I think I met my goals for the detox. I was emphasizing myself to not use my computer so I was able to cut my screen time for my entertainment like watching my favorite shows on Netflix by a lot. It was a healthy experience, both practically and emotionally because I was more productive on assignments and was engaging with my friends. I ended up spending my time doing my assignments and hanging out with my friends. This experience made me realize that spending my time without any screens can be more fulfilling and I felt more purpose on the things I did.

I decided to do a medium level of digital detox. I plan to delete two of my social media: TikTok and Instagram. I wanted to challenge myself, therefore I picked two platforms that I use the most. My plan is to decrease the screen time after this week, and hopefully, I will become more aware of how unnecessary they are to use every day for abnormal amounts of time. I am looking forward to this challenge and it will be interesting to try something I have not tried before. I feel this will be very nice since I will have more free time, that I will use for socializing, hobbies, and other things that bring joy to me.

Digital Detox Reflection

Deleting two social media platforms over the weekend was a big challenge. Especially, because I decided to do a medium hard level and delete my favorite platforms, TikTok and Instagram, that I use the most. I use them often in the mornings, during the day and even before going to sleep. At the beginning I found it very difficult, however as the time was going, I started being more aware of how addicted I am to them. Therefore, I was very focused on achieving this goal, and proving myself that I can do some other things besides using my phone. I had a whole weekend to spend without using these two social medias. Firs time where I felt I need them was Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the first thing I look at in the morning is usually TikTok, however this Saturday morning was different since I knew I cannot use it. To be in honest, that made me very frustrated and annoyed however soon after I decided to that I should get up and have a productive morning.  I decided to start doing some homework ahead and planning the rest of my semester. Throughout the day I almost forgot about TikTok and Instagram because I spent a lot of time with my friends, and I found myself more present everything I do with them. I knew that some hobbies and activities would help me increase my social time. So, the next day I planned on spending the time at the gym. This helped me a lot because I have not thought about my phone almost at all.  On Sunday night I checked my screen time, and it was already way lower than it is usually. here were couple of times where I almost downloaded them back, just because I was bored, and it seemed very weird laying down in bed and not scrolling Instagram or TikTok. But I knew that would be a huge failure, so anytime I would feel like I need them I go and hang out with my friends, where I know I am always welcomed, or do some things for myself, such as organizing my clothes and cleaning the room. I am so happy that I succeed and finished digital detox at the time I planned. This helped me become more aware of my relationship with digital media. After this detox, I feel like I will never be as addicted as I was. Writing this reflection helped me realize all the ups and downs of the digital detox experience. In overall, I am very happy how digital detox went for me, and proud of being able to complete it and finish it. This was a very valuable reminder of the importance of balance in my digital life and positive outcomes that can arise from digital breaks.

I plan to take a modified version of the medium option for the digital detox. I am going to stay off of two social media platforms, but instead of giving myself 3.5 hours of digital entertainment and 3 hours for other activities on my phone, I am going to combine it all and stay under 3 hours of screen time on my phone a day. Since I got to college, I have been trying to limit my screen time on my phone and have already seen some improvement. However, I still need to work on my consumption of social media. I usually stay around 3 hours on weekdays, but on weekends I can go as high as 6 hours a day. My goal is stay consistently under 3 hours every day, including weekends.

Overall, my digital detox went well last week. Except for one day, Friday, I stayed under 3 hours of daily screen time. During the week limiting my screen time was not as challenging as I had originally thought, since I spend a lot of my free time practicing sports, hanging out with people or doing homework anyway. Usually, my schedule during the week is pretty tight, so I do not have a lot of time to spend on social media. However, I was most challenged on Friday night. I had a cross country meet early the next morning so I could not go out with friends, and so I had a lot of free time to myself. I ended up spending more time on social media that night than I realized, and I went about an hour over my 3-hour screen time limit.

By: Quinn Niblock

For my digital detox, I intend to limit myself to the medium option given by the presenters, although I would like to modify it slightly. I will give myself 5 hours of total screen time, however, only an hour of it can be on my phone, and no digital media can be consumed on my phone. I intend to do this by leaving my phone off my person as much as possible and spending my weekend primarily working on homework and spending time outside or in the gym.,

Reflection:
I did meet my goals for the detox, primarily due to a football tournament that consumed much of my day on Sunday and left me so exhausted I did not even have the energy to scroll TikTok. I spent my reclaimed time primarily working on homework and sleeping. I did struggle on Saturday, especially during the morning. One thing the detox has helped me notice is my tendency to use my phone in tandem with oversleeping. Effectively wasting time in the morning due to a lack of obligations. However, other than this specific instance, I found it relatively easy to stay off of digital media by leaving my phone in my dorm room and spending time outside playing sports, at the gym, and meeting up with friends. I had one instance with a group of friends in which none of us used our phones, except to change music on a speaker for around 2-3 hours. This was an exceptionally good experience and I had a noticeable boost in my mood after this.

I plan to try the medium difficulty option for our Digital Detox.
My main goal, really, is to test my patience and restraint with two social media platforms that I am constantly on (TikTok and Instagram, a.k.a “scrolling apps”). I feel like I’m always using them as a distraction from campus life and how fast-paced it can become; I’m hoping to gain some form of clarity. I just also want to be more present with whatever activities I’ll end up pursuing this weekend.

Update:

I met my ultimate goals for the detox which was to refrain from my two most-used apps, Instagram and TikTok. I did also have a significantly less amount of screen time, as shown to me by my phone’s stats; but it was particularly harder to do so since my friends and I enjoy watching movies or a series together over the weekend.

But I would say that at the times I wasn’t on my phone and I was actively trying to be present in the conversation or the ambience of the situation, I felt like I could think more clearly. It was just a little easier to evaluate my place in the conversation and to effortlessly contribute to it. It already made me feel just a little bit more connected to those around me; and it also, in a way, felt liberating — it felt like an accomplishment to not need my device with me at all times.

I have decided to test myself for the Digital Detox project and try to complete the easy level. I spend a lot of time on my phone and do many things with technology. I have a project coming up where I need my phone therefore I won’t be able to complete the medium level this weekend. I am going to limit myself on my phone and other electronic devices this weekend. I believe this will do good for me and will teach me I can do other things than use technology.