For the last few Fridays we have been publishing an interview with a legal secretary from New York, Ellen Adams, to help give you an idea about what a legal assistant career is like. This vocation is expected to grow at a faster-than-expected rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it a reliable career choice for the future.
Are there other fields related to law that students may want to consider?
Photo: legalaction.ca
Well, the paralegal field is another option. I feel it was developed because long ago due to the fact that the first year associates complained about not wanting to do the “grunt work.” I consider that a “bridge” between legal secretarial and deciding whether or not you want to go to law school and become an attorney. Paralegals need the same skills – attention to detail, great time management skills, diplomatic skills, etc., to be successful in that area of legal work. Paralegals also need a strong foundation in legal concepts and vocabulary, along with technical training in specialized areas — such as corporate law, bankruptcy, intellectual property law, just to name a few areas of concentration. You need to develop the theoretical skills and receive the practical training necessary to get the job done successfully. Paralegals work under the supervision of an attorney and are able to perform all functions of a lawyer except giving legal advice. No matter what you decide, there is a lot to learn in the legal profession. Managing clerks, docketing (keeping court calendars for all attorneys in the firm) clerks, records management are also areas to consider. Each of these will require training. Some of these things can be learned on the job, but not all of them can be, and you are often better off taking any courses at the local college or university to learn all that you will need to successfully assist the attorneys. Many colleges and universities offer certificates and/or diploma programs that help you prepare for work in this capacity.
Are there recommended continuing education opportunities for your profession?
Yes and no. The same courses that I mentioned above will help you expand your knowledge of the law and what is required to assist an attorney effectively and efficiently. Taking continuing education courses in different areas (such as fundamentals of business law, licensing of intellectual property, or fundamentals of equal employment opportunity law, just as an example) will help you improve your interactions with the legal profession or within the firm that you might work, so I would say it definitely could not hurt. However, unless you make the decision to become a paralegal or legal specialist, the next step is law school. Other than that, you choose an area that interests you that may have absolutely nothing to do with law, and go on from there to pursue other fields in which you may have a strong interest. The one thing working at a law firm will do afford you the opportunity to see how it all works from the inside, and that will help you decide if you want to continue in your role as a secretary or move on to another career within law or outside of the law. Sometimes, it helps you decide that you are fine with “blooming where you are planted;” other times, you decide to choose another career path altogether. But you definitely will get an education no matter what you decide.
What misconceptions do people have about being a legal secretary?
I already knew that I didn’t want to be an attorney. … However, I was interested in law, so I chose the legal secretarial route. I thought it wouldn’t be too hard to do, but I was mistaken. It is hard, but it is definitely manageable. I think that some people can romanticize any profession, but it is tough work and, as I mentioned earlier, not for the faint-hearted. You need a thick skin. We are not talking Perry Mason or L.A. Law or Boston Legal here. Those are exaggerations, to say the least. It can be interesting, it can be enlightening, it can be (on a rare occasion) fun, but it is never dull and can be quite intense.
All in all, it’s been an interesting career.
In case you missed it, here’s the first two parts of the blog mini-series.
For the next two Fridays we will be publishing an interview with a legal secretary from New York, Ellen Adams, to help give you an idea about what a legal assistant career is like. This vocation is expected to grow at a faster-than-expected rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it a reliable career choice for the future.
What advice would you give a student considering a career in the legal field?
Be prepared to study and work hard. It’s truly not for the faint-hearted. Even though we are in a so-called “electronic age,” there are fundamental skills that will help you to do the job effectively. You should be detail oriented, meticulous, flexible and diplomatic. Time management skills are crucial. It also helps to have a thick skin. Multi-tasking is a must, since you are often “switching gears” at a moment’s notice. You need to learn to be responsive and anticipate that things can and will happen when you least expect it to. Learn to listen and listen to learn.
What is most challenging about your profession?
Trying to avoid tedium and/or becoming bored. Once you master the basics, it can be a challenge to stay motivated. Unless you continue to learn and adapt, that can happen.
In what way did your education prepare you for your career? I went to what was formerly called The Berkeley School, which is now called Berkeley College. It was specifically for the “secretarial sciences,” and I earned an associate’s degree (Associate in Occupational Studies or an A.O.S.), after successfully completing their 2 year secretarial program with a legal concentration. You had a choice of doing a general secretarial program, a medical secretarial program, or a legal secretarial program. To be honest, the legal secretarial afforded me an opportunity to earn a higher salary, and that definitely helped me decide which direction to move in.
