It is 5 pm on Wednesday, October 12th as I am sitting here writing this. As seniors we have the day off today. With this free time we were advised to utilize it by working on our college applications, doing assigned homework, especially the projects it seems that just about every teacher has given us, and to generally get work done. I know for me I have a long day planned of doing just about everything on that list, especially the college applications. Yes, I know everyone is in the same boat here when I say that I was not ready for the amount of schoolwork I would have coming into senior year. I know that I have now been doing this for over 4 years, although I will never get used to going to school for 7 hours, coming home and doing schoolwork, going to after school activities (for me it’s soccer), getting home and doing more schoolwork, going to bed and waking up to just repeat it all over again the next day.
Especially in weeks like this, I find it hard for me to find a source of relaxation. 
No, I do not consider going on my phone for 3 hours after school to be “winding down”. I know that we have all been there, unable to put down our phones even though we have a mountain of homework awaiting to be tended to.
I am not willing to drop boatloads of money on going to get a facial or getting a massage. I have tried other methods like reading a book although it is kind of hard to truly relax while reading, having that reminder nagging in the back of your mind to get your college apps done. Others may tell me to stop what I am doing and meditate, or do yoga, or to just sit and be with my thoughts. All of these methods would be successful, if, like before, I did not have stressors overwhelming my mind.
Instead of putting a stop to my tasks to be with myself, I found that changing my mindset by changing my environment while completing said tasks enables me to get things done without as much worry of failure. Upon numerous years of extensive research I have found that simply opening up a window as I do homework, or, if it is all done, still having that window open to just listen to the sounds of the outside world increases my productivity immensely.
For those of you who, like me, need to have some sort of background noise while working to help me focus, having your windows open gives you that opportunity. I would have to agree that listening to music in school does do the trick for me because of its ability to block out the distractions found in the classroom. But at home, while everyone’s experiences may differ, there are not as many distractions. So, I often find that listening to music is too much for my brain to handle as I am trying to focus.
Having your windows open can also help with lighting issues, especially on days like today, where I am cooped up in my room, grinding out on my schoolwork. Instead of relying on my overhead lights which I often find to be too harsh, I open my blinds up and allow the natural sunlight to aid me in productivity. Being kept in classrooms, some even without windows, for 7+ hours a day with little to no outdoor contact can be very damaging to my sense of awareness. When I am in school, I often feel disconnected from the world around me. No windows and no fresh air leaves me deprived of the nature that every human needs.
When I get home from school, one of the first things I do once I get to my room is open up my window. While this is nothing compared to actually spending time outside, I find that this process grounds me. It somehow keeps me connected with the earth and the outside world. While I work on my schoolwork, I am able to listen to the peaceful sounds of the birds in my background on the trees as the wind blows against them.
Don’t even get me started on sleeping with your windows open. Take this opinion with a more open mindset if you are not a part of the windows-open-while-sleeping club. I am not the only one who thinks this is g
reat. Open windows is scientifically proven to improve sleep, as it will cause your body temperature to go down, allowing you to reach REM sleep vs Non-REM sleep, which improves overall brain health.
Knowing that it is fall, it is the prime windows-open season. Once you get home from school or whatever other event you have to occupy your day, I strongly advise you to crack a window, get a candle going, and get in the right mindset to get your assignments done. Especially sleeping, now that it reaches colder temperatures at night.
The environment that you surround yourself in to live your life has a stronger impact on your mentality than you may think. This can be applied to many aspects of your life including your social life, your job, and your love life- to name a few- not just cracking your windows open in your room.
Ali, I feel so seen right now; you don’t even know.
I only recently joined open windows gang and I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner. Senior year is just so absolutely ridiculous in terms of the garbage we have to get done, and your cycle of stress so familiar is stings. For whatever reason, opening windows just does the trick.
The white noise is a huge part of it, of course. Silence is just painful sometimes; I enjoy quiet, but my room can be eerily still sometimes and it’s sickening. Music sometimes does the trick, but outside is just unparalleled in its ability to relax my mind and body. Crickets, wind, leaves, even my noisy neighbors all help me lock in on my homework and get whatever I need to do done. When you add in the natural light and the fresh air, it’s a done deal and I strongly believe we need to get the rest off the world on board immediately if not sooner.
