Architecture Student - Tumblr Posts

“ dopamine detox ,, and why you should delete all your social media right now

"just five more minutes" and then you end up scrolling on instagram or tiktok for hours. i know that feeling. even if you know rationally that focusing on the really important things ( such as studying, working, learning from books or whatever ) is much healthier for you and your future, you can't help it.

you know that start studying for the exam you have next week will benefit you much more in the long run, but you still prefer watching tiktoks and scrolling on instagram. you could say that is pretty obvious: one activity is easy, and doesn't require much effort, whereas the other one is difficult and implies that you are focused.

but it's actually like this? so then why some people manage to be consistent in studying, or working, or exercising? they simply just have more motivation than you? and how can you start having the same motivation as them?

to answer this question, we have to take a look to a very important molecule produced by our brain: dopamine.

dopamine is often considered a pleasure molecule, but it's a false belief. dopamine is actually the molecule that makes us desire things, and it's that desire that gives us the motivation to complete every kind of task. for example, your brain doesn't release dopamine while you're eating a cheesburger, it releases it while you're going to mcdonald's to buy it, because you anticipate that the food will make you feel good, even if it actually makes you feel worse.

to your brain, it doesn't matter if the high-dopamine-activity is damaging to you.

your brain organizes priorities based off how much dopamine is expecting to get:

if an activity releases too little dopamine, you won't have the motivation to accomplish it.

if an activity releases a lot of dopamine you'll be motivated to do it, and repeat it over and over

so, which activities releases dopamine? basically, any activity where you can get an immediate potential reward releases an high amount of dopamine. but if you know that there's not an immediate reward invoved ( such as in studying, where the reward is in the long run ) your brain will not expect to release much of it and you'll be less motivated to do that task.

nearly everything releases some amount of dopamine, even drinking water when you're thirsty, but the highest amount of it is released when you're getting a reward randomly, for example while playing on a slot machine. even if you loose money, you eventually expect to get a bigger reward.

therefore it is not so surprising that the most additive social networks ( tiktok, instagram, pinterest ) are designed as slot machines. you don't know what the next post or video will be, but you expect something great, so your brain releases a large amount of dopamine.

in today's society our brains are overloaded with stimuli that induce an unnatural production of dopamine ( scrolling on social media, playing video games, watching internet pornograhy, etc. ).

it's frightening that people don't know how harmful this lifestyle is: our bodies have a biological sistem called homeostasis, which means that our bodies keep the internal physical and chemical conditions at a balanced level, whenever an imbalance occurs, our bodies adapt to it, for example, when it's very hot our body temperature rises and we start sweating to cool down.

but homeostasis manifests through tolerance too. for example, someone who hardly ever drinks alchool will be tipsy after one beer, on the other hand, someone who drinks alchool on a regular basis will need two, three, four beers in order to get drunk, because their body has developed a tolerance to it. it's not much different with dopamine.

so if you get used to large amounts of dopamine, you won't be able to do the things that you did before, because they don't produce as much dopamine and it's more difficult to motivate yourself to do them. once your dopamine tolerance gets too high, you are no longer able to enjoy low dopamine activities.

as if you were a drug addict, there's only one way to get out of it: you have to perform a dopamine detox. you have to avoid all high dopamine activities in order to allow your body to adjust to a normal level of dopamine production and start finding motivation again in the things that improve your personal growth.

it's not easy, you will be nervous and frustrated, maybe you won't make it through a full day without social media, but day by day it will get better and better, and eventually you'll be able to appreciate small things again.

imagine that you're eating your favorite food - for example, chocolate cake - every single day. after a while, chocolate cake doesn't taste good as before, even if it's literally the same cake. on the other hand, if you eat it once a month, it will taste great, because it's not something you've gotten used to.

this is exactly what dopamine detox does. be safe guys, and start recovering now.

[ source: https://youtu.be/9QiE-M1LrZk ]

the academic overachiever starter pack tw. ed, unhealthy coping mechanisms

has slept twenty minutes in three days

probably has an ed but refuses to admit it

a total slut for coffee. coffee is their god

inexplicably extremely pretty

become so committed to your goals that no amount of failure could ever stop you.

don't study because you need to. study because knowledge is power. study because they can never take it away from you. study because you want to know more. study because it enhances you. study because it grows you.

stop looking for motivation, discipline is the key for success.

we all love that random 3 am motivation boost that makes you study one hundred pages at once. but let's be honest, it happens twice at month, you can't rely on it. you have exams, you can't just wait a divine grace to help you study.

stop searching for motivation and start cultivating discipline.