Right now on Twitter, the hashtag #improudtosay is spreading like wildfire. Here are some cool education-themed tweets we found from college students who are proud of their what they’re doing with their learning.
@kay_pro: #improudtosay I’ll be the first in my family to graduate from college.
@LifeWithMrMoore:#improudtosay i graduated elementary school, middle school, high school, and soon to say college/Graduate School
@TayBoogie_: #ImProudToSay that though I keep having set backs I will continue to pursue my college education so I can be successful
Even though there are lots of people talking smack these days, saying college is a waste of time and money, that no one learns anything for the first two years of college, here’s proof that not everyone today feels the same way. There are still people who see the value in a college education and are working hard to earn their degree because they know it will make a significant difference in their future.
Four years of college teaches you a lot more than just calculus or grammar. A college degree proves to other people like recruiters, future employers, and life partners that we can finish the things we start, that even when things are tough, we’re willing to persevere, and that we’re willing to invest in our lives and collective future.
Sometimes college professors say the darndest things. One of your favorite back to school activities may be listening to awesome things that your college professors have to say. If you have a cool college professor, you’ve likely heard things like…
“Don’t cheat in this class, you will fail this course and then you will die.” The first words of my class this morning. That woke me up. - Audrey
“Our professor strapped a teletubby to a bouncy ball to show us how we can only view a certain part of the sky from different places on earth. Gotta love Discovering the Universe.” - Jessica Banks
“In Kingship, I am the king. I love you. You love me…..we’re a happy family.” - Deecue‘s Government Teacher
“Yesterday, my Math 1B GSI (Graduate Student Instructor) compared integration by parts to pirates and ninjas.” - feendaffaire
“It may seem a silly reason to go to war, but put it in modern terms. Imagine if Michelle Obama ran off with Kim Jong Il. That would be….God that would be so weird…” - rycitycentral‘s Literature as Art professor on the Torjan War
“I’m in intermediate microeconomics. My professor is using Harry, Ron, and Hermione as examples of different levels of productivity.” - theycallmeaviendha
“So Harriet Tubman was — that was my hip by the way. I didn’t just fart in front of you guys.” - talkingshrimp‘s History teacher
“Dear Students, Please consider using our office hours as an opportunity to learn. It feels lonely sitting in my office when nobody shows-up.” - confusedquark‘s Logic Systems professor
“You’ve never seen Mickey Mouse stop a dialogue sequence to groom himself. But real mice WILL do that.” - nashhha‘s Neuropsychology professor
“In today’s class, my professor said she would give anything in the world for two minutes to be in the mind of her cat.” - xphosho‘s Professor
“Student: Is there a participation grade? Professor: No, I think that only rewards the bullsh!tters that drone on and on and on.” - yaej‘s Ethics and International Relations Class
“What the hell is wrong with you guys? Why the hell are you depressed? Barely in your 20s! Be happy! You are young, beautiful, handsome, brainy, you have the world at your finger tips! These are your golden years. It is beautiful in this world; California weather, eh? God has blessed us! Be happy!” - arrajane‘s Professor Spyridakis
“I’d like to live with Bill Murray.” - bccrayolamakher‘s Composition professor
“If you haven’t found the textbook yet you guys might also want to try Wal-mart.com.” - fornowjustcarryon‘s professor
“Facebook is the Internet meat market.” - lizshutterbug‘s professor, Dr. Phillips
“I just wish I was younger. You wouldn’t be sitting there looking so complicated.” - casenpoint‘s professor Billy Turner
“Facebook makes me feel like a pervy, voyeuristic old man and I don’t allow it in my class. However, if YOU have an addiction and needs to check it every 30 seconds, just put up your hands and explain to me and I will excuse you outside to check your Facebook or porn or whatever it is you need to do.” - anniesapphire‘s professor
“Toast is appropriate for any meal.” - fistflight‘s Psychology of Gender professor
“Citing yourself in a paper is like intellectual masturbation.” - witty-‘s writing professor
“I will expect at least a few anecdotes of sledding on unusual objects…” - fistflight‘s poetry professor
For the next three Fridays we will be publishing an interview with a legal secretary from New York, Ellen Adams, to help give you an idea about what a legal assistant career is like. This vocation is expected to grow at a faster-than-expected rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it a reliable career choice for the future.
