It was 11:47 p.m. when Dazy finally looked up from her phone. Her notes were open in front of her, untouched for almost an hour. She had started with the intention of revising a tough chapter for her mid-sem exam. But somewhere between replying to a friend’s message, watching “just one” reel, checking her class WhatsApp group for updates, and scrolling through an online store, time had quietly slipped away. When she finally put the phone down, her head buzzed not with formulas or ideas but with fragments of songs, images, and conversations. It was as if her mind had been running a marathon while sitting still. Sleep didn’t come easily that night. Her thoughts kept spinning on Did I waste too much time again? Will I remember anything tomorrow? Type questions to herself.
The next day in class, Dazy noticed her focus is going on and off. She re-read the same paragraph three times, unable to absorb a single concept. Her eyes were open, but her mind felt scattered on half alert to the lecture, half drawn to the faint vibration of her phone in her bag. By evening, she found herself scrolling again, searching for something she couldn’t quite name. It may be comfort, distraction, connection, or just silence that didn’t feel empty. The phone filled every pause in her day but left her strangely restless when she put it away.
Noticing such a tyrant routine she wrote to the counselor for talk and had shared her concerns. after listening her, The counselor said - “When your phone becomes your pause button, your brain never really rests.”
The session was more about psycho-education on understanding how wiring one’s daily time with social media/internet based content impacts the brain's functioning. For Dazy, those words echoed differently now. It wasn’t just about exam preparation or time management, It was about mental space, which gives your brain a chance to breathe.
The next evening, Dazy tried something small. She left her phone on silent in her drawer for an hour while studying. The silence felt uncomfortable at first, but slowly, her thoughts began to settle. Her eyes didn’t dart to the screen every few minutes. Her notes started to make sense again.
For the first time in weeks, she finished a study session feeling lighter, not drained. It wasn’t magic. It was mindfulness, the simple awareness of how one small device could quietly drain her focus, mood, and calm.
| 
