Having Trouble Studying at Home for the Contractor Licensing Exam? Try These Unusual Locations

A person working on a laptop with a pen while holding a contractor license.

When you’re studying for the contractor licensing exam, one of the best places to really focus is at home. But when the home is stuffed full of noise and chaos, you might not get a lot of good reading or practice there. Focus is important, so it’s worth testing out a few different locations that will work better. Try these unusual places to study to help you break out of a rut.

Parks
If you were accustomed to heading to a coffee shop or another indoor place where you could sit for hours and study, the pandemic certainly tossed that idea on its head. And yet, you still need to have an area where you can spread out a little bit and dig into reading or taking notes. If the weather is nice, you may have a wide variety of local parks to choose from. Scope them out and see if you can find benches or tables with mature trees that can offer shade from the sun. That way, you can enjoy the fresh air without worrying that you’ll get too hot.

Cars
You may not want to be reading a textbook in the middle of your work commute for obvious reasons, but there’s no reason that you couldn’t use your stationary vehicle as a study backup. Cars offer a lot of flexibility that may be difficult to find in a study space:

Of course, you don’t want to be idling your engine the whole time. It’s important to pick a study time when you won’t need to run the engine for heat or cooling. Otherwise, the car might be a great place to get away from the house and have some peace and quiet.

Work Commute
Many people choose to listen to audiobooks or other recordings as they drive to and from work each day. This is a great way to take advantage of an active ability to listen while you’re not constantly being distracted by phone calls or people talking to you. The ability to listen to lectures or other things on your work commute presumes that you can record and play it back in your vehicle. But with a little ingenuity and advance preparation, you can review your notes or give a second listen to an important discussion, without having to take time out of the rest of your day.

Walking
Walking is an excellent form of exercise, and many people like to do it as a way to think about problems they’re trying to solve. When you’re walking, you can listen to recordings that you’ve made of your notes or repeat lectures. But you can also use this as an opportunity to talk with yourself about the important concepts that you’re learning. As you walk, think through the ways that you would explain different topics you’re focusing on for your studies to someone else. This will help you to frame your understanding in your own words, which will make it easier to remember.

Outbuildings
If you’ve really got to have a building for study, you should keep in mind that it doesn’t necessarily have to be your house. If your home is bursting at the gills with people in it all the time and you can’t find a moment’s peace, you may need to find another building on your property. It’s not uncommon for people to set up a home office or other workspace in a part of the garage or even a shed. Make sure that these rooms have adequate ventilation and that you won’t be breathing in toxic vapors or fumes the whole time. Otherwise, you may have just the environment you need to get to work without being outside.

Studying doesn’t have to be difficult or boring when you can choose one of these unusual locations to do it. To learn more about our courses to prepare you for the contractor licensing exam, visit CSLS today!