What is your job description?
Legal Assistant Career. Photo: highere.com
It used to be legal secretary. Now, they call us “assistants.” It’s merely semantics. The job is the same, and the salary, unlike the name, has remained the same. Instead of corporate executives, we assist attorneys, who are officers of the court, in the representation of their clients’ interests and challenges in running their businesses and ensuring that they avoid any pitfalls that could have a negative impact of their company’s bottom. We make sure that all legal documents are prepared properly and that any and all legal documents that have to be filed are in compliance with applicable requirements of the law and rules of conducting of their day to day operations.
Describe a typical day on the job. First, let me say that I primarily work for a multi-tasking micro managing partner, an associate, a legal specialist and a project analyst. Gone are the days of one-on-one assignments. The mantra is “you work for the ‘firm,” and so you find that you are assigned to work with 2 to 4 people. Generally, I check in with my attorneys and then log on and check e-mail traffic to determine what documents and correspondence need to be printed for review by the attorneys, as well as any materials sent by clients for teleconference meetings. While documents are printing, the calendar is simultaneously being reviewed to confirm and/or revise any client appointments, conference calls, meetings, etc. Filing is a critical skill to have. Even though it is absolutely MY LEAST FAVORITE THING TO DO, knowing the firm’s filing program is crucial. You need to be able to find attorney notes, pleadings, contracts, correspondence at any given time, so making sure that things are filed properly is an integral part of any assistant’s job. The phones are usually ringing and any messages are written down AND sent by e-mail so that the attorneys can respond in a timely manner. Lunch is a gift – it is not uncommon to find yourself working through lunch or eating at your desk. I still use my Gregg shorthand (I’m a real “veteran”), and the partner with whom I work loves to dictate, so I’m usually in and out of his office taking letters, memos, e-mail messages, etc. Many tasks are handled by telephone. Meetings can happen on a moment’s notice and you use whatever software the firm purchases to book a conference room, travel arrangements, etc. Many of our clients are watching their respective budgets, which is why so much is done electronically or telephonically. Often you find that you are juggling mini and maxi crises, and you adjust accordingly. I sometimes refer to it as “playing ‘octopus’”. It definitely helps to keep your brain sharp.
What is the most rewarding part of being a legal secretary? Well, you are providing services to individuals and corporations and that, in and of itself, can be rewarding. You also learn a lot about WHY things happen the way they do and how the law works to people’s advantage or disadvantage if they are not prepared or the proper forms are not filed for conducting any business transaction(s). Attorneys provide a valuable service and help people avoid mistakes, defend their rights, and resolve disputes, whenever they arise. If they listen, it keeps thing running smoothly; if they choose not to, the attorneys help them resolve the challenges they face. A lot of things are preventative. You also get to see how contracts are created and why individuals and corporations obsess about various aspects of their business operations. You learn a great deal depending on the area of concentration that your attorneys choose to work in. There are so many different disciplines, it can be mind-boggling. But you are a part of an intricate process that is integral to the day to day operations of life in general and business in particular. It’s never dull.
While you’re working on your online degree, you can be planning the next step in your career. The good news is, potential employers recognize the effort that you’ve put into getting an education and having your degree puts you a giant step ahead of all the applicants who haven’t proven that they can work hard in school and graduate. The bad news is, this is a tough time for anybody to get a job with the slumping global economy so you’re going to have to go the extra mile to land your new gig. Here’s ten great tips to get you started on the path to your new career while you’re still in school.
1.) Network with your professors and ask for a recommendation and reference. Be sure to ask about their areas of expertise and research interests.
2.) Visit your school’s career center (online) and utilize their job search tools to keep your job hunting skills up-to-date.
3.) Use your online school’s career services for a resume review, mock phone interviews and mentoring programs.
4.) Research how to write a cover letter and ask the online career center to review your cover letters.
5.) Read scholarly research in your career area while you are still a student, be sure to note the names of industry-specific journals and conferences.
6.) Join a professional association in your career area, they often offer a less expensive student rate while you are in school.
7.) Get an unpaid internship and add some experience to your resume in your field (and while you are there do a great job and try to turn it into a paying gig).