discipline is the only thing that gets you out of bed when you don't feel like doing anything. it's the only one that can get you through the day without wasting your time and it's the only one that will lead you to achieve real results.

in the end, being disciplined will lead you to success.

me every three seconds when i'm not in the mood for studying:

i wish i could treat myself the way i treat others

tw. unhealthy coping mechanisms, ed, i'm bad at feelings.

i'm not a bad person. i know i'm empathetic like a stone, but at least – even though i can hardly ever understand people's feelings – i'm tolerant.

i never judge. if someone misbehaves, i don't judge because i don't know what's behind that attitude. if someone looks like shit for a day, i don't judge, because i don't know why they didn't brush their hair that day, what if they're depressed? what if something happened in their life so now they don't feel like taking care of themselves? i don't know. and if someone get a bad grade, i don't judge. maybe they've tried their best, maybe something occurred in their life so they couldn't study properly, whatever. i don't care. i'm tolerant.

you didn't answer my text? no problem, you were busy. you didn't show up? the other thing you had to do was more important. you were rude to me? don't worry, it happens, you won't do it again.

but when it comes to me, i'm not that tolerant. i don't care if i've finished studying at 3am, i'll always wake up a little earlier to do my makeup and hair and make sure i look perfect when i go to school. i get a slightly lower grade? i'm not going to sleep for the next three weeks because i need to study more. i treat someone badly because i'm annoyed about something? i won't eat as a punishment.

i am the meanest girl ever when it's about me. there's a voice in my brain that constantly tells me that i'm the worst person in the world. i'm mean, annoying, stupid, presumptuous, know-it-all, rude, emotionless. even though i rationally know that, actually, there's nothing wrong with me. i'm not a saint, but i'm not evil.

and i sincerely ask myself, why am i so hard on myself? i wish i could just treat myself the way i treat others.

❥﹒♡﹒☕﹒ 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲: easy tips to form healthy habits ( based on this alessya farrugia video )

if you don't have a solid night routine, you may as well throw away your whole morning routine, because the decisions you make at night are gonna to directly affect you in the morning and how you go about your day. if you binge watch netflix 'til 1am calling it your "rest time" only for you to wake up in the morning feeling tired and frustrated, it's time for you to build a night routine and stick to it.

pro tip do not try to improve everything all at once, you're gonna fail. just try to incorporate something small in your routine to start forming healthy habits. it might take months, but one year from now it will all be worthy.

𝟭. prepare for the next day ( 📒 )

write down your to-do list for the next day. when i don't plan out my day i just end up doing nothing, because i don't even know where to start. but if you know what you have to do you don't end up procrastinating and start getting things done. also, do not overload yourself with too much things to do, you're just not going to accomplish them all, so keep it realistic.

bonus put the most important tasks on the top of your list so you're gonna accomplish them as soon as possible.

𝟮. clean you room ( 🫧 )

it really depends on when you are the most active – for example i'm a night owl and i can't even imagine cleaning my room in the morning – but yes, removing all the mess you made during the day will help you leaving it all behind and starting fresh new the next day. put your clothes away, remove books, notebooks, make-up products, trash all around and i guarantee you that you're gonna feel so much better.

𝟯. take care of your body ( 🌷 )

take a warm shower that can help you relax, do your skincare, change in your comfy clothes, basically wash away the stress and negativity of the day. last semester i would literally stay at uni for 10h straight and coming back home at 8pm after the gym, i used to take a warm shower straight after that so i could let all the negativity of the outside world slide off me.

𝟰. drink hot tea ( 🍵 )

avoid theine but treat yourself to a hot drink that helps you relax and restore your calm, also take your vitamins and give yourself those ten minutes in your personal space.

𝟱. self love and affirmations ( 💖 )

reflect on your day, write down in your diary all the things that happened, pray, meditate, do your affirmations, leave everything in the past, do not let today's disappointments, stress and frustration affect your tomorrow. the only way in which you can truly move forward is by facing the things that happened today to leave them in the past, tomorrow is a new day.

𝟲. get off your phone ( 📱 )

definitely the hardest part for me. i don't even want to explain why it's so dangerous for you to stay awake scrolling through your phone at night – blue light and whatever – so just be strong and try to get off your phone at least 1h before going to bed, use eye-protection mode after sunset and use blue glasses if you can.

bonus use only red light at night, blue light are gonna inhibit your melatonin production ( which is what makes you sleep at night ).

𝟳. go to bed on time ( 🛏️ )

do not delay your bed time in order to get more dopamine scrolling through social media or binge watching netflix. do not sacrifice your sleep in order to do more work/study ( i did it in the past and it's definitely not worthy ), prioritizing your sleep is going to reward you in the long run. trust and believe.

