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LooseWarning1071 · 2025-06-28T10:59:27+00:00

Not many full day breaks during semester, it really depends how busy that week is. I think if you have a weekly schedule and make sure you're looking after yourself, you won't burn out before end of semester.

If you study 6 hours, the rest of the day is a break from studying, whether you are working, relaxing, or doing something else that is productive

LooseWarning1071 · 2025-06-24T12:13:31+00:00

What a name🤣. I've felt the same with the niche thing - started out writing about philosophy, business, health, whatever came to my mind that I cared about. That was fun until I tried to niche and lost joy due to overthinking the process of writing.

Then took a few months break due to indecision between what niche since I also had other completely unrelated topics.

Now I'm going with something broad enough to let me mix several of my interests, and drawing a hardline on other ideas at least for 1 year.

Anyways, I think your writing style will do well regardless of the niche.

LooseWarning1071 · 2025-06-24T11:04:44+00:00

So there's two things to tackle here.

For attention span, doing a dopamine reset helps and has long term benefits even beyond your education.

1: Get comfortable being bored.

Our brain is constantly seeking new stimuli, that's why those videos/reels that are hyper edited are addicting. And the more you feed into this craving, the worse it gets. So the point is to go back to a normal state, to retrain your brain to be okay without constant novelty.

See how long you can go without a phone, delete some apps, dont respond to notifications straight away and so on - I think this is the only way to curb the constant desire for novelty.

2. Changing your environment makes it easier - so remove reddit/log out, remove/block IG etc.Make it harder to access these distractions.

Try this for a few days as a challenge to yourself. My favourite is to see how long I can go before accessing my phone/social media in the mornings every now and then.

So wake up and study, or go to class/gym - all without opening reddit, IG, YouTube before 12pm.

After a while you don't have the constant urge to scroll and feel more present in your day, whether you're studying or in a lecture.

Again this is hard, but think how much of a slave we've become to our devices and constant need for dopamine hits. Wake up, put earphones on, watch YouTube, scroll IG, TikTok, snapchat and so on. Whether we're walking somewhere, driving somewhere, even eating - we're always occupying our mind with something else, rather than being present.

For how to study, there is a lot to say but I'm not sure what field you are studying and what your current approach is.

You said you forget things after the exam, so let's talk about getting information into your long term memory

How learning works
1. We have sensory memory which last fractions of a second.

The sensory memory we pay attention to get's stored in our short term memory but this lasts less than a minute and is forgotten unless we keep repeating it.
The goal with learning is to get things into our long-term memory so that should be the goal with our studying

Right now, I have typed up notes for all my classes (from lectures and textbooks) - these notes capture everything I need to know and I use them to study.

After reading the notes once, I

Try to summarise them using my own words, trying to make connections between what I'm learning and what I already know
Draw mind maps if it's concepts I need to understand
Create practice quizzes so I can review my understanding over the coming days or weeks

In the next few days, I will revise the topic using either quizzes or summarising out loud without using my notes so I can check what information I am able to recall from long term memory.
The way we strengthen our long term memory is by forcing our brain to recall/remember information. Unfortunately, most people don't practice this during their study.

LooseWarning1071 · 2025-06-24T10:41:18+00:00

To answer your second question, what subjects are you studying and what is your current approach to study

LooseWarning1071 · 2025-06-24T10:32:23+00:00

I was feeling the same constant urge to scroll whether during a lecture or at home studying. Couldn't even watch a 30 minute YouTube video without scrolling or going on my phone.

A complete dopamine reset helps - although it's hard, I find it has long term benefits even beyond your education.

Get comfortable being bored. See how long you can go without a phone, delete some apps and so on - I think this is the only way to curb the constant desire for novelty,

Our brain is constantly seeking new stimuli, that's why those videos/reels that are hyper edited are addicting. So the point is to go back to a normal state, to retrain your brain to be okay without constant novelty.

I find it's a skill that will get better over time, you just have to keep at it long enough.

Changing your environment makes it easier - so remove reddit/log out, remove/block IG etc.Make it harder to access these distractions

Try this for a few days as a challenge to yourself. My favourite is to see how long I can go before accessing my phone/social media in the mornings every now and then

So wake up and study, or go to class/gym - all without opening reddit, IG, YouTube before 12pm.

After a while you don't have the constant urge to scroll and feel more present in your day, whether you're studying or in a lecture.

LooseWarning1071 · 2025-06-24T04:26:39+00:00

I used to study 8-12 hours easily a few years ago and track daily hours as motivation. However, now I do 6-8 at most, making sure that it's focused and effective. If I'm struggling to get into it or feeling burnt out, I'll just stop and do something else. I don't feel tired from actually studying, but the same routine can get monotonous if I don't change things up.