8.) Get involved with non-profit and volunteer organizations, apply when they have openings, add the experience to your resume to show that you are well rounded and network with everyone that you meet there.
9.) Attend conferences and offer to present your work to a professional audience. Schools offer scholarships to pay for the travel expenses.
10.) Submit your research papers to professional or student journals to get published and increase your credibility with future employers.
My Colleges and Careers is giving away a free iPod Touch, called the “greatest iPod to date” by IGN’s Scott Lowe. To enter click here. Then all you need to do is like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. Don’t pass up this opportunity to win one of the most amazing mobile media platforms ever designed. It will be a perfect thing to take with you when you go back to college.
If you’re considering a career in the health care industry, the profession of physician assistant is growing in popularity. We caught up with physician assistant Randy Archibald to ask him about his experiences in the field.
My Colleges and Careers: What misconceptions do people have about being a physician’s assistant?
Randy Archibald: One of the most common misconceptions about the Physician Assistant profession is that it is less demanding and that there is less liability than that of a doctor. The truth of the matter, however, is that a Physician Assistant is under the same responsibility to competently evaluate and treat each patient that walks through the clinic doors. We are required to complete 50 hours of continuing medical education each year to maintain our licensure and to stay current on available evaluation techniques and treatment options.
MC&C: If you could do it all over again, would you still become a physician’s assistant?
RA: I love my profession and if given the choice, I would choose a Physician Assistant career again without hesitation. Over the past decade the PA profession has ranked consistently in the top 20 professions based on its stability, income, work environment, and job projections. With the aging of the population and shortage of medical providers, the future is bright for the Physician Assistant profession!
Thanks for sharing your insights, Randy!
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Randy Archibald is a Certified Physician’s Assistant who earned his degree from the University of Washington in 2001. After eight years at a family practice for eight years, he began working for Tri-City Medical Urgent Care where he has been for a year and a half. Over the duration of his career, Randy has cared for over 50,000 patients. Catch up with Randy online at http://tricitymedical.net/.
Recently we interviewed several interior designers on the topic of creating effective workspaces for students on a budget. Over the next few weeks, we will share helpful tips from professionals on creating workspaces for school. Today’s expert is Ada Gonzalez who joins us from New York City, New York.
If you’d rather read the interview, check out the transcript below.
My Colleges and Careers: Hi, I’m Sarah Ward with MyCollegesandCareers.com. Today on the Education & Career Channel, we’re going to be exploring the topic of creating Effective Workspaces for Students on a Budget. Today we have the pleasure of having with us Ada Gonzalez an interior designer and author from New York City. Ada, thank you so much for joining us today.
Ada Gonzalez: Thank you, thank you for the invitation. Hello from New York!
MCC: Wonderful, well why don’t you Before we jump in, tell us a little bit about your background in interior design.
AG: Sure! I started my business in 2006 and the bottom line of it is I help my clients with their personality to shine within their home.
MCC: Let’s just jump right in. What suggestions do you have for students who are starved for space and on a budget.
AG: Everyone is starving for space. The main thing is organization. We’ll talk about a workspace with students who wants to feel comfortable, organize, organize, organize, That’s the bottom line of it. Organization and a positive attitude because it doesn’t matter how you dot your i’s and cross your t’s, when you have a positive attitude of I can and I will, then surround yourself with organization skills. And the most easiest way to do that is to designate positions and areas within your room. That’s the bottom line of it. Designate areas for everything! So when you walk in and have your coat, and where to put it, designate an area, your jacket, your sweater, wherever it’s going to be. Where you’re gonna drop your books, so it’s not a book over here, a book over there. Designate one particular area for everything. The same thing with pens, don’t have pens all the scattered around.
Have things accessible, especially in a small area. You want to gather all your pens in one little location, put a sprinkle of color, your favorite color. And another way, when you have a small space, you want to incorporate designs that just make it feel bigger or look bigger. This is a wine glass, where we have our pencils over here. So what this does is, number one, it gathers it all together so it’s not scattered around, and number two it elevates it from the desk so it doesn’t feel too cluttered.
MCC: Very nice, very nice. You bring up an excellent point, because students have papers and books and it just keeps adding up. Where are students supposed to, how can they organize this clutter?
