We all have nights that require focus, energy, and. of course. initiative whether it be for a project, test, or paper. This can be the night before a due date or two nights before one. Due to our knowledge of this, we sometimes like to unwind prior to or during our academic expeditions. Here lies the problem… A lot of my colleagues and I have talked about cutting down on these, especially considering that college is right around the corner. While we all go to different gateways that distract us, I have listed the three most consistent that appear.

• YouTube
  • Probably the most popular gateway, YouTube, especially with the autoplay feature, can throw you in a seemingly endless pattern where you watch video after video. What starts off as a three-minute video can turn into hours of continued watching. It is best to turn off the autoplay feature or not even open the site at all when studying.
• Any Streaming Service
  • The same idea from point one can be applied for streaming services. Whether it be Netflix, Hulu, or any other streaming service, the primary goal remains the same. Their goal is to keep you on their site as long as possible. With episodes or movies ranging from a half-hour to 90 minutes, even watching one can cost you a lot of time. But when binge-watching a series, it is the most tempting thing in the world to believe you will only watch one more and press next episode. This is usually an error most of us will commit.
• Netclassroom
  • Yes, I said it. I know what you are thinking too. How can such a simple site be so distracting? If you are like me and many of my colleagues, you like to know what comes next and what your next moves are. So you will look at your future assignments and look into class details for all your classes. For all you mathematicians out there, you will also calculate your future grade depending on what you get on your future projects, tests, or papers. While this is technically academic, I promise calculating your future grade rather than working does not pay off.