The power of technology to me is insane. You can walk down the street and almost everyone will have a phone or laptop on them no matter where you go. When looking at old movies such as “Back to the Future” everyone assumed we’d have flying cars or robots and although that seems pretty cool I sure as hell am glad we don’t have those things yet. I think that we should take a step back and fix the dangers before we take 2 steps forward and make more technology. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my phone but sometimes I can’t help but think about how different my life would be without it. One of my biggest problems with technology is how hard it is to put it down once you’ve picked it up. It’s very often that when I find myself trying to complete homework or do other tasks I get easily distracted by my phone and always end up on it. The drawback with this is that technology or not, my biggest problem is already procrastinating on things and it seems as though my phone and procrastination are the best toxic duo. I will try to do homework and once I get notifications on my phone from friends I suddenly lose all interest in my work, my attention span shortens, and all my focus goes towards my phone. Now if I give into those impulses and pick up my phone, the next time I look at a clock or put my phone back down will be 2 hours later. I find this happens because once I open my phone and check those messages I’ll get sight of other apps and want to use them as well. If I don’t give into those urges and continue to work, with each message I get my work ethic goes down. As this is such a big problem for me and I have lost a lot of time from my phone, here are some of the best ways I've found to be able to do work without my phone as a distraction:
Not only does technology and social media affect my worst habit of procrastination, it can also majorly affect mental health which not enough people realize. As of right now, there are 850 million users on Tiktok and 1 billion users on Instagram and i’ve noticed the majority of those users we see when scrolling are influencers. While some influencers create content purely based on entertainment, a lot of the time there are influencers who will only post or talk about their ‘perfect’ life moments which can change what we viewers consider to be normal. These media can easily affect our self esteem, body image, and self worth and I think that is why it’s often that young people have started to feel pressured when posting on and using social media. A study in the UCLA Brain Mapping Center showed that social media has become so addictive that when posting, our brains can react to the ‘likes’ or comments we receive on those posts, which actually makes us want to post more. With posting pressures and cyberbullying it’s no surprise that depression and anxiety have been found to commonly link with social media. Mental health and wellness are extremely important so here are some ways to positively use social media that can help reduce anxiety:
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-and-mental-health.htm https://www.forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/07/30/5-ways-to-overcome-online-social-media-fatigue-for-mental-well-being/?sh=593d4fbe1cfa Avery R
19 Comments
Tyler L
11/10/2020 04:23:09 pm
I really enjoyed reading this blog because it’s something I can relate too Phones can be so addicting you lose track of time and then not have enough time to finish your homework. A lot of the time I also wonder what life would look like without phones. Everything people do now a days is using their phones. Taking pictures of where they are or even texting friends from home when they on vacation. There are many good things a phone can help with but there’s also bad things that come along with that. Thank you for pointing out technology because some people may not want to write something like this because they also use their phone a lot so they don’t want to put it down.
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Caiti
11/10/2020 06:02:45 pm
I will definitely be using some of your tips to help me stop procrastinating on my phone. It has become a big problem for me as well! I also really liked that you mentioned how mental health and technology are correlated. It’s so important to focus on positive ways of using technology instead of letting it impact our mental health. Thank you for giving us insight into your relationship with technology and providing tips about how we can use technology in a more effective way as well.
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Kaysey
11/11/2020 12:40:19 pm
Hey Avery, 100% am on the same page as you. I am a huge procrastinator as well and sometimes I will find myself going on my phone simply to avoid doing work. I appreciate all the little tips you provided to help fix these issues, especially time restrictions. I also agree that social media can be a stressor for mental health, especially when it comes to body image. Nobody likes to promote the "flaws" they have or the "negative" aspects of their life, especially the bigger influencers. To me, the issue lies with the haters. Anyways I really enjoyed reading ur blog because it was a good reminder that I should take a break from screens. I feel like I'm always looking at one.
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Kiana Birk
11/11/2020 07:47:33 pm
“Social media is an ingredient not an entree” What we do with it determines our actions. I agree that our technology and social media can distract us from what's important and affect our mental health. Two points that stood out to me. We as users give social media too much power. We let it define who we are, and determine how we see ourselves, each other, and the world. In addition, if an app is causing unnecessary stress delete it! When an app is no longer fun, when it begins to take our joy away, when it is stressful, we are doing a disservice to ourselves by keeping it on our phone. I personally find myself pulling out my phone just to “check the time” only to end up spending hours going through different apps. The strategies I will use are to turn on the do not disturb setting, take frequent breaks, and set time restrictions.
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nevada
11/11/2020 10:15:43 pm
Avery I really liked this blog!! It’s really relatable. I think the mix of procrastination on top of the distraction of a phone is something that most people experience today. I loved how there were not one but two lists here and for each item on each list you gave a reason!