AG: Right, right. Just having tools and using it. A great system to always incorporate to help more students, I myself still consider myself a student of life. Every single day we learn from each other and it’s great to be able to incorporate that and share what you learn with others, so I’m happy to be here. These are files, where you can use these manila files, but they’re so plain. Why not perhaps use a decal. This is a very simple decal, just remove and simply add it to the regular manila folder. Or if you don’t want to spend your money, because you can be on a budget, you can actually create your own design. You can go ahead and get those crayons out, get those paints out, those markers out, make it a workspace, to make it effective, to make it you, is to shine around colors that you love. Incorporate that. And as soon as you see it, it will give you strength to move on and focus.
MCC: Yes, it just lifts everything.
Keep your papers organized with a file hanger box.
AG: This is another one, another file organizer again, another folder, it’s a little more creative. And another tool is this is a file hanger box, it can incorporate a whole bunch of files. So again, designate that space. So this is the space: Where’s that file, oh my goodness, where’s that file? You know exactly where to go. It’s filed away, where’s those mid-term papers, where’s those papers I need tomorrow that I need to go over again, you know exactly where it is, but you designated a particular space for it. And this is a great one. I have it here in white, but it’s available in great multi-colors. Again, empower yourself, there are tools out there that you can use easily.
MCC: OK, terrific. So I know that you’re all about bringing your client’s personality and giving their personal touch to a space. How can students do that, especially in dorm rooms. How can they make they make their personality shine forth?
AG: Decals are really in nowadays. It used to be a time that it was just decals for little kids, but you know what, we’re all kids at heart and we want to shine around. So this is a butterfly one, we can easily take this lamp behind me, all you do is just remove it, pink side up, make it more you. And immediately, it’s yours, because you incorporated that, you created that design, you had a plain lamp and it’s something — a color that you love, and a particular image that you love.
MCC: So good, so good. And decals are available in all sort of different colors, so regardless of their personality they can find something right?
AG: If you love music and you’re studying music, get a music decal. If you love color, punches of colors and geometric shapes overall that you can use, and again whatever colors, there’s so many different sizes of decals and the colors. Choose the one that you love. Not necessarily your friend next door may think, choose something, incorporate something that feels good to you.
MCC: That resonates with them. Okay, great. Are there certain colors that you recommend for students for improving concentration? Speaking of color?
AG: Good question! I always recommend for people to go with colors in nature. What I mean by that is a light blue like the sky, or a light green like the grass, or even brown, like a light brown, such as tree trunk. We have most of these colors overall. These are some clean, again light because it just gives the open feel of outside, fresh in a small space to incorporate. Here are some light blues.
MCC: It’s so soothing.
AG: Isn’t it? Just imagine a small room you have a tiny window but through the window you can see the sky and the sky is blue. But imagine painting the room blue and that blue is extended outside. That’s a visual trait that will make it feel bigger and also much more soothing.
MCC: And it just brings the outside in which always helps. Terrific.
AG: If you always go out and you feel energized by just going outside, go inside studying, you want that energy from outside. There are great colors you can incorporate to bring that energy. And other colors that you incorporate, colors that you love besides that, little accents of happy colors, I call this my sunshine color.
MCC: I see your flowers in the background on the -
AG: Yeah, I have flowers in the background, a little, there’s white with a splash of your favorite color.
MCC: It really perks things up, doesn’t it?
AG: It does, doesn’t it?
Ada Gonzalez's E-Book with great decorating tips for you!
MCC: Yeah, absolutely. You also said that you’re going to extend a gift to our listeners. You’re also the author of the e-book Delicious Decorating for the Star in You. So what do they have to do? Do they just have to go to your website?
AG: That’s all they have to do. They just have to go to my website which is www.smartdecoratingsolutions.com and go to look for it and it’s all there.
MCC: So that’s www.smartdecoratingsolutions.com, correct?
AG: Yes.
MCC: Wonderful. Ada, it’s been a pleasure to have you. Thank you so much for preparing these terrific visual aids for us, and we’re so glad you were able to participate with us today.
AG: Well, thank you for inviting me today.
MCC: I’m Sarah with MyCollegesandCareers.com and we’d like to thank you for watching the Education & Career Channel. Stay tuned for more great videos for students from MyCollegesandCareers.com! Thank you, Ada.
AG: You’re welcome.
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Interior Designer Ada Gonzalez
Ada Gonzalez is an expert interior decorator, author, newlywed, & creative director of Ada’s Interior Design whose passion is to help people throughout the USA feel great within their homes - without having to spend a lot of money. Her designs use clients current furniture and/or new furniture with a BIG SPLASH of STYLE!
