Reclaiming My Time - Blog #3

Reclaiming My Time - Blog #3

Or at least attempting to...

Given the options to either stay off all technology for 24 hours during midterms week, or record anytime looked at a screen was not an easy choice. After much deliberation, I realized at college technology is too much of a big part of my life, and unfortunately staying off it would be too hard. Coming to that realization was equally as frightening as it was true.

So...

On Wednesday from the second I woke up to the second I went to bed I recorded my screen usage, (and yes, I do mean from the second I woke up because looking at my phone is the first thing I do in the mornings and the last thing I do at night).

I purposefully chose to record my technology use on a Wednesday, because these are typically one of my busiest days. From 9 am to 9 pm I only have one half-hour break in my schedule. I thought that this would make recording my technology use the easiest because I thought that since my day was so busy my technology use would be less. I was wrong. While I might have been using technology less to kill time and for entertainment, I was still using it a lot, just purposefully. Turns out the success of my Wednesday’s would not be possible without my phone & laptop in hand. Throughout the day I would screenshot / screen record all of my technology use, this is logged below:

7:30 AM Turned off my alarm7:31 AM Opened up a text from one of my best friends, Sam, which was of a Facebook link. The Facebook link didn’t work7:44 AM Picked up my phone to check the weather to pick out my outfit for the day7:45 AM I opened Spotify to play music while I was getting ready. Spotify notified me that I am one of Howard Shore’s top 2% fans. This was a pretty big honor considering my love for the Lord of the Rings is unmatched, so I screenshotted the notification. I chose a playlist and then put down my phone7:46 AM I opened up Instagram and posted to my “Close Friends” story the screenshot that said I was in Howard Shore’s top 2% fans.7:59 AM I had a ton of unopened messages from my family group chat, opened the text thread to read that my mom almost hit a deer. I thumbs downed the message8:13 AM I opened my laptop when I got to the study room in my apartment building. Began playing a study playlist8:24 AM I took a picture of all the Arabic words I wrote out on the marker board to reference later when studying8:34 AM I took another picture of my Arabic on the marker board 8:35 AM Since I was already on my phone I opened it to check more unread messages8:36 AM I saved a picture of my cat that one of my sisters sent in my family group chat8:59 AM While walking to class I opened a few texts from my family group chat.9:00 AM Since I was already on my phone I opened a Facebook notification that my friend commented on a picture I was tagged in.9:01 AM Checked three texts that Sam sent me. Responded to her9:02 AM Responded to my family group chat while waiting for class to start9:26 AM Got my phone out to add a classmate’s number to my phone. Texted her my number9:27 AM Opened her text and left it on read. Opened new messages from my family group chat. Opened a text from my best friend Maggie and responded.9:28 AM Noticed email notifications, opened an email about my application for the house I’m trying to lease next year9:51 AM Opened up my laptop to study Quizlet before my 10:00 exam9:52-54 AM Used the Quizlet “learn” function
9:55 AM Used the Quizlet “learn” function. Then I put away my laptop and phone to study in the classroom with classmates.11:09 AM Opened my phone to text a friend that I was running late to meet them, then put away my phone while I walked to class11:15 AM. Sat down in Einsteins and opened up Instagram to check all my unread direct messages. I had 7 unread DMs responding to the story I posted of the Spotify screenshot. 11:16 AM I responded to my friend David’s and Emma’s DMs. I left the rest of the messages on unread to open later11:23 AM I took a mirror selfie in the Einsteins bathroom11:26 AM Took a selfie with my friend Cam11:27 AM I sent the selfie with Cam to my roommate group chat11:35 AM I read the three messages my roommates had responded11:40 AM Responded to texts from my friend Melissa, Alyssa, Amy, and my roommate group chat11:49 AM Responded to texts from Alyssa11:52 AM Texted my friend Jackson about plans for that evening

