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.
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.