She is nationally known as the ‘Interior Decorator for the Star in You’ because her designs focus on having her clients’ personality & style shine throughout their homes. There is one rule Ada asks her clients to follow .. they must be completely honest with what items they love & do not love; this way Ada is able to design rooms that not only look great, but feel great.
Her designs have appeared in the front page of Life & Style section of The Journal News in Westchester County, New York. In April 2007 she won a design competition called “Interior Motives”. She is a member of Decorators Alliance of North America, & has been honored as an interior decorating Subject Specialist by DETC (Distant Education Training Council) helping perfect learning materials for interior decorating students.
She loves puppies, mint chocolate chip ice cream, caramel macchiato with whip cream, being married, & seeing her clients’ happy expressions. For more on Ada, check out her website http://www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com and her regularly updated decoration blog.
Recently we interviewed several interior designers on the topic of creating effective workspaces for students on a budget. Over the next few weeks, we will share helpful tips from professionals on creating workspaces for school. Today’s expert is Holly Meadows Baird who joins us from Nashville, Tennessee.
You can also read a transcript of the interview below.
My Colleges and Careers: I’m Sarah Ward with MyCollegesandCareers.com. Today on the Education & Career Channel, we’re going to be talking about how to create Effective Workspaces for Students on a Budget. Today we have the pleasure of having with us Holly Meadows-Baird who is an interior designer from Tennessee. Holly, thank you so much for joining us today.
Holly Meadows-Baird: No problem, my pleasure, thank you.
MCC: Excellent. Before we jump in, tell us a little bit about your background in interior design.
HMB: I’m a commercial interior designer. And I’m registered in the state of TN and I’ve been practicing for seven years now, so quite a bit of experience.
MCC: Wonderful. When we were communicating before our interview, you were saying how during your undergraduate degree, you spent four years in the dorms, and then as a design student in NYC, you needed to create a study in your small apartment — you’re no stranger to working with space constraints!
HMB: That’s correct!
MCC: I’m sure there’s a lot of students who feel that same way. Do you have any suggestions for students who have small spaces? Any great ideas for creating great spaces with a little bit of space?
HMB: I’d say the first challenge is creating a dedicated space. That’s really hard to do sometimes in a dorm or to do in an apartment or house, but creating a dedicated space where you’re not studying in the same bed you’re going to sleep in, it will really help your studying efforts overall.
There are different kinds of learning styles so what will make a space effective for one person will be different for someone else. There are visual learners, for instance. What will be good for them is marker boards or pin-up places where they can constantly be seeing the things they’re trying to study. Highlighters even. They’re constantly highlighting what they’re trying to learn. There are also auditory learners and what will be good for them probably will be a quiet space where they can read their notes out loud or read them into a tape recorder, or play them back into a tape recorder so they can hear what it is they’re trying to learn. The last section, the last group of people are the tactile learners, they’re really hands on people. They need space to pace around, and flash cards, they’re the types that will typically study in an exercise room so they’re on a treadmill and reading their notes so they’re incorporating the movement.
Regardless of your study style, the most important thing is to find a space with limited distractions and interruptions. So a lot of students may opt not to study in their dorm room and study in a library or a coffee shop, and that may be just as effective.
MCC: Excellent, excellent, thank you so much. Now are there certain colors or lighting considerations that students need to be taking into consideration in order to have optimal focus and concentration?
HMB: Color is such a personal preference, but yes, there are different color theories. For instance, light yellow is supposed to improve concentration, that’s why all all legal pads are yellow. But you have to be very careful with yellow because too strong a yellow can be very overpowering. Green is another color that is supposed to be calming and relaxing which is why most theaters spaces have a green room where the actors go before they actually go on stage. So if stress and anxiety are connected with studying, green might be good. Really, it’s about comfort. More important probably than color is lighting. The best lighting for concentration and studying is natural soft light, or daylight. Day lighting has a profound affect on people and can really improve test scores and concentration. If that’s an option, go with daylight. If not, there are bulbs that you can purchase in stores in order to get something that feels like daylight.
MCC: Similar like that while studying at midnight and 2 am!
