I would like to reduce the time I spent on social media and digital entertainment (watching videos and shows, etc.), so over the course of 2 days, Jan 13th and 14th, I kept track of every screen activity that on reflection, I would like to minimize. I included the circumstances under which the screen activity occurred and the duration of the screen activity to better understand what factors contributed to my negative screen usage. Since deciding whether a certain type of screen activity is negative was totally up to me, I sometimes found myself rationalizing my screen activity as potentially positive in order not to log it down. For instance, after watching a reality show for an hour or so when it was already past my bedtime, I said to myself: “This is Sunday and you deserve some mindless fun!” even though I have already procrastinated on my work during the day. Whenever I observed such internal rationalization happening, I chose to log down the activity because it indicated that deep down, I still felt bad about the screen activity.
Log:
Jan 13th
| Start Time | Activity | Circumstances | Duration |
| 8:20am | Checked social media | While brushing teeth | 6 min |
| 10:38am | Checked instagram on laptop | While working | 2 min |
| 12:35pm | Watched short videos and listened to music | After workout | 25 min |
| 3pm | Mindlessly scrolled on social media | Before training | 15 min |
| 4:40pm | Mindlessly scrolled on social media | After stretching | 10 min |
| 11:38pm | Mindlessly scrolled on social media | Before bed | 15 min |
Jan 14th
| Start Time | Activity | Circumstances | Duration |
| 7:38am | Checked social media | After waking up and before morning routine | 8 min |
| 11:27am | Watched music videos | During and after chores | 17 min |
| 1:02pm | Checked social media | While reading papers | 7 min |
| 2:24pm | Checked social media | While reading papers | 8 min |
| 5:27pm | Posted stuff on social media | After stretching | 15 min |
| 6:36pm | Responded to messages and chatted on social media | After shower | 15 min |
| 10:08pm | Watched reality show | Before bed | 1h 20min |
Connection Circle:
A somewhat surprising finding from the connection circle is that the screen activities I regarded as negative (especially those that are relatively short) can sometimes bring about some benefits: After waking up or being on the verge of dozing off while studying, I would scroll the phone to get rid of sleepiness. Or after I finish a challenging task that requires a lot of will power, like interval training or reading an abstruse philosophy paper, I would consume some lighthearted content on the phone to replenish my energy.
I realized that my study schedule is somewhat problematic: I usually study for an hour before taking a long break. But sometimes when I finish a milestone, e.g., finish reading a chapter, but haven’t reached an hour, I would reflexively open and scroll Instagram or other webpages on my laptop before going back to my main task, which of course, reduces my productivity. In an effort to stick to my one-hour time block, I resorted to quasi-breaks of social media scrolling that sometimes take more time than actual breaks.
I also noticed that most of the factors in my life tend to lead to screen activities on the shorter side (less than 30 minutes). I would only have longer screen time (more than 30 minutes) at night, as a kind of “revenge bedtime procrastination” to fully relax and get back some control over time. But longer screen time before bed would push back my bedtime and make it hard for me to wake up on time the next morning, which leads to more reliance on screens to get rid of sleepiness.
Balancing Loop
In my case, there is a balancing relationship between relatively short screen time and the level of sleepiness I feel: When I feel sleepy, I tend to check social media or listen to music to make myself clear-headed, which in turn reduces the level of sleepiness I feel. But for screen activities that take a relatively long period of time like watching films or series, they tend to induce sleepiness. So it is a matter of selecting the right kind of screen activity.
Learnings and Improvements
I had the following learnings from this behavior logging:
- The effects of the same behavior could vary drastically for different people. Mindless scrolling, which is generally regarded as a bad habit, actually plays some positive role in my life. So it is important to analyze behavior on a case-by-case basis.
- Different types of screen activities are correlated with different durations of screen usage, which are then correlated with different effects on my life. So I can control the effects of screen usage by being intentional about the types of screen activities I engage in.
- Ineffective study plan that compels me to study when I need a break can actually increase distractive screen usage and end up wasting time rather than making me productive.
Based on my learnings, I decided to improve my screen usage by (1) avoiding screen activities that foreseeably take more than 30 minutes to finish, (2) stand up and walk around whenever I feel the impulse to check social media during work, and (3) eventually looking for alternative ways of getting alert / relaxed to substitute short screen activities.
