Your phone kills your academics. That is the simplest way to say it. But why, psychologically, do we continue to use them despite knowing that they are bad for us?
Here are some quick FAQ's about your phone
For every extra hour of phone time, the average student falls 7 places in their class ranking
82% of students directly admit that their phone usage is impairing their academics significantly.
Excessive short-form content is often associated with poor memory in the short term
Over-consumption of content kills your dopamine, leaving you little-to-no satisfaction for doing anything else
The truth is actually extremely simple. Our brains want the shortest path to dopamine, all the time. The potential dopamine gained by doing a good study session is very hard for the brain to comprehend when you have a brick of infinite dopamine-rushing entertainment in your hand. In other words, it's not technically your fault.
What is your fault though, is what you did 15 minutes ago, when you started studying. You made an extremely grave error. From the moment you made this error, that study session was going to go two ways:
1. Fall to your desires and scroll Instagram every few minutes. Don't study. Then feel bad about not studying. Then go on your phone because that makes you feel better. Then feel guilty again. Then go on your phone again. Repeat.
2. Spend the entire study session wasting your brain energy and willpower trying not to pick up your phone. Every notification unread is a dagger to your dopamine, and every time your phone buzzes it takes the world's power not to pick it up. By the end of the session, you are more exhausted from not picking up your phone than from actually studying.
You see, the horrific mistake you made was simple. You put your laptop and book in front of you, but then you also put your phone there. From the moment your phone was next to you, no study was going to happen.
The solution, then, is to avoid this entire situation through preventative action. There is a number of ways we've seen this work successfully:
KILL YOUR PHONE: power it off and put it somewhere unreachable.
The toddler method: get a parent, guardian, or sibling to hide your phone for an hour, and to not give it back until you finish studying. If you are worried about emergencies etc., tell them to keep an eye out for repeated calls or texts.
Screen time: Most phones come with software that allows you to limit the time you spend on apps.
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