𝟴. 321 rule for better sleep ( 💤 )

3 hours before bed –> stop eating. it gives you enough time to digest your food so you're not going to waste energy during your sleep to digest and you're gonna wake up less tired.

2 hours before bed –> stop studying/working. you need to drag your brain out of your "fight or flight" mode in order to get deep rest at night.

1 hour before bed –> stop screen time. allow your body to produce the melatonin that it needs in order to fall asleep properly.

❥﹒♡﹒☕﹒ 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 ( + some youtube channels )

here are some spotify playlists / youtube channels that i put in the background and help me concentrate on studying for hours.

🎧. this spotify playlist

🎧. this spotify playlist

🎧. this spotify playlist

🎧. this youtube channel

🎧. this youtube channel

🎧. this youtube channel

🎧. this youtube channel

🎧. this youtube channel

if you weren't ready you wouldn't have the opportunity.

if you weren't capable of it you wouldn't have the desire.

study hard. no matter if it seems impossible. no matter if it takes time. wake up early and start studying for your future. just remember that the feeling of success is the best feeling in the world.

one of my goals in life is to write an article that gets published and have someone somewhere in the world that reads it and thinks "damn, i wish i could talk with this person, i like how they think".

complaining about the degree i chose myself ( season 1 episode 1 )

just finished a big project which will weight ⅓ of the final grade. honestly i'm not satisfied with it at all; i think it could have come out much better, but now alea iacta est. it's not entirely my fault tho. it was a damn group project. conclusion: i hate group projects, i hope it still goes decently.

uptade: i've got an A

complaining about the degree i chose myself ( season 1 episode 1 )

just finished a big project which will weight ⅓ of the final grade. honestly i'm not satisfied with it at all; i think it could have come out much better, but now alea iacta est. it's not entirely my fault tho. it was a damn group project. conclusion: i hate group projects, i hope it still goes decently.

your competition isn't other people.

it's your procrastination, your ego, the unhealthy food you're consuming, the knowledge you neglect, the negative behavior you're nurturing and your lack of creativity.

compete against that.

tw unhealthy coping mechanisms

i love posting motivational quotes and talking about healthy ways to find balance in life and school. but the truth is that my routine looks more like:

neglecting basic needs while working on the assignment because i procrastinated too much

submit the aforementioned assignment

rotting in my bed until further notice

remember that in a few years you won't care how long it took, you will just be grateful that you started then and that you didn't give up.

❥﹒♡﹒☕﹒ 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆

𝟭. high quality sleep ( 💤 )

never put your sleep on the back burner, 8 hours are not even enough, the younger you are the more you need sleep, especially if you are a woman. adult women generally need to sleep 9/10 hours a night, obviously the amount of sleep needed for rest depends from person to person, but always try to have a good, consistent sleep at night. if you ever think about sacrificing your sleep to study and/or procrastinate, know that you're only hurting yourself in the long run. without adequate rest, you will not be able to function properly and perform at your best the next day.

𝟮. eat nutritious meals ( 🍜 )

when was the last time you ate a nutritious, warm, homemade meal, honey? you should eat at least (AT LEAST) 3 times a day a real, cooked, warm meal that provide you with the proteins, fats and sugars your body needs to function normally. throw away packaged and over-processed snacks, they don't meet your energy needs and are simply full of empty calories that will make you feel sick and don't help your beautiful brain to function. eat lots of protein, which helps you build the muscle mass that keeps you healthy (i'll post about that) and healthy fats which keep your beautiful brain working – the brain is mostly made up of fats so don't be afraid of them! the important thing is to eat healthy fats that are good for our body.

𝟯. less is more ( 🧩 )

do less to achieve more. if you've ever made an absolutely unrealistic to-do list, raise your hand. overwhelmed by a thousand things to do we will never be able to make consistent progress in an area that interests us. it is not possible to do everything all the time and do it well, inevitably our energy runs out, our level of attention drops and we end up doing a little bit of everything badly. not all tasks can have priority, choose what to focus on and stick with it.

𝟰. be gentle with yourself ( 🌾 )

you're really giving it your all, why be so hard on yourself? the things you have done, the goals you have achieved, you should be proud of yourself and smile about it. demanding too much from your body will not lead to anything except burnout, remember that you are a person and not a machine, that you are not made to make every single hour of your day productive, and that it is okay to rest, because only thanks to rest you can face your day with the necessary energy.

the day i get rid of my crazy fear of failure and my procrastination, it will be over for you all.