Ritriestostudy - Ri :)

hi im...back? after a while for sure 😔💔

this'll kind of be a small vent (sorry) but i've just been feeling frustrated? i couldn't study the entirety of last week because we had a family trip to north east (i loved it though ♡) and even prior to it, i had been completely off contact with my books because i had to undergo surgery :/

while i know that my circumstances were unavoidable and in a way it's not my fault. but also, i can't help feel guilty about not getting stuff done? i mean i have a HUGE pile of backlogs and i feel so terribly out of loop – even trying to sit down with books and trying to solve mcqs feels like a damning chore because i'm unable to solve a lot of questions that i know for a matter fact i'd find easier normally.

anyways, i also know that i can only change this for myself so i've been trying to slowly, but steadily get back to my routine. i'll probably start sharing my snippets from tomorrow again :), but i can't lie it feels nice to get this off my chest haha lol.

De-vice your device: tips on how to curb phone addiction & be more present 📵

Build the habit of turning off your phone from time to time. We're so used to just charging and charging our phones but never turning it off, but any electronic device needs to be turned off from time to time. Start by turning it off when you go to sleep, whether it's a nap or night time, and then move on to just turning it off after you're done using it.

Review often what you're using your phone for. Are you using too many apps that just result in you mindlessly staring at the screen, stuck in scrolling? Are you following every single news story or tabloid gossip that pops up? Is the content you're engaging with really entertaining, really enriching, really necessary? Be more critical of what you're doing with your phone in the first place.

Turn your notifications off. Unless you have an ongoing responsibility that requires you to be reachable 24/7, no matter where you are or what you're doing, otherwise someone's life may be at peril, then there's no reason for you to be available at all times, and definitely not immediately. It's important to be humble and admit that you're simply not needed that urgently! When you're truly available, check your apps and then you'll know whether there's something new or not.

Replace as many phone functionalities as you can. If your phone is your camera, your alarm clock, your agenda, your books, your music, your wallet, your social life, then of course you're going to be stuck to it all day long. Take your needs off from your phone as much as possible, separate your life from it. I promise you, most things that entertain, inform and aid in daily life have their own specific device/gadget. (And they're often cheap to get, since so many people have replaced them with phones!)

Go out without your phone as often as you can. Like I said, unless you're absolutely needed for life-or-death situations, there's no need for you to be on your phone at all times. That means that when you're outside, doing something important or just taking a walk, there's no need for you to be glued to a screen. Whatever is there, it can wait until you're home.

Embrace boredom. It's fine, and even suggested often that it's necessary, to be bored once in a while. You don't need to be "doing something", absorbing information, at all times. You don't need to watch a video while you eat, or listen to a podcast while you do chores, or talk to friends while you're in the shower. You can just do a mundane task and let it be that, and you can feel like there's nothing to do and then do nothing. That's not a bad thing.

Keep your phone physically away when you can, especially away from bed. Having your phone within arm's reach at all times contributes to the act of constantly picking it up, which becomes automatic after a very short while. If your phone is not available at all times, you'll break the automatic response cycle of reaching for it (the same goes for turning it off). And it's especially important to not be on your phone in bed, so that you don't keep the habit of being glued to the screen until the last possible moment, or ruining your sleep cycle because of it.

Allow your life to have waits and doubts. If you're trying to remember something, it's okay to not remember it, you don't have to look it up immediately. If you want to talk to someone, you don't have to text them immediately. Basically, you don't have to interrupt most things by reaching for your phone just to try and get an immediate response, answer, reaction. Let things hang in the air, or leave them for later.

Consider just deleting yourself. I say this especially to the younger people who have never experienced life without phones and especially without social media. Consider the action of just deleting some, if not all, social media accounts and subscriptions you have, at least for a determined amount of time. I, and a lot of tech specialists and psychologists, suggest the period of at least six months to do a real tech detox. You simply can't understand what life is like without social media and the current state of being online unless you actually experience it. It may seem radical, and to be fair, it is, but isn't it also radical for a young person to be addicted to their phone?

I hope these tips can help you somehow, as they have helped me. All of these tips come from my personal experience with phone addiction, so I can assure you they've worked for me and there's no reason why I'd believe they wouldn't work for you. It doesn't have to be perfect, but do figure out what you can try and incorporate into your daily life. A little bit can go a long way! 🌹

push yourself. because no one else is going to do it for you.

bad habits that held me back for years

negative self talk: tune into your inner voice and turn mean thoughts into kind ones

prioritising comfort over progress: you have to actually do the work, then enjoy your rest and comfort (with less anxiety too)

hanging around the wrong people: you are the sum of the people you spend the most time with, choose your friends carefully

never taking responsibility: tough stuff happens to everybody, focus on what you can control (you) rather than blaming outside circumstances (not talking about trauma here obviously)

expecting praise for 'being yourself': you're good enough as you are in a spiritual sense, but if you want to be excellent at something you have to actually do the work, not just expect praise and reward for just showing up

liking the aesthetic more than the work: do you want to achieve that goal or do you just like how it looks on pinterest??? make sure you derive some level of pleasure and satisfaction from the pursuit

overthinking: seriously just tell your brain to shut up. stop over intellectualising and over thinking every single thing. find your heart to guide you and save your brain power for working on your passions...

day 1: wednesday, 9th october.

today wasn't as productive as i'd hoped, but to be honest, that's been the case for pretty much the entirety of this week. couldn't study much on monday since i went out with friends for some pandal hopping! here are some snippets :)

anyways, this is all what i did end up doing today:

finished 'mechanical waves' lecture (3 hours-ish?)

revised skeletal system from locomotion & movement

revised animal kingdom till aschelhelminthes (we have a test on this portion on the 23rd ://)

did some questions on SHM

revised atomic structure

finished morphology of flowering plants (with the exception of newly added families)

currently, it's 22:03 so i still have time to update myself on more studying. i would've been able to do more honestly, but i had to go out in the evening for festivities. [loved it, but guilt is eating me up because everything lowkey feels like a time waste :(]

anyways, i'll update you guys later! till then, bye :))♡

(ps. i'm going out tmrw w a friend for pandal hopping again, and im so so excited)