Studying outside; some of the potential benefits

**In Collaboration**

The idea of studying outside sounds a little strange to a lot of students. But when you think about it in more detail, it starts to make a lot of sense. After all, if you had a choice of being cooped up indoors or going out and enjoying the fresh air, wouldn’t you prefer the latter?

Working under louvred roofs in the midday sunshine could help improve concentration and could reduce procrastination- plus on a nice day it feels nicer than spending all your time in your home office. 

In this post, we take a look at some of the benefits of working outside. 

Increase Your Vitamin D Production

Vitamin D is a hormone your skin makes when it comes into contact with sunlight – the reason doctors sometimes call it the “sunshine vitamin.” 

If you’re inside all the time, though, you don’t get this. So unless you’re taking vitamin D supplements, the levels in your body can start to run low.

Production of vitamin D slows down in the latter months of the year and over winter. In most places, the sun is too low in the sky. And that means that it can’t impart sufficient energy to get vitamin D production going. In these cases, you’ll need to supplement. 

Boosts Creativity

Being outdoors improves your capacity for creativity – at least according to those who study the phenomenon. Research indicates that you’re much more likely to be able to hone your ideas if nature surrounds you. You’re also much more likely to come up with your best ideas, compared to being stuck in a stuffy office or library.

Improves Your Memory

Memorising things is probably the most important aspect of studying. You need to be able to fill your brain with sufficient information to enable you to take the final exam. Being outside can help some students with this. So if you’ve got post-grad exams on the horizon, you might want to try this technique. 

Lower Your Stress Levels

Learning and stress don’t go together. If you’re feeling frazzled, your brain is not in a state conducive to learning. And that can affect your capacity to store new ideas. 

Working outside, however, can lower your stress levels. It seems that we all instinctively prefer being in our natural environment. Stepping out of the office and into the sunlight can make learning easier. Suddenly, you find that the concepts you were struggling with suddenly become more tractable. 

Improve Focus

Do you ever experience brain fog and difficulty concentrating? If so, you’re not alone – it’s something that affects a large number of students.

Strangely, though, being outdoors improves some students ability to focus. So if you’re struggling to direct your mind towards a topic, it’s worth a shot.