The picture of my cat
sent in the family GM

11:57 AM Sent a Snapchat to my roommates11:58 AM Snapchatted my cousin and little sister12:02 PM Responded to texts from Jackson12:36 PM Responded to texts from my best friend group chat, responded to Amy and Alyssa12:55 PM Got out of class and responded to texts confirming lunch plans1:25 PM Responded to Alyssa and my best friend group chat1:38 PM “Liked” a Groupme message about activities we were having that evening1:53 PM I took a picture of my friend in the library pouting about doing homework1:59 PM I went to post the picture of her breakdown onto my “close friends” Instagram story2:00 PM I gave up on the Instagram story and turned off my phone2:20 PM I set a reminder on my phone to get something from a friend later that day2:24 PM I texted to a group chat reminding girls about our club meeting we had2:38 PM Opened up the weather app on my phone to check what temperature it would be the next week when I was vacationing on Spring Break2:59 PM Texted a friend about getting a ride to the club meeting3:08 PM “Liked” her message confirming my ride3:38 PM Responded to a group message confirming that I was picking up catering for our meeting4:07 PM Opened a text from a friend saying she was running late and to start our meeting6:00 PM Responded to a text from my mom and told her that I love her6:01 PM Responded to texts from my roommates telling them that I was free to hang on Friday night6:03 PM Responded to texts from my little sister sharing a memory I had thought of from years earlier6:04 PM I opened a message from my coworker and gave her directions on what to complete6:05 PM Responded to a message about our club6:46 PM Saw a notification of 4 unread messages in my roommate group chat, and one from my mother. Opened the texts6:47 PM Drafted a hard text to my friend Melissa6:48 PM Edited the text and decided not to send it to her7:32 PM Read another text she sent me7:33 PM Walked to the Chapel for another club meeting and called my little sister7:34 PM Had to unconnect from wifi so that the facetime call would work7:35 PM Read texts from my roommates while I was on the phone with her7:36 PM Responded to texts to my roommates while still facetiming my little sister7:38 PM Confirmed which roommates were coming through texts to the club meeting while I was on the phone 7:39 PM The facetime call ended because my phone died 7:40-50 PM Got out my laptop to Facetime Rachel on my Macbook since my phone died
9:15 PM Responded to a text after my club meeting ended9:45 PM Started studying on my laptop again for my Social Media exam the next day9:46 PM Opened up a google doc of the study guide I made9:47 PM Printed off the study guide so that I could study a hard copy instead of on my laptop10:10 PM My nightly alarm to tweet went off. I opened my twitter app10:11 PM Tweeted about studying for the text10:30 PM Opened up the Google doc to get to a Quizlet link10:31 PM Opened up Quizlet10:32 PM Responded to texts on my laptop10:33-40 PM Did the “Learn” function on Quizlet
10:44 PM Put on a Spotify playlist to drive with my friends to11:14 PM Received a call from my parents and got concerned11:15 PM Talked to my parents on the phone11:16 PM Listened to my parents talking at me11:17 PM Ended the phone call11:25 PM Responded to a text my mom just sent me11:27 PM Opened another text my mom sent me and responded11:30 PM Opened another text from my mom and told her I was going to bed soon and couldn’t talk11:45 PM Texted my friend back11:45-53 PM Reviewed terms on my laptop on Quizlet11:51 PM Reviewed terms on my laptop on Quizlet11:52 PM Reviewed terms on my laptop on Quizlet11:53 PM Reviewed terms on my laptop on Quizlet11:54 PM Opened up the Google Doc to review more terms11:55 PM Scrolled through the Google Doc11:56 PM Finished reviewing 

11:59 PM Set alarms on my phone for the next morning

 Overall, I was on my phone for a total of 112 minutes. Even though I didn’t consciously go on my phone or laptop

When Spotify notified me that
               I listen to the LOTR soundtrack
               so much that I'm in Howard
            Shore's top 2% fans.

unless I had a very specific task in mind, I spent almost TWO hours of my day on a screen. This is even crazier when you account for the time I spent texting which was by far my largest tool for social connection. I spent 47 minutes of my 112 minutes of screen time in total texting. The next social media app I used the most was Instagram with a grand total of 5 minutes spent on it. While this doesn’t seem like a long time, my goal was to not even open the app once during this day. I’m constantly trying to monitor the time I spend on social media, but specifically Instagram since it is the social media platform I use the most.

Twitter is the second platform I use the most. According to the log I took I only used it for two minutes, which was when I was doing my daily tweet, but some days I end up using it for much longer. However, last semester when I was disappointed with myself for the amount of time I spent on twitter, I started monitoring closely and limiting the time I spent on Twitter. Now i hardly ever go on Twitter. However, the few times when I do go on Twitter, I typically end up spending so much more time because I’m trying to get caught up on my messages and the content I missed. It's crazy how much FOMO you can have just from social media. After recognizing the way I view social media, the more it makes me want to stop using social media altogether. 

Pictures of my friend
having a break down
in the library

Going through this process, I identified that my social media usage aligned with the uses and gratifications model. Even though I hardly used my phone for entertainment purposes on Wednesday, the other purposes behind my screen time aligned with other aspects of the model. The main use I had for my phone and laptop was either information seeking, social interaction, and communicatory utility. For the majority of my day, anytime I was texting it would quality as communicatory utility instead of social interaction. Communicatory utility “helps facilitate communication instead of providing social interaction,” (Whitings & Williams). Most of my texts dealt with logistics and planning for school and activities instead of just texting to engage in social interaction. It was pretty shocking to realize how much I rely on my phone to get through the day. I wouldn’t even know where or who I was getting lunch with on any given day without my phone. Let alone get through my job where I work as a Social Media Student Assistant, or even just making it through studying for a class without using Quizlet on my laptop. 

After this experiment, I realized how dependent society is on technology as a whole. Maybe instead of wishing we weren’t so bound to technology, we can learn happy habits to enforce when it comes to our relationship with technology and social media.