A Screen Time Report
Article by Joana Kim
Looking back on my photo album Memories from a year ago, it brought to my attention that while so much has changed, a lot has also just stayed the same. Despite what our present circumstances may be, life keeps moving. In particular, as we continue to navigate through this current widely digitized world, some things are and will get easier to adapt to, while others stay challenging and feel unnatural - like not being able to make new friends in person but online, or celebrating and supporting others during important occasions over Zoom, rather than being with them in person.
Stay-at-home orders have led to a 20% increase in total internet usage (Forbes, 2021), and many of us can probably agree that we do spend more time online on the regular - whether it be for school, work, or on social media. There have been major adjustments made to everyone’s daily lives, and many of them pertain to re-situating our lives to become more online friendly and accessible. Although definitely with its challenges, going fully or widely digital has brought its share of lessons and realizations. Here are some observations of my own from this time of transition, and perhaps some of which you may relate with:
1. There’s added flexibility to connect with people.
This is an interesting perk of having more online meetups or gatherings. Of course, meeting online isn’t the ideal or the most preferred option for many. However, an adjustment to various online meeting platforms, such as Zoom, has granted us much more familiarity in gathering and meeting with people online. For those who were busy or could not attend actual in-person events pre-COVID due to distance or time, the introduction of such resources opens doors to increasingly being able to interact and spend more time with one another, although it's through a screen.
2. Find creativity in the mundane.
“Be creative,” has been a mantra spoken over many matters; in fact, especially when communicating feelings of boredom or being uninspired, someone may tell you to get creative with what you have. As is with many well-used and versatile sayings, this mantra holds an ounce (or more) of truth behind it. Especially during these times, people have become extremely creative with their time, energy, talents and ideas, and many innovative projects and hobbies have come to life as a result - reinforcing the idea that anyone can be creative, whether you would describe yourself as such or not. Creativity comes in many forms, and a plethora of online resources available brings more opportunities to the surface to create and not just consume. Specifically, being able to utilize such tools more easily and frequently helps cultivate creativity through personal projects and hobbies. And if you’re looking for recommendations on such tools, check out Julia’s article, “Exploring New Technologies to Aid in Learning” last week to learn about various online resources that can help you find or grow hobbies - new and old!
3. An increased appreciation for time offline.
A lot of us might have been there - that moment when your eyes are straining from looking at a screen for too long, or when you have a headache from being cooped up around devices all day. All the more, the effects can be more heightened during this time when most of our interactions and activities are virtual. As with many others, this has made me more appreciative of the time I actually spend outside (albeit it fluctuates in consistency) instead of looking at a screen. In fact, as stated in Yes Magazine, particularly being amidst nature can reduce stress levels and improve cognitive ability, including an enhancement in working memory performance (Edwards, 2019). All in all, your intake of greens - in this case, greenery- can positively contribute to your well-being, in addition to mental and emotional health. And the truth is, this is not a discovery made specific or new during these times, but merely emphasized.
4. An increased wariness of what I buy online.
With more freedom comes responsibility. Online shopping is a tricky area to balance. On one hand, it can be extremely accessible and quick, but as a result I find that all the more, impulses play a larger role in my shopping practices online versus in-person. There are a lot of variants with online shopping because, of course, this extends from necessities to items meant for leisure. It can seem overwhelming to begin managing online transactions, but a great way to start is to simply just write it all down. Tracking down and categorizing your purchases into stores or categories using a spreadsheet or a spending tracker app lets you keep a record for the month, and if you continue, soon you’ll be able to see more long-term spending patterns for reference. This can aid in making helpful purchase decisions and overall causes you to feel more in control of your online shopping-verse.
5. There’s more time to spend, and also more time to waste.
This coincides with the previous point, but time management has become all the more crucial to keep up with responsibilities, notes, deadlines, and meeting dates in virtual classrooms, workplaces, and more. Any additional amount of time to account for in a day is time that could be spent doing a myriad of tasks, errands, and activities - or even the lack thereof, almost serving as both a blessing and a curse. Learning to prioritize your plans is key to managing time. By using an organizer to write down your priorities for the day, not only do you set reminders to work on a project or spend time with a friend, you can also learn how much time you realistically need for each task, ensuring more accuracy in creating a curated schedule in the future as well. Organizers don’t need to be bullet journals or physical agendas, as Google calendars, digital planners, and reminder/note-taking apps are tried and true methods for those who don’t use paper planners.
Reflecting on these specific points, it seems like an increased digitalized world has more or less magnified for me, rather than created these spots for improvement and attention. Although different from the actual screen time reports we may receive on our phones, surveying unique benefits and challenges that come with spending more screen time than ever before can highlight valuable insights to carry with us. Realizing and applying these insights to our lives can perhaps encourage us to keep moving forward amidst and beyond moments of digital activity and weariness.
Sources:
https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2019/04/10/health-nature-science-outside