Whether you believe it or not, the temperature of a room in which you study plays a key role in ensuring how much you will retain from your studies. The functioning of your brain depends a lot on the temperature of your body and the temperature of your environment. That is why you should be aware of the temperature of your room.
The best temperature to study in is 70-78 degrees Fahrenheit or 20-25 Celsius. If it is too hot you may find yourself falling asleep, too cold and you might start losing concentration and paying attention to the coldness you are feeling.
What really matters is how much you can concentrate and retain in your memory while studying. So, you need to make sure that your brain is working at an optimum level while you are studying and for that, you need to have your room set up in a proper way.
Remember, studying is not all about reading your text books and taking notes. What matters is how much your brain is retaining that information for when you take an exam.
Does Room Temperature Affect Study?
Your first thoughts would be how can room temperature have an impact on your study? Most people don’t realise this and therefore, they do not pay that much attention to the room temperature while studying.
Here are some of the reasons why room improper temperature will affect your studies.
Lack of Focus
When you are studying in a room with very low or high temperatures, you will not be able to focus on what you are studying. First of all, your brain will constantly transfer your focus on the discomfort or the sensations your body is having due to the inappropriate temperature of the room.
This will create a negative impact on your studies because you cannot focus. So, you will take several hours to finish a topic whereas it would have taken you only 1-2 hours.
Studying for Longer than you have to
This is something that no student would want to do. There are so many other things that students would want to do during this phase of their life.
If the student fails to concentrate properly to finish their studies on time, then the student has to give up extra hours to study, this could be time spent on catching up with friends, working a part time job, playing games or leisure reading
You may have noticed this occurring to you when you start to get bored from your studies and start to lose focus. What generally happens is that you will tend to go back to the same paragraph or chapter again several times because it either didn’t make sense or you were reading it and it didn’t actually sink in.
Examples like the above will cause you to waste a few minutes at first but it will compound over time.
If the temperature inside you room is perfect, then you should be able to concentrate and finish your study on time.
Why is it Hard to Study If It is Too Cold?
If you find the room you are studying in is cold and you continue and persist, you wont be doing yourself any favours as you will not have the full concentration that you need from your brain.
This is because your brain will be focusing on the aches and coldness you are feeling. Your body will be constantly telling you that it is cold and that it wants to move around to get warm or that you should put on the heating.
Though some studies have shown the opposite where classrooms had air-conditioning blasting at cold temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius and students were more alert and able to work quicker with less mistakes.
This tells us that individuals are affected differently depending on the temperature.
Why You Fall Asleep if it’s Too Warm in class or when you study
Studying in cold temperature is hard as you know, but if you are studying classroom that is too warm, after a certain time, you may start to feel sleepy. It happens to most of us even as adults in the office.
Yes, you will have your brain functioning at its best in a warm room. But, you cannot ignore the fact that you will feel sleepy as well. So, here is why you fall asleep in a classroom that is too warm.
Lack of sleep
You might have been studying really hard for the last few days, maybe even pulling some all-nighters to cram in what you may have forgotten or for a test that is coming up. Thing is that one of the best things you can do is sleep, this is because it will help solidify what you have learnt in your brain. Also having enough sleep is often better than reaching for that caffeinated drink.
Stagnant Air
There might not be a lot of air flowing in the room, making it feel really warm and cosy like a warm blanket. This coupled with a monotone teacher and lack of sleep will surely switch your brain off.
How to avoid falling asleep
Obviously, it is really important that you don’t fall asleep so here are a few things you can do to stop that from happening:
- Drink plenty of water or tea, staying hydrated will also give you something to do in case you start to nod off
- Shed a layer, if your wearing a jacket or scarf and your getting warm best to take it off and maybe open a window
- Chew gum, chewing gum is a great thing to do while studying and the repetitive motion keeps blood flowing around the head
- Sitting up, having good posture while learning is a good idea as slouching can lead to fatigue and sleepiness
- Participate. Whether you are taking notes or asking questions it will keep your brain active
- Snacks. Albeit they are healthy like an apple it’s a good idea whereas a candy bar will give you a quick spike and then may even make you fall asleep
Is It Better to Study in a Cold or Warm Room?
Various types of research have been done in the past to identify whether room temperature plays a role in the studies of students. Students who studied in too cold or too warm rooms failed to score well in their respective examinations.
However, the students who studied in rooms with the temperature within 70 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, performed wonderfully in the exams. Also, their brain functioned in a much better way than other students. So, the ideal room temperature for studying will be around 70 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
What you should do if you are going to study
Granted you are going to study for several hours you will want to be prepared so that you can focus on the task at hand without being constantly distracted. The following are some tips on what you should do:
- Ensure the temperature is between 70-78 Fahrenheit
- Adequate water, as stated above staying hydrated is great especially for your brain
- Healthy snacks
- Timer – taking a break every 60-90 minutes has been proven effective at improving focus and attention
- Do no disturb, being disturbed often while studying can place you out of the zone when studying
- Prepared food. Snacks are great but if your meal is already prepared you don’t have to worry about getting distracted and burning your food while studying
- Proper breaks. Try not to get distracted with social media, bingeing a tv series or playing a game on your breaks, your better off stretching a bit and walking around.
Final Thoughts
Finally, if you are a student, then you should not take this information about the ideal room temperature for studying lightly. You have to understand that the room temperature has a role to play in determining how your brain will function. Therefore, make sure that the room in which you study has the right temperature. It will help you study well and retain most of what you have studied. Hence, you will perform much better and score better grades in your exams
References
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0136165
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/725b/3e12b2a7d9d27325d479dd64f6a75ed8cd1c.pdf
The right temperature to study
https://www.championac.com/blog/how-room-temperature-affects-your-brain-while-studying/