This Wednesday I also wanted some outdoors to help me focus, but it turned into a hike at starved rock in pouring rain; a bit different, but same concept. I’m writing this post in a starbucks right now because being in my room is just so difficult sometimes; the airflow, music, and noise of being somewhere else is vital to helping me focus.
The only sad thing is, I have to disagree about it being prime open-window season. I don’t know about you, but I was outside yesterday morning and my toes almost fell off. I’m really concerned as to how I’ll be able to study with an open window when it’s this cold, let alone sleep overnight, but if you have any advice hit me up asap. Maybe the candle will help warm me up, but I might just have to layer.
Overall, 11/10 blog Ali. Open windows for life. Combine it with my mental heath walk blog for this week and we will be invincible to distractions! Thanks for an amazing read.
Hi Alison! I can totally relate to just about everything you have just said. I am the type of person who may look at their phone to “wind down” though. But, even though I am more of a procrastinator, I too find it much easier to concentrate when I am sitting next to a window. I used to do my homework every day upstairs in my room until last year. Although I have a big window in my room I still felt disconnected from what was happening in the outside world because there is a giant tree blocking my view. Because just like you, I work better next to a window to feel connected I have moved downstairs to my dining room. My dining room is at the front of my house where (this sounds a bit creepy) I am able to watch people walk by. This allows me to somehow feel like I am not missing out on anything that is happening outside of my house while still being productive. When did you come to this realization of needing to be by a window and have it open to feel more productive? I personally would never be able to have my windows open though because I get chilly quite fast. This was so fun to be able to know I am not the only one who needs to work in front of a window to be productive.
Hi Allison!
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the importance of a change in environment. I loved the way you described the way an open window can keep you connected to the world at large.
This year, when I’ve had the most schoolwork (plus, as you mentioned, college apps) I’ve ever had in my life, I’ve realized that literally just moving from one room in my house to another will unleash some sort of productivity flood in me – it’s like magic. For example, just yesterday, I spent an hour sitting in bed with my laptop trying to revise just one sentence in my personal essay. No matter how I tried to edit the sentence, however, it still wasn’t clicking. Then, out of frustration, I moved to my living room, and ten minutes later, I had written exactly what I’d been trying to say.
That being said, however, I’ve also discovered the importance of taking breaks. Yesterday, after I finished editing my essay, I went biking for about an hour, just observing the changing fall colors and the nature around me, feeling the wind and the cool, fall, breeze. When I came home, I returned to that one sentence, and I found that I was able to further refine it – I’m much happier with it now. Ironically, it seems that not doing work for a while can lead to better work done.
Allison, I really resonated with the beginning of your post. Being a senior myself, I completely understand the excessive workload and the difficulty to truly focus and get tasks done. Thus, I was very surprised to read that simply opening a window allowed your productivity to increase. The act of opening a window appears to be such a simple task, yet it is evident that it has a significant impact on one’s focus. Typically the advice given to teenagers to improve their focus is to meditate or take a bath. However, many teenagers, including myself, simply do not have time to do these activities in the midst of all of the tasks they need to attend to. This provides the solution of simply opening a window with significantly more usefulness to the average teenager. Upon reading your description as to why this simple task is useful, I was able to understand why opening a window is helpful in improving focus. Often, we feel as if we are trapped in a mountain of all the work we have to complete. This can make it challenging to stay grounded with the world around us and perceive life outside of the massive amount of tasks that are weighing on us. Through simply opening a window, we are able to feel connected to the world around us, and use that as motivation to continue working.
Alison, I really hope this does not sound like a backhanded compliment because I don’t mean it at all, but I loved how you turned a mundane and kind of forgotten action like opening your window into a really nice blog post. The tone of your entire blog I think was a perfect reflection of your message, because I was really at peace reading your blog. My family has never been a windows-open family but I used to beg them to let me open mine. At the same time, my window backs up to the constantly busy 75th street, so I am able to listen to white noise without having to actually open it. You are also right, there is really no better feeling than sleeping with your windows open in the fall because it’s the perfect temperature for the perfect amount of blankets. I also liked how you touched on the chaos that is this semester in a productive way because it is something I know we can all relate to. I have literally never been more excited for a period of time in my life to end, even though fall is so good. Last thought: I feel like the same goes for driving with windows open, especially during these months.