The way Elle Woods, the protagonist of the movie Legally Blonde [2001], ‘locks in’ has always been an inspiration for people who really want to get shit done. The way Elle manages to get into Harvard to win her boyfriend back, and then, after being rejected, starts focusing on her own life, is so inspiring. And you know what the best part of it is? She never adjusts even an inch when it comes to her fashion or lifestyle, and still wins the case.
This act of being in the zone with point-blank focus is a tried and tested experiment by me as well. When I was preparing for defence exams, and I wanted to become an officer so badly that I would do anything for it, I used to give my phone to my mother as a sacrifice. She was given clear instructions: do not give me my phone until I have finished my to-do list for the day.
But Why Locking in Requires ‘Sacrifice’?
I had a vision in my mind that I had to accomplish, and that required my undivided attention. Becoming an officer is not an easy thing, but my willpower in front of Reels is quite weak. I am prone to watching videos, believing I have all the sweet time in the world.
I would pick up my phone to search for a topic, but I don’t know how my finger would click on Instagram and one hour would go by just like that. Then, I would remember- oh shoot, I was studying. I even deleted the app from my phone, believing that I would not get distracted anymore. But the constant notifications from the ‘study groups’ I had joined, Zomato’s flirty notifications, and shopping apps’ messages would irritate me. One ‘ting’ voice and my head would turn towards the phone.
While I tried to stop myself from reaching for my phone, the process of reading, making notes, memorising everything, taking regular tests, and maintaining consistency would sometimes make me lose confidence too.
I remember reading the chapter on Parliament in Indian Polity one morning. The chapter covered everything from the structure and functioning of Parliament to the roles of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the Speaker, along with different parliamentary procedures. After reading all of this, I took a test that night and scored 3/10. The questions were statement-based, and every option seemed correct to me.
When I opened Telegram, I saw other aspirants calling Parliament the easiest chapter, saying the type of questions and answers were fixed. I thought, Am I that dumb? I’m scoring 3/10, and people are calling this chapter easy? This all led me to question myself and my decision to prepare for the exam.
And I thought it was all because of this phone.
Due to all of this, I made the sacrifice and gave my phone to my mother.
Lock-In Sacrifice That Would Irritate Me
But I will be honest with you. On the first day I gave my phone to my mother, I sat down with the attitude that today, my path to becoming an officer had officially started. That enthusiasm lasted for exactly 45 minutes. And then I slept for two hours.
By the time I woke up, my willpower hit its lowest record. I would even skip my syllabus, thinking I could catch up on it the following day.
But that wasn’t easy at all. I still feel ashamed of all the times I used to say, ‘Just give me my phone for 15 minutes, and I will give it back.’
Was my motivation to clear those exams lacking? Absolutely not.
But I still wanted my phone. And sometimes, I used to regret choosing my mother as the custodian of my phone because that lady is a disciplinarian. She would literally do anything but give me my phone.
I felt this whole process was a punishment because I took away my own choice. I did it to be away from my distractions, and getting the phone back was becoming my distraction.
That’s when I realised that keeping my phone away was one thing, but actually sitting down and studying was another. Removing the distraction didn’t automatically make the work interesting, and it certainly didn’t mean I could concentrate for hours just because I had decided to.
This is the time when one feels most alone and searches for comfort, and I found it online (I got it after I told my mom that I needed it for studying).
Internet Has Been Doing This Too
I thought I was the only one who needed to go to such extremes to get things done. But then people on the internet were doing the same thing, just in different ways. There was this whole fad around the 75 Hard challenge, dopamine detox, Monk Mode, and all those other challenges. All having the same winning arc: that you have got to become indispensable and take charge of the chariot of your life.
In fact, in most of the motivational speeches I’ve heard, I’ve seen people pitching the same idea: ‘Disappear for six months, and be ahead of everyone.’
And this is the mindset we perhaps need more than ever. See, earlier people didn’t have this kind of technology; millennials grew up with technology but with more restricted usage, and we are practically children of the Internet.
The sheer number of videos telling us how to fix our lives, build discipline, wake up at 5 am or become a completely different person in six months is insane.
And when those very videos become a distraction too, the idea of shutting everything out sounds like the best possible decision one could take. This is why locking in feels like a necessity now.
Boring, Frustrating, but Did It Work?
And if you ask me for my unsolicited opinion, I would say locking in is one of the most boring things you have to do. There were days when I wouldn’t study at all; I wasn’t a perfectly disciplined person at all, just because my phone was with my mother.
But once I started breaking down my obstacles and setting achievable goals, I found it a little easier. The feeling of ticking things off my to-do list gave me a hell lot of satisfaction. Gradually, I could see that I was getting things done.
And yes, I cleared my written exams multiple times because of it. So, yeah, locking in might actually be helpful.
