I study computer science and any time I sit down to code, I just browse or watch Youtube. Anything but do the work. Days and even months have gone by like this where I haven't done even an hour of learning. Its tough because in order to code I need to be in front of a screen but my brain refuses to study and just looks for that dopamine hit. My grades have suffered and I feel like a constant failure.
To clarify this is not an effect of the pandemic but has been happening for the past few years.
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So uhh quick question...
I started reading books again a few years ago by doing reading challenges. Like book bingos or "read 10 minutes a day". It's kinda sad but the gamify-ing of reading and the lil dopamine hit every time I checked off a box helped keep focused and motivated. (I don't have ADHD though, just spend way too much time online.)
I've come to accept "if it's stupid but it works it isn't stupid" as a mantra for this kinda stuff lately. Three weeks ago I explicitly set myself the goal - like I wrote it down explicitly - that I'd read every night, right after dinner, as long or as short as I wanted but I had to at least crack the book. Since then I blasted through The Conquest of Bread and got a good chunk on a novel done. I've only missed two days, after I finished the first book and couldn't decide what to start next. It felt very silly - why couldn't I just read for pleasure whenever I felt like it if I wanted to read? But setting that goal, and putting a check in a notebook when I succeeded, and making a ritual out of it - put dishes in the sink, turn off the computer/TV/phone/everything, pour a beverage of some kind, sit on the couch and do the darn thing - it worked.
I still think I do have ADHD, I was diagnosed as a kid and even though I haven't been treated for it in many many years, I can still see it as a through-line throughout my life that I've sort of managed more-or-less successfully enough to get by. If making little games out of things or setting silly goals and keeping track of how long your streak is going or whatever is what helps manage, then it's a lot better than not doing it.
Yeah you're totally right. And honestly it turned out to be a fantastic decision for me - I became part of that community due to its book bingo and made some fantastic friends, and also I went from reading like two books a year to over 70 a year for the past 3. If it works, it works.
I really like your idea with setting a set time for reading! I'm thinking of doing that for the morning, as I'm trying to chill in front of my SAD lamp for 20 mins anyway. Might as well make it official reading time instead of scrolling through social media haha
That sounds like an awesome idea. I didn't realize it when I was setting the goal, but having that "trigger" was an essential part of the routine for me. I think if I just said "I'll read every day" then it would just be, like, hanging over my head all day making me feel guilty. Instead I took a time that is super unproductive and not conducive to me feeling good about myself - typically I'm just watching random junk and simultaneously scrolling social media and paying attention to neither of them - and use it in a way that makes me feel better.
Try ebooks. You still get to look at a screen and if you can read a comment thread on a forum then you can probably manage to a few paragraphs every now and then
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