7 minute read
Maintaining Your Personal Environment
When you think of the environment, you probably think of the o-zone, climate change, wildlife, animals and all things ‘planet earth’. But the environment exists in our immediate space, be that at home, in your workplace or even in Hallward during a late-night study session. And, just as we should take care of the wider environment, it’s important to do the same for our immediate surroundings in order to take care of ourselves. What’s around you can affect your mood, health (both physical and mental), behaviour and general wellbeing, so it’s important to keep your personal environment feeling calm, safe and healthy. Here are some tips and tricks from my own experiences and preferences, to help you feel peaceful wherever you are. LIGHT Getting natural light is a must for your personal environment. Studies have shown a link between sunlight and wellbeing, so keep your curtains open during the day and sit somewhere sunny if you’re out in public. Darker evenings and shorter days in the winter months can cause SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), so once the sun’s gone down, turn on a bright light and illuminate your room. The luminosity from any light will keep you feeling positive, and also separate your time being awake and productive, from the time you choose to settle down in the evening when lower light will make you feel cosy and ready for a good night’s sleep. Environments can be large or small. Features writer Francesca offers some advice on how to create a positive personal environment.
Francesca Hadland CLOTHES Whether you’re studying in the library or lounging at home, what you wear can impact your personal environment. My first tip is to wear whatever you feel most comfortable in, be that trackies, jeans, a dressing gown, whatever (although pyjamas in the library may not be the best decision!) Another thing to consider is that sometimes dressing up and wearing something a bit more special might make you feel more confident, and therefore more productive and ‘put together’. Of course, it is personal preference, but it’s good to bear in mind how much what you wear can affect how you feel – remember that the way you look is for yourself as much as, if not more than, for others. PLANTS Reducing indoor pollution and improving your air quality with plants will help not only your personal environment, but the wider world. Having cacti, flowers, bonsai, or even just some watercress growing in your kitchen will give you something to care for as well as yourself and brighten up even the dullest corners of any room. TIDY The expression ‘tidy room, tidy mind’ is certainly something to consider. I find that when my room’s a mess, my notes are disordered and my washing hasn’t been done, everything piles up on top of me and so does my stress. Keeping your room or your library space neat and organised while you study will help focus your mind and allow you to relax better when you’re taking some time for yourself because, like your space, your mind won’t be so cluttered. 20 IMPACT Maintaining your
SOUND Noise pollution can cause headaches, irritability and be a big distraction. If you have noisy neighbours or live on a busy road, plug some headphones in or play some music aloud and focus on those sounds. Similarly, listening to instrumental music when you study will also help focus your mind and create a safe personal space for you. Spotify has playlists based on mood which can help pick you up (like ‘Mood Booster’ and ‘Confidence Boost’) and motivate you (see ‘Monday Motivation’ and ‘Walk Like a Badass’).
For some, 24-hour libraries are a gift from God, whilst others find them environmentally and emotionally draining. Joe Lloyd and Anna Stacey fight for and against these never-ending places to study.
24-hour libraries give students resources, space and silence to achieve what they need. Perhaps most crucially, the greatest strength of 24-hour libraries is their flexibility. For students who hold part time jobs in the early evening – or indeed during the daytime- these libraries are an excellent way to achieve the requisite hours of study. Furthermore, if a student has lost time away from their studies due to a bereavement or illness, a twenty-four-hour library can be a convenient way to catch up with missed studies.
These libraries are of greatest convenience to students battling tight deadlines. It is easy to see that some days in a student’s week are busier than others. Suppose a student’s Thursday is considerably busier than their Wednesday and their essay is due on Friday, and they haven’t made the progress they’d aimed to by Wednesday afternoon, the logical alternative therefore, is for them to study Thursday night. This would most preferably happen in the library, with convenient resources, silent study zones and a focused, quiet environment.
Critics of 24-hour libraries could point to the negative effects of such practices on mental health, seemingly ignorant to the fact that students could put in equally crazy hours in private, and with less success.
Joe Lloyd
Many people say that it’s a personal preference and that they work better during the night. But with lectures, seminars and workshops filling the daylight hours, when are students supposed to sleep? According to the NHS, a lack of sleep causes more than just being grumpy, but can make you prone to serious health issues, such as high blood pressure, and can take a toll on your mental health.
Of course, just because the university provides this library service doesn’t mean you need to use it. However, as reported in ‘The Guardian’, Bridget O’Connell, the Head of Information at the mental health charity Mind, said that 24/7 libraries, “could result in students feeling that they should be spending every spare moment studying” and that is not “a sustainable approach”.
However, some people think that 24/7 libraries could have the opposite effect. Having discussed this issue with a first-year student, he explained that knowing the libraries are open all the time can lead to procrastination, as you can always go later to do work, whereas when they are only open for restricted hours it forces you to go and do your work earlier. Moreover, as we are thinking about sustainability, we should consider how environmentally friendly it is to keep the lighting and heating on 24/7 in such large buildings such as the Hallward and George Green Library. The University of Nottingham’s energy consumption increased by 3.4% in 2017/18 according to the Annual Energy Report 2017/18, so maybe reducing the hours the library is open would help combat these increases in power usage. Images and page design by Nina Shasha Anna Stacey
