In case you missed it- last week I decided that I wanted to be on my phone less. Now, I love my phone and all the cool technology we have and I don’t think that my phone is ruining my life, but I do think I’m wasting too much time on it. The same goes for social media. I will probably never delete my social media accounts, I have no fight against them, I just personally scroll through Instagram for a little too long. This week wasn’t to prove anything about the dangers of technology or to make a statement on how technology has ruined my life. This week was simply an experiment for me to know that there are lots of other things I can be doing with my time.
Overall, this week was a success. I went into this week thinking that it would be a little bit of a struggle to stay off my phone, but it surprisingly wasn’t that hard. I started last Friday and barely looked at my phone over the weekend. The trick was making sure I had other things to occupy my time, like books to read. When the school week started, it became a little more challenging to keep off my phone while walking to class or waiting for my next class to start.
I had two exams this week that I needed to study for, so I was hopeful that my little experiment would help me stay more focused, and it did. I studied all night long in my living room and left my phone in my bedroom. I’m the kind of studier that stops to take phone breaks as soon as I feel bored with what I’m studying. This time I had no apps to check and managed to work more efficiently than I had before.
I will say there was one time when I had my phone in my room and didn’t have my computer with me so I didn’t get a text from a friend that needed a response from me, but other than that I didn’t really miss out on anything happening. I still checked my social media in the morning, scrolled through a few things or played my word search game. I wasn’t disconnected, just a little less connected than normal.
As the week went on, I did find that I had less resolve to stay off my phone. I would find myself scrolling through some app as my friends and I sat in silence or spending more time on it again before bed. I’m happy, though, because I did reach my goal of using my phone for an hour and a half less than my average phone time last week. Most days my phone time clocked in at around an hour!
If anyone is wishing they spent a little less time on their phone, I just want you to know it’s easier than you think, just go for it. Change doesn’t happen all at once, take little steps to meet any life goals you might have.
Thank you for joining me on my journey, and good luck to anyone out there with a goal of their own!