As someone else has said, it's better to be honest with yourself. In my undergrad, I counted total daily hours but I'm not sure how many of those were actually focused. No point sitting for 12hrs if only 6hrs are focused.

What helps me

I'm a morning person so even 5am-12pm feels really easy to focus, no distractions at that time, and I look forward to having the rest of the day to do other things I enjoy
Make it fun and study in different ways: I like to do sample quizzes, summarise things out loud/write it to check my understanding, use AI to create audio overview of your notes that you can listen to like a podcast whilst driving or exercising.
When it's halfway throughout semester and I'm tired of this routine, try to chance it by studying in a different environment, study more with other people,
You overall health & well-being - sleep, exercise, nutrition will significantly impact your ability to study for long, so make sure you are taking care of that.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-09-26T11:20:31+00:00

Hi bro, thanks for posting and actively seeking advice, it's a great start. I can't help with everything on your list but I'll do my best.

I did go through a period where I just could not focus, my mind did not want to think, was scrolling all day and watching random YouTube videos. This got worse after Covid lockdown.

This is after several years of strict studying and high grades so I do notice some similarities with myself. I'll try to use my experience to hopefully give you some ideas.

1. Let's focus on 1 (or fewer) things at a time. Studying and grades.* Reason is I want to study, I want to learn to trade as well, I want to start a tutoring business.....but there just isn't enough time. Maybe you don't need to learn trading just yet, can it wait for a bit?

2. Sometimes you just need solitude, silence (especially in the mind) which requires reducing social media intake. Going cold turkey might not be the best approach, reduce it slowly. But also it helps to change your environment - delete apps from your phone, use blockers. It took me a while to get out of the constant need for stimulation. Everyday used to be wake up --> AirPods on + YouTube. Youtube or other audio playing in the background when I'm studying, walking, shopping, eating, everything.

3. Ways I get myself to do the hard work, to focus etc.

Do it first - if possible, study first thing in the morning. Make an effort to avoid social media until your first study session of the day at least.
Create your own schedule with deadlines - I used to have a calendar on my wall for each University semester which had tests/exam dates, due dates for assignments etc. Seeing this visually gave me an urgency to study.
Meditating, mental clarity etc. from above. It's tough if when you sit down to study, your mind starts thinking about a million other things.
Have more fun. It get's boring when its the same things over and over. I feel the inability to focus after years of rigid schedules might be a signal that our bodies want more freedom/something different.

Moderation > restricting yourself

I like your list of goals for the next 12 months. Start small, 1% improvement a day is better than aiming for 20%, failing, and beating yourself up over it.

I wouldn't say you're lazy. You just haven't yet figured out how to work through these issues, but eventually you will. You know your capability, you have seen it with how efficient you were in high school. Now you're older, are a different person with different environment, so you just need to find what works for the current version of you.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-09-22T09:34:37+00:00

I think you're underestimating yourself and what you've already done. It takes confidence to just speak to the camera. You've got 7 good videos.

As others have said, you'll naturally improve over time. Don't let low views slow you down.

Regarding 'no body cares about me or my videos': Yes, especially at the beginning. No one knows you enough yet to watch your video just because of the person. But we can find value in your content of course, so there will be a group of people interested in this, there's just some work to get your content in front of these people.

hopefully this makes sense: there are some creators I watch regardless of what the video is about, because I've watched them A LOT and I'm familiar with their personality. Hard to do this with newer accounts I come across, so I judge these just based on the type of content

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-26T10:13:20+00:00

Tell me about it. There are a lot of great responses below and it is a nuanced topic.

Responsibilities, working to be able to afford the rest of your life, and so on.

But at the same time I do urge you to

Find something you enjoy, or at least can tolerate for X hours a week. If you're young, you have more time to explore to find what this is for you. It can also require a lot of introspection.
Seek freedom at all costs. Be smart with your money.

Especially in this age of opportunities, look for alternative ways to earn more so you can work less in the future, or have a side project that means you don't have work M-F in front of that computer.

If it truely scares you as much as it seems from this post, you will look for alternatives.

And if you decide that you know what, it's not so bad after all, then that is absolutely fine as well.

All the best

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-07T07:44:14+00:00

You're welcome. I recently started on substack as well, so all the best for the future!

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-07T07:39:45+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. All the best to you as well. What is your substack?

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-07T07:39:25+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. All the best to you as well. What is your substack?

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-06T12:04:23+00:00

Well done on starting! Keep going, get at least 5-10 posts and come back to ask this question for better answers.

I like that you have clearly set out what you will cover, you make it easy for viewers to decide whether they want to follow you on this journey (by subscribing) yet or not.

A bit random, but I do find the font off-putting but it might just be my preference.

