Day 3 (May 12) Assigned Blog Post:
Technology has been taking over my life lately, for better and worse.
My iPhone: I use it everyday. Staying connected with family and friends overseas, organising club events, scrolling IG reels, taking photos of everything, and of course, Google Maps. I don’t go anywhere without it (even though I have lived in the same city for most of my life. Oops).
My Laptop: SO necessary. Probably on the same level as my phone. I use it to listen to lectures, write and hand in assignments and watch YouTube. I genuinely don’t know what I would do without my YouTube.
iPad: I don’t use it everyday, but when I do use it, I am also watching youtube or making art with an app called ProCreate (10/10, highly recommend).
To keep my life organized, I use an AMAZING Chrome extension called OneTab. God bless whoever invented OneTab. It’s insanely helpful, especially because I am taking 3 classes at the moment. I dump all my class-related tabs into nice, neat lists, so I can pretend to be organized (even though its still kind of chaotic).
Now for my biggest opp: Instagram. I am definitely addicted. It’s bad. At least I have the self-awareness to realize that it is my coping mechanism for when I am stressed out… Ok no it’s still bad. I genuinely use it as an escape when I am just so stressed out about school. I just scroll and scroll into the void, until it isn’t even fun anymore, which I have learned is actually a sign of addiction, thanks to Dr. K on youtube in this video.
So now I am doing a much-needed 30-day fast from Instagram reels. I still need to use Instagram to message people and keep up with events for my club, but ABSOLUTELY NO SCROLLING. The scrolling is killing me. I got the idea to do this “fast” from this Andrew Huberman video (he is such a helpful guy). He’s a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. So he definitely knows what he’s talking about.
Andrew Huberman and Dr. K’s YouTube channels are example of actual, good, productive uses of technology. It is high-quality content. So, I definitely don’t think that technology is all bad or all good. It is a tool that can we can use to either help us fail or help us succeed. I just don’t think humans have had access to such constant and high levels of dopamine before, so it’s really difficult to stay disciplined.
I am trying to find balance. I don’t want to cut out tech completely, I aim to incorporate it into my life in a heathy and productive manner!