though you just had a cup? Or have you tried to concentrate on a task with your phone sitting right next to you, and it is constantly buzzing with new notifications? Maybe you sat down to finish an assignment and there was just too much background noise for you to be able to focus.
If you are aware of the sights, smells, sounds, and social components that are distracting to you, you can modify your environment to set yourself up for success. For example, you could leave your cell phone in another room while you work. Or you could wear noise canceling headphones to give you the quiet you need to focus.
Expand the Learning Lab to try an experiment that will help you discover a learning environment that works best for you.
Learning Lab
Next time you start an assignment (or a new task or activity that is not an assignment), try doing it in two different environments.
Different types of learning environments can be almost anything: learning with others, learning by yourself, learning somewhere noisy like a cafe or busy kitchen, learning somewhere quiet like the library, learning online, learning from a person, learning from watching a video, etc.
Reflective prompts:
- Describe the first learning environment you tried.
- What did you like about this environment?
- Was there anything that got in your way of learning in this environment?
- Describe the second learning environment you tried.
- What did you like about this environment?
- Was there anything that got in your way of learning in this environment?
- The next time you learn something new, which environment would you like to do it in?
- What other experiments with your environment would you like to try?