A Bedroom Study Setup For Ultimate Productivity

Do you want to learn how to study effectively at home?

Whether it’s studying for your HSC, for your next job interview, for your upcoming Uni exams, or simply working from home during a pandemic, an ergonomic, efficient study area at home is a MUST!

Most people simply find a nice looking desk, throw a laptop and keyboard on it, chuck in a cheap chair and then spend hours working. This isn’t good for your physical health or your brain!

The best office setups will support the back, encourage productivity and discourage procrastination, all while providing enough space for digital or written revision.

If you’d love to learn what the desk setup of an effective and productive student should look like, then be sure to read on!

Table of Contents

The Right Room for Effective Study At Home

The first step to creating the perfect workspace inside your home is to find the ideal room for an office.

Whilst many people don’t recommend it, I used my bedroom as a home office throughout my entire HSC, First Year of Uni, and all of my working-from-home shenanigans during the pandemic.

The thing is, if you create an office in your bedroom, you’re merging comfort and hard work. This can cause you to fall into the procrastination trap, lose focus on what you’re studying and ultimately never get anything done. But, if you’re disciplined enough to resist that urge, the bedroom can make a perfect place to study effectively from home.

In the Bedroom

Make sure to face away from all distractions (i.e. your bed, your mirror, your phone charger, your wardrobe, etc.)
Put your desk near a window (if possible) for optimal natural light, but make sure it isn’t in front of that window (can’t be having that glare nonsense)
Ideally, you’ll have a wall near the desk for things such as a whiteboard, weekly planner, important docs and other stuff that can be stuck on a wall
Make sure the internet connection is strong in your bedroom and the lighting is good

If you don’t think you’re disciplined enough, or you don’t have enough space in your bedroom, the most commonly recommended area is a small room within your home that isn’t being used yet.

A room that has no use within your home is certainly not easy to find, that’s why I opted for my bedroom and why I recommend it until you have your own place.

In a Different Room

Make sure it’s not too big, nor too small. You don’t want heaps of negative space to make you feel lost, nor do you want too little space to make you feel trapped. Aim for a cosy feel.
Please, please clean it out well before putting the desk in as it will be difficult to maneuver around everything later on
There is a strong internet connection, with good lighting and minimal noise
You ask your parents if it’s okay!

Now that you’ve got a room sorted, dedicate a space for your desk that’s close to a power-point and a window, and then move onto the fun stuff…

The Right Desk for Effective Study At Home

Okay, so now that you have some space dedicated to your home office, let’s think about the next (and arguably most important) step in creating the perfect workspace… the desk!

The desk you buy is going to depend on a few things such as:

Where the desk is going
- ie. in the corner of a room, in a small area, along a lengthy wall, in-between other things, etc.
What equipment you plan to use
- ie. a laptop and a monitor, just a laptop or just a monitor, written and digital work, just digital work or just written work
Your price range
- You’re going to want to spend at least $75 for something decent
What colour you need (because colour-coordination is a MUST)

After you’ve figured out all of those things, you’re gonna want to find a desk that has:

An adjustable height
A keyboard and mouse tray
A lifted section for monitors (this can be purchased separately)
Adequate legroom and an appropriate width

When sitting at your desk, you want your shoulders to be relaxed and comfortable with your forearms parallel to the floor whilst typing. For most people, a height between the floor and desk of 28 to 30 inches is ideal (70cm – 76cm).

Check out these standing desks! Perfect for creating an ergonomic setup at home:

The Right Chair for Effective Study At Home

A chair can make or break your posture, so it’s important to get it right.

It’s super important to find the correct chair for the number of hours you’ll spend sitting down, your body shape and your desk setup.

You’ll want a chair that has:

An adjustable seat height and backrest
An ergonomic shape that contours to your back
Stable legs and wheels
NO armrests

I like to also opt for a chair that has a mesh backrest rather than a solid one so that I can have my fan blowing from behind on a hot day. This also prevents my back from sweating and ruining the material of the backrest.

You should be looking to spend around $100 – $200 for a quality chair that’ll force you to study effectively from home with good posture and comfortability for long periods of time.

Check out these options for the perfect home office chair:

The Right Monitor for Effective Study At Home

Now we can start having a bit of fun!

Depending on how much cashola (aka money) you have to throw at a sick setup, a monitor can really take your study to the next level.

I love my monitor because it means I can use my laptop for its keyboard and mouse and as a second screen, while I do almost everything else on this enormous screen right at eye-level.

My monitor is a Phillips that I picked up through my step-dads work a few years ago. With your monitor, you’ll want it to have a pretty decent quality image (HD at least), with a few ports for HDMI cables and USB sticks.

There are a few different ways to go about monitors:

A desk with the lifted section is perfect for a larger, flat monitor
If you have a single-level desk, consider buying a lifted platform to place your laptop on top of
If your bank account is looking healthy, consider buying two monitors for a side-by-side, multi-screen experience (great for productivity because you can have heaps of different applications open – like notes, google and your essay)

When setting up your monitor, you’ll want to make sure it’s within arms reach (a good distance for reading) and you can easily adjust the tilt, contrast, brightness and height of the screen to suit the rest of your setup.

