09:33 Starting to Study

Last night, I spent some time tinkering with my phone again, but luckily, I went to bed relatively early.

Maintaining a slight sense of hunger and fatigue can help foster a more disciplined and proactive lifestyle.

11:49 Lemon + Cured Meat

Adding two slices of lemon when blanching cured meat can bring out a unique aroma while also reducing the oxidized taste of the meat.

The main reason eggs stick to the pan is that the pan and oil aren’t hot enough. On an induction stove, try to crack the egg closer to the center of the pan.

15:50 Considering Root Access from a Consumer’s Perspective

The purpose of rooting is to gain control over the system. I suddenly realized that the notification importance settings were missing. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was because I had restored the native notification importance settings using Cemiuiler. My new phone isn’t rooted, so I couldn’t adjust the settings.

19:48 Tweaking the Equalizer on the Xiaomi 15

I noticed that the Xiaomi 15’s external speakers don’t sound as good as the Xiaomi 10’s—they’re particularly harsh and lack fullness. After checking online to see how others adjusted their equalizers, I learned a bit about the principles behind equalizer tuning. It improved slightly, but only by a tiny bit.

23:16 How to improve concentration

The inertia of laziness is still quite hard to overcome, which makes creating a conducive learning or working environment especially important. But how do you create one? Generally, there are four main influencing factors:

  1. Establishing Rules. Setting rules helps maintain high focus. The most critical aspects are enforceability and unavoidable consequences—the former ensures practicality, while the latter serves as a negative feedback mechanism. For example, in libraries or classrooms, loud noise will draw disapproval from others, an unavoidable consequence that encourages focus in such spaces.
  2. Group Effect. This leverages human psychology—people tend to mimic others to fit in. Additionally, people usually care about how others perceive them. To shape their image, individuals in groups consciously imitate productive behaviors. Combined with personal motivation, this makes people more focused in specific group settings.
  3. Eliminating Distractions. By keeping potential distractions—whether objects or people—out of sight or reach, external interruptions are minimized, helping sustain focus.
  4. Choosing the Right Task. The nature of the work or study material significantly impacts focus. For instance, we often concentrate intensely while gaming, competing, or watching TV shows. Tasks that provide immediate positive feedback are more likely to hold our attention, even to the point of addiction. Conversely, activities requiring long-term effort with unpredictable setbacks—like preparing for grad school or civil service exams—often trigger subconscious resistance, undermining focus.

In summary, maintaining focus while working alone on long-term, low-reward tasks is extremely challenging. Forcing yourself to concentrate might backfire. Instead, try creating enforceable personal rules with unavoidable consequences, joining online communities of like-minded individuals, and using tools like screen locks or Pomodoro timers. Overcoming subconscious resistance by adopting a broader perspective is key to improving focus—but this requires extensive exploration and practice.