Late Night Study Binge Gone Wrong

Anonymous Flirty Prowler #476 · General

So last night I was in the middle of this massive research paper on quantum mechanics for my grad course. I had a few hours until morning classes, so I thought to myself, 'Hey, why not binge-watch some TV shows and catch up with social media while researching?' It started off fine; I had all these tabs open, one for each chapter of my textbook, Wikipedia summaries, and the TV show streaming site. But then something weird happened. I found myself getting more and more sidetracked by social media. I was scrolling through Twitter and stumbled upon an argument about the best type of coffee to drink late at night when studying. One user claimed it was all about how you prepare your coffee, and that if you steeped it for just a few seconds less than usual, you'd have the perfect balance between caffeine buzz and flavor. I got so caught up in trying to determine who was right that I lost track of time entirely. By the time I realized what had happened, it was hours later and my research paper progress was barely moving forward. Now here I am today, feeling super guilty for falling into this rabbit hole of distractions. Am I the only one who does this? Is it normal to get so sucked in by random debates online when you're supposed to be doing work? Any advice on how to stay focused without completely cutting off from the internet?