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Hi friends, welcome back to Podcast and Chill. I'm Gwen.

And I'm Leo.

So, picture this. You sit down with your English books ready to study, but then—ding—your phone lights up.

Your friend just sent you a funny TikTok video. You think, "Okay, it's just 15 seconds." But we all know how this story goes, right? One video becomes 10, 10 becomes 50...

And suddenly you look at the clock and one hour has passed. Now you know all the trending TikTok dances, but zero new English words.

You feel awful. But the worst part, you repeat the same cycle the next day. Well, if this is you, don't be sad. You're just human. Nobody is perfect.

But if you think you're lazy, stop there. Laziness is not the cause.

The real bad guy hides inside your brain. And that's exactly what we'll talk about today.

In this episode, we'll talk about why you fall into this cycle and how to stop it in five easy steps. We'll also help you learn some useful vocabulary later.

So, keep listening until the end.

All right, let's get started. Okay, Leo, who are we blaming today?

Oh, you want me to be the teacher today? All right, sure. Do you want to?

Of course.

Well, the one to blame here is dopamine. You know, the famous "happy chemical."

Now you make our friends even more curious, Leo. Like, why should we blame something that makes us happy?

To answer this question, we first have to look at how dopamine works.

So how does dopamine work, teacher?

Well, when we see something good, our brain makes dopamine. It tells your brain, "Hey, this looks fun. I like it. Let's try it."

Good. For example, Leo sees a new drink at a cafe. He never tried it before, but it looks really tasty on the menu. So, his brain makes dopamine.

And one second later, I'm telling the barista, "Hey, I want that new drink, please." Dopamine also comes after you do something good. Let's say Leo really loves that new drink. So next time he goes to that cafe, his brain makes dopamine again. It tells him to buy that drink again.

So dopamine is like a helper. It shows us what makes us feel good.

Exactly. Dopamine helps you. It's really good for you.

So why do you say it's the one to blame? I'm sure our friends are thinking this right now.

Good question. Dopamine is good if you get the right type, but if you get the wrong type, it can make your life worse.

Right? There are two types: quick and slow. And the bad guy is quick dopamine.

Yes. When we get too much dopamine too fast, we call it a "quick hit" of dopamine, or just quick hit for short. Think of it like a spark. It starts fast and ends fast and you get it very easily with almost no work.

And social media is the king of quick hits.

So true. Social media is full of fun things. Instagram reels, TikTok videos. Um, they're only 15 seconds long. That's shorter than my morning stretch. So, you get dopamine really, really fast.

Exactly. Now, let's go back to the picture we talked about earlier. Dopamine makes you feel excited, so you can't stop scrolling.

And before you know it, you fall into a cycle. One video, 10 videos, one hour gone, and it's hard to stop because you get distracted so easily. Every video is like a little treasure. Something new and fun.

Watch out. That's the trap right there. Once you open it, things can go wrong really fast. Don't feel bad if you can't say no to social media. It's like chocolate. Sweet, tasty, and it makes you happy right away. It's hard to say no to chocolate, right?

True. But it's not good for your health if you eat too much.

Exactly. That's why we should go for the good type of dopamine. I heard studying can give you dopamine, too. The good type.

Yes. But the problem is that studying English is like vegetables. It's good for you, but it's not exciting. And it takes time to make you feel good.

Ha. That's why one minute of studying feels very hard. But one hour of scrolling feels like a party. So, what do we do? We go for the easy thing, right?

Our brain usually goes for easy things. It's just how we work, a habit, but not a good one. If you've ever spent one hour scrolling TikTok instead of studying for 15 minutes, then give us a like to support us because we're about to help you change this habit.

Yep, that's true. We can help you change that habit in only five steps. Let me say that again. Five simple and easy steps. Does your brain like that?

We bet it does. Let's get right into it.

Step 1: Reset Your BrainWhat's the first step, Gwen?

The first thing you should do is to reset your brain. You need to make your brain feel peaceful again, right?

Quick hits of dopamine make you feel excited all the time. The endless excitement gives you no rest and that's why you get tired. And when you're tired for a long time, you can't do anything well.

So, the first thing you need to do is get your peace back. It will help your brain rest.

Wait, does that mean I have to say goodbye to my phone?

If this is your worry, the answer is yes, but also no. Yes, you have to put down your phone, but only for a short time. So, here is what you need to do every day for just 10 to 15 minutes: do nothing. No phone, no music, no TV, just sit.

It might feel so boring, but that's how your brain gets rest and is really good for your brain, right?

When your brain gets easy dopamine from TikTok all day, normal things feel boring. Reading one page of a book feels terrible. You will want to go back to your phone. So, without a phone in our hand, we have to look for interesting things around us. That's how we make learning a new English word exciting again.

It's like when we're hungry, even bad food tastes good.

That's the idea. So friends, remember: giving your brain a break is the first step. Now let's talk about when you have to do something like studying. How can we find it interesting enough to want to do it?

Step 2: Make Things FunThat's our step two. Make things fun.

Can you give us an example?

Sure, Leo. When I say you must practice speaking, how do you feel? Uh, stressed like homework, right? That's because the word "study" creates stress in your brain, and stress is the enemy of fun.

Agreed.

Now, what if I say, "Let's pretend you are a character in a movie. Say the lines out loud."

Huh? Now, that feels interesting. I feel like Brad Pitt.

That's how this step works. You don't change what you do, you change how you see it. Same action, different feeling.

This is really helpful. I am sure you all want to be good at English, but the act of studying the language often feels boring.

That's when you need to be creative. Think of English like a treasure map. Every new word is a clue. When you understand the whole sentence, you found the treasure. Now you are not studying vocabulary anymore. You are hunting for treasures.

Yeah, your brain loves games and adventures. If you think "I am on a treasure hunt," it feels exciting. If you think "I must memorize 50 words," it feels like a house chore.

See how it works? I'm sure that once you get into the right vibe, even the hardest task becomes a fun game. So friends, note it down. Step two, make things fun.

So when is learning English fun for you? When you sing your favorite English songs, even if you're singing the lyrics wrong? Or when you understand a joke in English? Tell us in the comments below. We'd love to know more about you and what's fun for you.