REMEMBER: You want to be seeing the top 1/3 of the screen when sitting upright and looking straight ahead.

The Right Stationery for Effective Study At Home

This is the part where you get to organise your desk.

When setting out my desk, I love to have everything neat and tidy (I may or may not be a little OCD).

Stationery wise, I will always have 3 black, 3 blue and 3 red pens in a pen holder next to my right hand. Next to that, I’ll have another pen holder with scissors, coloured pens, a pencil or two, an eraser, some markers and a ruler. I also have a calculator handy, sticky notes next to me at all times, a mini-whiteboard and whiteboard markers, my diary and my glasses.

Basically, when buying stationery, think about what you use in class most often and then replicate it on your bedroom desk.

The key to this is to stay organised and keep everything tidy. This way you’ll avoid giving yourself an excuse to procrastinate, and you’ll always have the stuff you need close by.

Some Extras That’ll Have You Studying Productively At Home

Your office is now looking like a legit study space for you to smash your future!

Now I’m gonna go through the extra stuff I have on and around my desk that keeps me accountable and productive.

Some Extra Bits and Pieces

A wireless keyboard, mouse and mouse pad connected to your laptop will make for more comfortable use and easy setup.
A speaker for the best sound experience. This will take the stress off your weak laptop speakers and allow everything to be heard in full volume. Otherwise, it would be smart to invest in some headphones.
A power board so you can plug in your monitor, laptop charger, speaker charger, etc. without needing an unrealistic number of power points.
A standing desk converter so you have the option to sit or stand while doing your work. These are great for changing your position, posture and getting the legs working after hours of sitting on your bum.

On the Wall

On the wall right next to my desk, I have the:

A Monthly Planner
- A whiteboard planner that allows me to write down important dates and keep track of what’s coming up
A Yearly Planner
- Good for quick date-checking before confirming an event later in the year. Also good for a bit of perspective when looking at subject deadlines etc.
Study Tips and Motivation
- I also stick quotes and study tips on my wall so I can quickly glance at them if I feel myself losing focus

Next to my Desk

Right next to, and underneath my desk, I have:

A Newton’s Cradle
- Fun little procrastination device that can’t keep me satisfied for long so I’ll go back to studying
Two Rubiks Cubes
- I love solving the Rubiks Cube. I use these to wake my brain up before studying and also if I feel myself losing focus, instead of checking my phone.
A File Organiser
- I have a multi-level file organiser to separate important documents that I use regularly, keep my study space organised and simply give me somewhere to put things.
Folders, Folders and More Folders
- I love having folders underneath my desk to quickly ditch documents that I won’t need again for a while. I also put all my textbooks down here and anything else that I rarely use but still need close-by.

The Right Adjustments for Effective Study At Home

Now it’s time to adjust everything!

Chair Height

Your chair should be positioned so that when you sit upright, your:

Elbows are just off the desk
Forearms are directly parallel to the floor
Wrists are directly aligned with your forearms
Feet are flat on the ground
Shoulders are perfectly relaxed without any upward pressure

Make sure the chair doesn’t have armrests and the backrest is adjusted so that you have an angle of around 90° to 110° between your back and thighs.

Monitor Height

When adjusting the height of your screen, you should make sure that:

When looking directly forward, you are looking at the top 1/3 of the screen
To see all screens, you don’t have to move your neck
You aren’t looking up or down to see the screen, only in front of you

Keyboard and Mouse Height

If you bought a desk with a keyboard and mouse tray, lucky you! Simply place the keyboard and mouse together and make sure that your forearms are parallel to the ground with both wrists aligned on the same plane.

Laptop Height

This one is a little tricky. It’s not super healthy to constantly be looking down at your laptop on a desk, so it’s important to either:

Adjust your laptop so that it’s used as a monitor (with the keyboard and mouse separate).
- This way you can have the screen in your direct line of vision, with the keyboard aligned to your forearms
Or, connect your laptop to a monitor so that you use the laptop keyboard and mouse, but look forward at a different screen.

Final Word

Welcome to your new home office! This is now a place where you can study effectively at home, watch some Netflix every now and again, make phone calls, research stuff, take notes, read and just generally chill without distraction.

Most of my stuff was bought through Jason L Office Furniture because they have decent prices and great quality stuff. I just did it all online and it arrived within the week. Have a look at their range!

I love my home office because I spent the time to set it up well, giving me a super comfy experience of studying at home with heaps of perks. Best of all, I don’t get a sore back, I have everything I need close-by and I don’t have to worry about noise distractions because I’m in my bedroom.

Check out some of these related posts:

If you can’t afford to buy the items mentioned throughout this post, it’s worth checking with local libraries and your school to see if they are throwing out any older desks, chairs or monitors.

All the best,

Uncle N.

This post may contain sponsored links from which I may earn a commission. This is at no extra cost to you (the reader) and will not add to the cost of any item should you wish to purchase through these links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.