Struggle with procrastination due to digital addiction

[Kokorec]

Hey hello I've been here lurking for a while and decided to ask for help and percpective on the given title.

Last year in my first year of a CS degree I failed due to not working at all except a day or two before finals. Did Not meet the credit quota for the second semester. I failed and went back to my home country for 8 months. Now I am back in the country where I am studying and I will be studying and plan on passing the same course.

Whenever I start studying I distract myself with digital media. Even though I made it hard to reach certain sites and apps but since I have to study on a computer the distractions are always a few clicks away.

I was a spoiled and unattended kid. Parents gave me a laptop at 7 and since then it's been my precise little escape from myself and the world whenever something is "unpleasurable". I haven't done anything tedious or diligent by myself. So if I feel bored or stuck while studying I distract myself in any way possible.

I considered the narrative that computer science was not my purpose in life and maybe that was the reason for all of this but the thing is that I don't do diligent work for anything. On the meaning and purpose side I have many things going on too. I have been into computers and games since I was a child. CS pays well(important point since I am from a third world country and gotta stand on my own two feet). Even though there are many more points why this is the optimal path in life for me it isn't working out.

Uni will start in a couple of weeks and I am not working near enough. I am back in the spiral of anxiety about study-sit down for study-distract myself whenever there is something unpleasurable-have guilt/shame-more anxiety. I feel like I am an incompetent lazy child. I need a way to get out of this rut.

Not so fun fact, this is the last chance for me if I fail this time i will have to go back permanently.

Would love to hear suggestion and takes on this.pls

tldr: struggling with uni due to digital addiction, asking suggestions, seeking a way out

[Rigel]

Embrace your suffering like it’s your own child. You distract yourself cause you can’t bear boredom. Stop. Suffer. Don’t try to escape it. Scream into a pillow & cry if you need to. The solution is very simple. Cut out the distraction & suffer. SUFFER! suffering is good. You know exactly what to do. This post is just another way to try & weasel your way out of it. There’s nothing we can tell you that you don’t already know.

[lostingenosmaze]

Look into bullet journaling. Coined by a graphic designer who has ADHD himself. I have his book and it helped me alot:

 

 

[Ramanujan]

@Kokorec  learn to use a software called Anki . it is available in mobile version for android , ios , windows. Anki is a good tool for memmorising stuff

read a book called make it stick . it has a lot of scientific study on how to study things

 

use anki to learn your carriculam and pass the exams . read make it stick for understanding how we learn

[Kokorec]

@Rigel Hey it worked. After accepting suffering of boredom and all of the other unpleasant things I feel rather empty(which is a state that feels much better for study) instead of feeling agitated. Thx

[Kokorec]

4 hours ago, Ramanujan said:

learn to use a software called Anki . it is available in mobile version for android , ios , windows. Anki is a good tool for memmorising stuff

@Ramanujan it seems like a tool that I can use to memorize functions both in calc and C. I can give it a shot.

4 hours ago, Ramanujan said:

read a book called make it stick . it has a lot of scientific study on how to study things

Sure I'll take a look at it.

[Treewatcher]

On 14/09/2024 at 0:58 PM, Kokorec said:

@Rigel Hey it worked. After accepting suffering of boredom and all of the other unpleasant things I feel rather empty(which is a state that feels much better for study) instead of feeling agitated. Thx

Damn nice. I need to follow suit. Could you tell about what happened?

[shenanigans]

 

On 9/13/2024 at 11:57 PM, Ramanujan said:

On 9/13/2024 at 4:21 PM, lostingenosmaze said:

Look into bullet journaling. Coined by a graphic designer who has ADHD himself. I have his book and it helped me alot:

 

 

@Kokorec  learn to use a software called Anki . it is available in mobile version for android , ios , windows. Anki is a good tool for memmorising stuff

read a book called make it stick . it has a lot of scientific study on how to study things

 

use anki to learn your carriculam and pass the exams . read make it stick for understanding how we learn

Nah, physical notebooks are overrated. If it's your fetish, they may feel sexy to write in, but ultimately in 2024, there's just WAY better stuff out there. I've tried bullet journaling in the past (both with the bullet journaling method, and a journal specifically designed for bulleting (actually, the one shown in the video)) but over the course of just one year, you eventually begin to run out of space and have to buy a new one. There's no instant interconnection or links between concepts and ideas, no search feature, and space is ultimately limited to the physical plane—making them a pain to manage and lug around. In the modern day, this is simply inexcusable.

My recommendation is Obsidian. There's just nothing like it at the moment. It's free, it syncs across multiple devices, stores everything in one file, has an ever-growing community of mods/plug-ins, and is specifically designed to create connections between your notes. This software makes for the perfect commonplace book for all of one's thoughts, insights, and ideas, allowing one's notes to build on top of each other, rather than stagnating over time.

If you want to get started, you can check out one of the threads on the forum right here:

Or just use the website download link:

https://obsidian.md/

Edited September 15 by shenanigans

[Kokorec]

@Treewatcher Imma cut it quick. When I didn't try to do "discipline" or could be called "bulldozering" my way into study and instead felt the nagging boredom and all of the other unpleasant things. I noticed they had a source, base, root. It was a reality I was not accepting, avoiding.

For me this reason was the huge discrepancy between where I was and where I believed I was in terms of academics and the value that I provide for myself, family etc. I accepted that I didn't have anything tangible going on for me. Felt like a bum(still do) but it got me going cause I see where I am at which creates the appropriate drive to study etc.

[Kokorec]

On 14/09/2024 at 0:21 AM, lostingenosmaze said:

Look into bullet journaling. Coined by a graphic designer who has ADHD himself. I have his book and it helped me alot:

 

@lostingenosmaze just checked it now. Seems pretty legit to plan out a number of task and monthly agendas. Rn I just have to study for 6-8 hours and small daily tasks here and there but thx for suggestion maybe I can use something like this in a busy complicated future .

Btw there is one tactic I use for "journaling" I keep a short list of most desired outcomes in my life and read it 3 times a day and think about them throughout the day.