HMB: Exactly, exactly. Another key piece to the lighting aspect is task lighting. Actually got a task light, You can not only control the amount of light you need to perform the task, because working on the computer requires a very different amount of light than taking notes or reading. So a task light will let you control the amount of light, potentially control the glare, and also will let you place the light where you really need it.
MCC: So are there items that students may want to have at their desk to help them concentrate? Squishy balls, or that type of a thing?
HMB: There’s quite a few tricks. One of them that’s really fascinating in terms of design is having something in the room on the far side of the room, or out a window, so you can focus something out in the distance. This will give your eyes the opportunity to recalibrate and to shift, and that will improve your concentration, You’ll overcome some of mental fatigue. If every thirty minutes you give yourself thirty seconds to focus on something else, that will really improve concentration a lot. Another thing is just hydration, stay hydrated, drink water! Having a coaster on your table, something like that, can definitely help. Sometimes music can help, although I caution with music that some music it can be a distraction as well. So make sure it’s something like classical music where it can fade into the background.
Really the best thing for concentration and focus in a workstation is ergonomics. There are so many factors in ergonomics, far too many to discuss, because it really involves the interaction of people with the space around them. I’d say the three to focus on in a workstation is your monitor placement, your keyboard, and your chair. For example, your monitor, the center of your monitor should be level with your eyes or just a little lower, so you’re not straining your neck. Your keyboard should be just a little lower than your elbows so your wrists and hands fall at the correct position.
MCC: I’m testing to see how I’m doing here.
HMB: Laptops are horrible for this, but many of us have laptops, so if you have the option of getting a docking station and doing a keyboard tray or something, that can be really great and helpful. The chair, there are lots of ergonomic chairs available now and some that are moderately priced. Having the adjustability, making sure your chair really fits you is key. But not only having the adjustability, but actually using it and learning how to use it is really important.
MCC: Perfect. Now, you were talking a little bit earlier about lights for taking notes. Do you have recommendations for students to store all of their papers and books because it can just completely add up and overwhelm them, can’t it?
HMB: Definitely. One thing to think about is your actual workspace has different zones. You’ve got the zone that’s directly in front of you which should contain your computer and your action items, and really that’s about it, maybe your task light is in your area. But then beyond that, you have your swivel area which is the stuff you touch on a day to day but you don’t use all the time and you don’t need it cluttering up your main work surface. The furthermost area of your work surface needs to be your storage. There’s a lot of different organization styles. People are typically one of three things: filers, pilers, or purgers. So if you’re a filer, everything’s gotta be neat and organized and everything has its own home. They’re typically the ones that make file folders for everything, so something like a tickler file is going to be very effective storage for them. Pilers typically get a bad wrap because in terms of being labeled as messy. The way for a piler to seem organized, because the piler may be organized as it is, but the way for them to seem organized -
MCC: They can find it!
HMB: Exactly! — is to contain the pile. Find ways to contain the pile such as letter trays or bins, that’s going be really effective storage for a piler. The purgers are the ones that throw everything away and that can be really bad actually. The lessons for purgers is to identify what you really need to hang onto and find a way to keep it, keep some of it.
MCC: Terrific. Last but not least, how can students put their personal touch on their workspace? Many of the students like we talk about before, they’re living in dorm rooms which are not theirs whatsoever. So how can they infuse their personality Holly?
HMB: Personality is going to shine through on everything you purchased, from your notebooks to your pens, to the way you organize your desk, it’s going to come through. Whether you’re really functional, it’s going to shine through. I’d say the important thing is to make sure you’re comfortable in your space and have your personal touches but make sure they don’t get so overwhelming that they turn into distractions. This is a space for studying so be comfortable but keep the focus about studying.
MCC: Alright, wonderful. Holly you’ve had some great things to share with us. Thank you so much for giving us great tips on giving students great tips on creating effective workspaces on a budget. It’s been a pleasure to have you, thanks for joining us today, Holly.
HMB: Thank you so much.
MCC: Thank you Holly for sharing your expertise, it’s been great to have you with us today.
Holly Meadows Baird is a Commercial Interior Designer, and a LEED Accredited Professional in Interior Design and Construction. After graduating from Vanderbilt University and The New York School of Interior Design, Meadows Baird worked in retail, corporate, and healthcare design for 7 years. Currently, she heads the Interior Design division for Powell Design Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and is the Director of the Nashville City Center for the International Interior Design Association (IIDA).
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