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Amelie G
11/11/2020 10:29:55 pm
While i was reading this blog, in the corner of my eye my phone was lighting up every now and then from a notification. I can say it is very distracting and i completely agree when it comes to my phone and procrastination being the toxic duo. Wow okay look at me i just went on my phone for like a solid 5 min or more. Jeez this is really bad. Honestly this is something we must all deal with, and finding ways to avoid this common problem is what we all need. All the different ways to help us stop from procrastination is what you have given us! Social media has its up and downs, and the way it affects us is really unhealthy. It for sure affects our self esteem, and plays with our mind. Let me just put this out, i almost feel naked without my phone on me. Technology is evil.
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Devon
11/12/2020 08:47:48 am
Thank you for sharing Avery! I really enjoyed reading about what you had to say. I too have found that my phone is my biggest distraction when trying to complete work and often I cave in and will go on social media when there is other work to be done. Your tips were very helpful and I will try to implement them into my own life! Social media can have a big effect on mental health. I feel that this is why setting the boundaries you mentioned around phone usage is so important.
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Callie
11/12/2020 10:12:16 am
Good blog Avery! I'm glad you decided to write about this topic as I think it's a super prevalent and relatable issue for all of us. I agree with what you said about the rising popularity of "influencers" and the content they post, and I think everyone's compared themselves/their live's to someone else online at least once. The tips are super useful and informative and I'll try to incorporate them into my daily life!
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Emily
11/12/2020 11:20:16 am
I really agree with this .. I find it hard aswhile to settle down and do my work even when i put my phone to the side i still get notfications on my computer that distract me. With creating the perfect life i agree.. i feel like theres a few girls who i look at and think they have the most perfect life and its true people really chose what to post to make there life the best it could possibly be and I know it can create alot of negative things like jealousy and looking at your life as "lame"
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Madison Sproule
11/12/2020 11:57:45 am
This is so true! I definitely agree with you on how technology is extremely addicting, especially when your trying to do other work. I too get sucked into the time warp of technology at the best of times, app after app, time wasting away. I really like all of the tips to help rid of this habit and I will definitely use these! social media can be turned to a negative outlet but I'll try to look at the positives. thank you so much for this blog post, this is a really helpful tool to help with not only procrastination due to technology, but also a good source of mental health resources from social media.
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Lucy Greene
11/12/2020 01:15:05 pm
I think this blog is definitely any eye opener. Because I know I get distracted by my phone when im working on something, so thank you for calling me out on it. I totally want to use the tips you suggested as in making a limit on my apps or just deleting some of them. also thank you for the second point at the bottom, I think that point is super important because people tent to post things for others and not themselves and they should be posting what makes them happy.
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Cole Hammerer
11/12/2020 01:41:38 pm
This blog is super well written and I can totally relate to it. I find myself getting distracted by my phone a lot and can also see it affecting my sense of reality and normal. Having notifications constantly going is also really bad for my brain and when I see my phone light up it automatically takes my head off the task that I was doing previously. I agreed that we should be more cautious about what we are making in the coming developments of technology.
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Nyah Gentry
11/12/2020 01:42:20 pm
I thought this was a beautifully written blog that explained the affects the the internet very well. the internet and technology can be a blessing or a curse depending on how you look at it. it benefits us as students especially during the covid-19 pandemic where everything was virtual, but it also have the capability of hurting people and making them want to take their lives away.
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Riley Matthews
11/12/2020 01:44:00 pm
This is a very common problem for many people who are Gen Z! I find that sometimes my weekly average of just scrolling on Tik Tok is over 8 hours! It is very easy to get distracted while doing homework and I think you bring up good points and healthy habits to break that cycle of instant gratification that a cellphone gives. Out of sight out of mind is what I do the most and think it is a very good habit to keep myself focused while studying. This is a very relatable blog. Well done!
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Jenna
11/12/2020 01:48:51 pm
I really relate to the idea of technology being insane and a distraction! I find I tend to use it as a mental break too often and get distracted from the task at hand, which is very bad considering this is a school year where concentrating without distractions is so important! I will be using the suggestions to assist me in staying on task because it is important that I do my best this year to succeed, thank you:)
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Callum
11/12/2020 02:08:00 pm
I defiantly get distracted by my phone and feel like its harder this year because we have been away from school for too long.
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Taylor
11/12/2020 02:11:21 pm
I love this topic. I will definitely try to use some of those tips when doing work and getting distracted by my phone or using my phone as a break. Social media definitely has a huge impact on everyone’s mental well being. It has made everyone self conscious or gives people anxiety or stress. I think this is a huge issue for our generation.
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I can definitely get distracted when I'm supposed to be doing my homework. I usually start of well, but then I end up checking my phone and end up dropping my homework. I usually go to check it to see if I missed anything, but then other apps distract me and I lose my focus. It's a very bad mix, homework and phones. I will definitely try your steps that you have suggested, like the one of putting my phone in a different room so then its out of my mind. I think you have a good point discussing that technology is becoming more of a danger, so its very important to break our unhealthy habits now then later.
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Hector
9/16/2022 02:01:31 pm
I definitely agree with the fact that you see everyone always have at least 1 device on them at all times. Sure it would be cool to have flying cars and all that but, we are always attached to our phones once we are on them. I've tried the things on the list to help prevent procrastination and I can say that they do work. Thank you for that.
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