Do people read these? Ig we'll find out! But I wanted to share some recent thoughts and discoveries I've made recently, and hopefully they'll be helpful.

I know we've all heard the lecture time and time again about how bad phones are, how they're rotting our brains, etc, etc. I think we can all acknowledge that spending 2 hours scrolling on a phone or watching youtube on your computer is a waste of time. But almost as dangerous is the smaller, shorter uses. Checking your phone in the morning, or while you're walking somewhere, or even going to the bathroom. There's so many small snatches of inactivity or silence throughout our day that we are desperate to fill with something. Sometimes phone use, or music, or the Shard, or whatever it is. 
But these brief moments of silence are important, and we shouldn't rush to fill them. The past month or so, I've started walking to all my classes with my phone and earbuds in my backpack, where I can't easily access them. In doing so, I'm only left with my thoughts, and nature. I find myself appreciating more little things, like the big tree I walk by every day on my way to breakfast. But most importantly, it gives me more time with my thoughts. Oftentimes, a lot of our stress and anxiety is generated by suppressed emotions, and we often suppress them simply because we never take time to process and think, because we always fill up those spare moments with something else. Ofc, oftentimes we don't want to stop and think, and so phones (or whatever it is for you) become an easy avenue of escape, to scroll mindlessly instead of facing our own problems and emotions. 
Sometimes, when life isn't going well, we don't want to reflect on what we're feeling and what's bothering us, because it's painful. But if you can't identify what's causing you emotional and mental stress, you'll never find a way to fix those problems. Not cope with them, but fix them. 
Yes, having a dedicated time for meditation is good, and I encourage that as well. But I encourage you to take small moments throughout the day to really think and reflect, to analyze yourself honestly and objectively. Think about what's causing you the most stress emotionally and mentally, and think about what practical, concrete steps you can take to either change that cause, or change your response to it. 

* One more note on music (maybe I'll make another post about it more in depth about its Psychological effects), it's not inherently bad. Music can be both helpful and harmful to us. But if you're the type of person to listen to music all the time, take some time to just have silence, and really think. If you can drive, take some drives without listening to anything, as that's a great time for thinking.

** If you don't have a phone, I get this may not be as applicable to you. But it's still good to take time to really think. And also appreciate not having a phone, however cool it may seem