Habit: Going on Instagram reels
(January 13-15, 3 days)
Recently I noticed that I spend a lot of time on instagram reels especially since the start of winter break. During the holidays my screen time increased on average by an hour from 3-4 hours a day. This was actually quite shocking. As an international student I only go home once every 1-2 years. Just so, this revelation made me feel a little depressed as I realize the time I spent on instagram reels while I back home could have been spent on more quality time with friends/family. As a result I wanted to track my reel usage in an attempt to become much more aware of how much I use reels, identify any behavioral patterns and use this information to better reduce this bad habit. And thus become more human again.
I tried to track myself organically, log down my reels usage in my notes app with time stamps rounded to the nearest 10 minutes. Throughout this self study I noticed that I purposefully tried to reduce my instagram reels usage, as I was cognizant of the fact that my habits will be recorded and posted on a discussion board. Therefore even though the below results may seem outrageous, I probably use reels even more in my natural state. Moreover I missed a handful of times I used reels and had to add it in retroactively, especially when I used it late at night when I was not really in a state to remember to do so.
Jan 13
8:00am: Used reels and sent some when I woke up
8:25am: Right before leaving for the gym I checked reels post shower
8:45am: On the walk towards the gym
9:30am: Friend sent me reels that I checked between sets
11:50am: Checked my feed as I cooked
12:20pm: A friend sent me a reel so I checked
3:40pm: Checked feed while walking to class
5:50pm: While waiting for dinner I checked reels again
9:20pm: used reels and sent a bunch to friends while on the toilet
10:10pm: Used reels because a good friend sent me a reel and texted me to watch it
11:50pm: Couldn’t sleep so hopped on reels for some dopamine (Added retroactively)
Jan 14
8:30am: Checked reels before packing for monterey bay because I wanted to kill some time
9:40am: While in the car I went on reels briefly because I was a little bored
10:30am: Went on reels in a Monterey Aquarium bathroom stall
1:50pm: Used reels really quickly after ordering lunch which was rude because I was with my friends
3:20pm: Alone in Motel while friends bought beers I went on reels to kill time and relax
5:40pm: A friend sent a reel to me so I checked it because his reels are usually good
8:30pm: Checked reels while on the toilet in a pub
11:10pm: Used reels to clear the mind before bed
Jan 15:
10:20am: checked my feed on the way back home
10:50am: checked again in the car because I was slightly bored
1:30pm: Went on reels because several friends sent me stuff on it while I was napping
2:00pm: continued to use reels among other apps while using the bathroom
2:20pm: went back on reels while in bed
3:00pm: As I was waiting for rice to cook checked the feed
3:30pm: During late lunch I was on reels the whole time
7:00pm: When I was waiting for dinner be cooked by a friend I briefly went on reels to check something that another friend sent
8:00pm: Used reels while using the bathroom
8:50pm: Went on reels as a break from homework
9:30pm: Sent some reels as a break from homework again
10:30pm: Checked reels post shower
11:00pm: Received and sent some really funny reels before bed
Model 1 – Connection Circle
As you can see above I used four different colors (red, green, blue and black) each denoting the source of motivation. Red delineates a situation in which I would use reels compulsively driven from personal urges. Green is used to label situations where my use of reels are driven by social or external factors. Blue is used for more hybrid situations e.g. where a situation makes me feel a certain way which increases the likelihood for me to hop on reels. Finally we see black is used to show the actual habit I was measuring which is using reels!
As you can see above there are a handful of noticeable clusters. The first to address is on the right-hand side. Here we see that many situations cause me to be bored such as walking to class, cooking and being in bed. And just so, when I am bored I tend to be much more inclined to want to send a friend a reel/use reels. This chain reaction of factors is quite intuitive and has sparked some thought into how I could minimize feelings of boredom. I need to also consider the fact that my use of reels has probably decreased my attention span and thus, I am more prone to being bored – it is a vicious cycle indeed. Some other clusters on the left are also interesting, for example when I want to clear my mind due to various factors I am driven to use reels. Perhaps I should replace the use of reels with a mindfulness exercise for this specific case?
Interestingly the social aspect of reels is also a major driver of my usage. This effect is so strong that I am even driven to use the app while I am out with the friends that I’m sending the reel to! Moreover I see that in certain situations that cause me to be bored I am more likely to want to send friends reels or check reels that were sent to me. Perhaps instead of this indirect manner of communication I should just call them up when I’ve got nothing to do!
Finally the two compulsive situations: being on the toilet and waking up tend to get me checking reels without even thinking. This has become such a habit during these situations that is 100% compulsive, this will probably be the hardest factors to target I were to reduce my reels usage.
Model 2 – Fishbone Diagram
I found the above fishbone diagram helpful as it allowed me to stratify the causes of my reels habit with higher resolution than the circle diagram. Particularly this diagram highlighted the fact that I tend to use reels to self-medicate often. I find times that I am bored or when it is late at night, I’m more alone with my thoughts. And because of this I am more prone to using reels to clear my mind. Furthermore it seems like I use the app to deal with stress, for example when I am doing homework or am restless due to stressful upcoming events I tend to use reels more. Categorizing these contributing factors into different buckets has made it easier to identify batches of factors that will be easier to address/alter to reduce reels use. As aforementioned, I believe that finding other activities to do while I’m bored will be the easiest way to mitigate reels usage. This is because the other factor buckets such as compulsions, social pressures and self-medication may be relatively difficult to undo.
Experience/Conclusion
I believe this experience was much more doable than the first exercise, even though it spanned over a much longer time period (three days compared to one). Measuring one habit honestly was easier to remember especially on day two and three when the habit of recording soaked in a little bit more. This exercise elucidated several factors and chain reactions that cause me to use instagram reels, and have given me interesting insights into the “why” of this habit. As mentioned in previous paragraphs, I have also determined which factors would be more easier to address than others. I think I will actually try to find something more productive to distract myself with when I am bored to reduce reels use. It will be interesting if I can also address the social pressure/compulsive factors eventually.
