Technology Mindfulness Project
Natalie Seibel
I am always on my phone, and I mean always. This project is aimed to help gain awareness about just how much “always” really is.This project consists of me moderating my smart phone usage and respond to different questions relating to my cell phone usage and its different aspects. I personally love my smart phone and I am always on it for one reason or another. I would estimate I am on it at least 6 hours a day. I am doing this besides it being an assignmment for class because I am genuinely interested in seeing how I use my phone and for how long. I dont think my usuage is a problem because I dont feel as if it interferes with any of my daily tasks or work.
Blog #1:
For our first blog I took the smartphone compulsion Test. This test has questions to help adress just how addictted or not addicted you are to your phone based off of the score. My results were a 10 out of 15 points. This means that I am essentially addicted to my cell phone. I think these results are a bit extreme, yes I think i am dependent on my cell phone. Not to the extent that I need to see a psychologist, I do not find it that large of a problem. These results do not describe my smartphone habits because I do not think that my usage interferes my life to the point that I am addicted.
Just like it is talked about in the “Smartphone Paradox” it is hard to really pin point being addicted to a smart phone, and everyone can be classified as being addictive depending on the definition. am taking the results with a grain of salt, but still taking them into consideration.
Blog #2:
My smartphone profile I think is very similar to how I live my life. I have a lot of folders of apps consisting of different categories liker school, social, and games. The apps I have on my phone consist of the ones that come with the phone and then social media and different shopping/ food apps. The apps that are Pre downloaded I barely touch besides Messages, Gmail and Safari. My smartphone is used for mostly communication and social media. Texting friends, reading emails, and checking apps like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Tik Tok.
On average I would say I am on my phone for about 2 to 3 hours a day and check at at least 50 times if I am being honest.
Blog #3:
My favorite apps to use would be my social media apps. These include Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, and Twitter. I like these apps the best because they keep me entertained. Instagram I can see what my friends are doing and get caught up on pop culture and fashion, Twitter I can get caught up on the latest drama in the news, Snapchat Ic an communicate with my friends and family. Snapchat I would say is my main form of communication to my friends so I find myself on it the majority of the time talking to friends. Tik Tok I can watch as entetainment like a tv show or movie. Often times I find myself on Tik Tok longer than I anticipate, I will get on to watch a couple videos then next thing I know I have been on for an hour.
Blog #4:
My screen time fr0m October 18- 24 was 10 hours and 30 minutes woth 214 pickups. Long term from September to now Ihave been on my phone 153 hours and 49 minutes with 3,752 pickups. I would say I am satifsifed or dis satified just kind of in shock. I always knew I was on my phone a lot but it is crazy to see it in actual data and concrete evidence. The are much higher than I thought, but im not suprised.
Blog #5:
I think it is ironic that there are 12-step plans for metigating cell phone use.Some of the steps include; turning off your phone, wifi free zones, creating balance, changing routines, and going “old school” with a flip phone.
In the article looking at the 12 step plan two things im going to impliment are adjusting your TV routine and turning off my notifications. The steps include this means turning the TV off earlier than usual and given your body time to calm down and turning off notifications so you are not so enticed to check your phome immediately after getting a notification. By adjusting my TV routine I’ll be able to wind down easier and be less likely to check my phone. I watch a lot of tv before I go to bed and it leads me to be up later on my phone. By turning off my notifications I wont be intised to check my phone every time it buzzes therefore decreasing the aomunt of time I check it.
Blog #6:
Leaving my smartphone at home all day is a big task. My phone is always attatched at my hip no matter where I go because you never know when you’ll need it.
First I started by just leaving it at home for a class and seeing if I could manage without it for a mere hour. Turns out it was much more difficult than I thought. I use my phone for music in my car so I had to drive in silence. I then struggled going to the groccery store without it because I write down the list of things I need in my notes.That night I was thinking why Am I letting my phone control me THIS much? So the next day I went the entire day without my smart phone. At first I was anxious,. but Ifound myself relaxed and at peace. I listened to the radio and got more school work done that day then I ever have
Overall this was very difficult just because I am so dependent on my smart phone. But when I allowed myself to be free from the hold my cell phone has on me, I felt fine without it. We becaome so dependent on our phones that I feel we forget that we still can live life without them.
Blog #7:
I have never been one to be into meditation, but this exersize was interesting. As i opened my phone and just hovered my fingers over my screen without doing anything I felt a sense of restlessness. The impulse to oopen apps and check my notifications was very great. Going into step 6 and 7 I definitely feel frustrated and restless, almost anxious just looking at my phone, as I continue through the steps the restlessness decreases. As I am sitting looking at my phone I find myself zoning out almost out of boredom/sense of peace. As I am focusing on my breathing I am learning that my device may have more control over me than I thought. The feelings evoked from just looking at it and the temptation it created suprised me.
Blog #8:
Throughout the semester I have used the app “Moment” to track the amount of pickups and hours on my phone. Then I have been using the apple feature that breaks down how much time I am on each app. The first picture is a graph that represents the Moment data from throughout the semester.
The results of this dat shocked me, that is a huge amount of time spent on my smartphone. So then I dove into more about how I am using that time with the apple feature.
I have basically come to conclusion that I am in fact addicted to my smart phone. Looking at the data like I predicted in an earlier blog I spend most of my time on Snapchat like the data presents. None of my top apps that my time goes to suprises me because they are my preffered apps. Even though the other graph shows that throughout the semester my ussage has gone up I have become more aware on how I am using my phone and when. I stopped checking it so often and dont use it at all during time I am doing school work. I think these numbers do have an impact on my social and acedemic life. Me being on social media all the time is helping me socially, but declining me acedemically. Throughout this project the biggest thing I have learned is to not let my phone distract me when I am in school mode. This is especially hard in todays world because classes are online and their is no one telling you to get off your phone and engage.
I think my usage went up throughout the semster because my school load dxecreased so I spent less time doing school and more time idelly on my phone. Since I have turned my notifcations off my pickups I feel have decreased because I am not tempted to pick my phone up after every vibration. If I had my notifications turned off all semester I feel those numbers wouls be lower.
Going forward I am going to continue using the 12-step plan and monitor my usage because frankly those numbers are embarrassing. I can strive to not spend my time on apps, but doing something productive like cleaning, or going to the gym. I dont want to continue my life living on the internet and not in the physical world.
