Within my daily life, I use a multitude of apps on a daily basis. the most common one for me to use would have to be Snapchat, as it is the way I mainly contact my friends and communicate with others. the other one that I would use the most is URcourses. I’m always using it to check emails and checking syllabi about 20 times a day to make sure I’m not forgetting anything.
I don’t really use any websites or apps to stay organized, since I use a physical calendar, but I could consider URcourses to be a main way of staying organized with dates and times for assignments, groupwork and other things in my day to day school life.
The biggest distraction that I encounter on a daily basis is online games such as League of Legends or YouTube. They definitely decrease productivity as I can be caught up with them for hours. Some strategies that I started using are to not even open the apps to see who is online, or log out of my YouTube so that I do not get distracted with suggested videos.
The main strategy that i have developed to balance school and pleasure online is that I spend 2 hours a day working on school work, as well as going tech free for 3 hours a day, which limits my screen time and allows me to read textbooks for school, read books for pleasure, go on a run, or many other tasks that i need to do.
Hey Aiden, It’s clear from your post that you have a good understanding of your digital habits and how they impact your daily life.
Distractions are definitely a huge part of life and the things you listed can indeed be major distractions. Your strategies of not opening the apps and logging out of YouTube are effective ways to curb these distractions. Another strategy could be setting specific time blocks for leisure activities. For example, designate an hour of free time after completing your 2 hours of school work. This rewards you for being productive and gives you a clear boundary. This is 1 things that has helped me in my university career. I think it is super important to have balance.
Cheers!