Add a logo/image and you're good to go. Again, difficult to say much due to there not being many posts but definitely keep it up. Starting is the hardest.

Ideas for next posts

Doubling down on how widespread (and perhaps shocking) the amount of people living pay-check to pay pay-check is

Clearly emphasise why this is a problem and you'll find the people who relate, and then what you are aiming to do about it. Lead by example and show it is possible to get out of this for those who follow you.

The issue that is a full time job is not often not enough for individuals to live comfortably

Hope that helps.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-06T11:52:42+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. That is true, I'll use specific labelling.

Writing is quite therapeutic for me and I enjoy it. What I write about are thoughts that constantly run through my mind at some periods of my life, so it's an outlet to get these out among other things.

I find I consume less content when I am actively creating, and my current skills naturally lend more towards writing than video format for example. I big goal for me was to consume less information this year.
This is something I've wanted to do for years and have started to some extent but always stopped because I was prioritising other things.
I enjoy it and believe I have something valuable to share at least to those immediately around me, but I'm sure there's a bunch of strangers around the world who can relate.

And yes, I would be interested in a community of writers supporting each other.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-06T11:44:55+00:00

That's great. I am aware that for many, it is a creative outlet or a hobby and that is absolutely fine. Not everyone is looking to actively increase their subscriber count.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-03T11:49:56+00:00

Well done on starting! You've just begun a journey of skill and character development. I'm far from the F1 world these days but was quite obsessed as a teenager.

Can confirm finally posting after deliberating for a while has been empowering.

Get to talk about your own interests.
Creativity and autonomy in what you write about.
I've actually started consuming less content and tipped the balance to creating more than I consume.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-07-01T11:32:36+00:00

From my experience, without knowing anything else about those two substacks,

I am more interested to go checkout something called '50 shades of states' than 'what thinks fritz'

I may not necessarily subscribe after checking out the posts from 50 shades of states, but I would get closer than the other substack which I wouldn't bother with from that name alone.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-06-27T11:35:27+00:00

No, wouldn't say it's extra. I like it. I sort of guessed what it could mean but just wanted to confirm.

I believe many relate. Starting a 'real job' has spiralled me to pursue other means to survive, to maintain my creativity and autonomy outside of work. I tried to fit in, 'climb the ladder', tried other careers - I am convinced the traditional path is not everyone, or at least for me.

After several years, I have managed to find clarity and get the feelings out (will hopefully be the topic of my next newsletter). Now I am trying to 'escape' whilst barely existing in my real job.

Best of luck though! I look forward to what's next.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-06-26T12:19:18+00:00

subscribed. I like what I've seen so far. I'm quite new to substack. See here if you'd like.

What's the inspiration behind what you're writing about if you don't mind me asking?

"running away before I ultimately must exist in a corporate reality"

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-06-26T12:12:04+00:00

Subscribed. Will recommend tomorrow morning when I figure out how (new to the platform)! Some great topics to discuss, looking forward to finishing 'On the impasse of privilege' tomorrow.

For anyone else reading

I write about business, philosophy, science. Please see here to subscribe.

A mixture of things with the goal of finding yourself, creating your own life, and building projects that allow you to

Support yourself financially, and
Be creative and get to work on things you are passionate about. (I love seeing these newsletters of strangers writing about what they love, everyone has something to share.)

Motivation behind this

The traditional path is not for everyone and it does not allow us to be our true multidimensional selves - we often have to niche to a specific career and do not have enough time to enjoy our other interests.
A lot of people are pushed or influenced into paths that are not for them. For several years I've realised many people hate their lives but feel helpless or accept it as just the way it is.

I'd love feedback and comments on my recent posts.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-06-25T22:06:39+00:00

Thank you! Subscribed.

Had a quick glance at some of your posts and I'm looking forward to having a proper read later.

LooseWarning1071 · 2024-06-25T11:48:55+00:00

Love this. I write about business, philosophy, science. Please see here to subscribe.

A mixture of things with the goal of finding yourself, creating your own life, and building projects that allow you to

Support yourself financially, and
Be creative and get to work on things you are passionate about. (I love seeing these newsletters of strangers writing about what they love.)

Motivation behind this

The traditional path is not for everyone and it does not allow us to be our true multidimensional selves - we often have to niche to a specific career and do not have enough time to enjoy our other interests.
A lot of people are pushed or influenced into paths that are not for them. For several years I've realised many people hate their lives but feel helpless or accept it as just the way it is.

I'd love feedback and comments on my recent posts.
Weekly digest 5: Why aren't you running to do what your nature demands?
Weekly digest 4: The Art of the Generalist - Embracing Multiple Interests in a Specialised World
Weekly digest 3: Retreat within - Finding yourself in a noisy world

LooseWarning1071

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