I wanted to track the amount of time that I spent using instagram (specifically reels) during the day and in what situations I ended up using Instagram the most. Before doing this assignment, I had noticed myself getting distracted and taking frequent breaks from homework assignments and other tasks, making short tasks take a much longer time than was needed to complete them.
To measure this behavior, I did something similar to the first measuring me assignment but instead checked in on my behavior every hour. I would also add notes if I caught myself on instagram during the day for more accurate recordings. On Saturday, I logged quick notes about all of my behaviors along with instagram usage which is helpful when determining context for the social media usage. On Sunday, however, I decided to just reflect on my instagram usage in my notes. This experience was better than the first measuring me exercise as I was not getting an alarm notification every 15 minutes, but I was still able to easily recollect what I had done over the last hour.
Overall, I realized that instagram has become my comfort activity when I am working for a long time or need to take a break from the real world. I would find myself scrolling after returning from a class/meeting, after finishing an assignment, or whenever I felt like I was getting nowhere with my work. I would also find myself opening the app and realizing that I would have to log this interaction, and quickly closing the app, only to then log what had just happened. The experience of closely monitoring my instagram usage gave me physical evidence to prove that I was in fact taking much longer to complete a task than was needed, due to frequent breaks. Next time, I would try to pay closer attention to what feelings and motivations were present when I opened instagram and try to dig deeper into what the actual causes of those feelings were. However, I think this assignment brought great insight into my instagram usage and has helped me minimize this habit!
Daily logs are pasted below:
Saturday
10am:
woke up and got breakfast, did not use instagram at all
11am:
cleaned house after party from yesterday, no instagram usage
12pm:
took a shower and wanted to begin homework, used instagram for about 15 minutes before finally starting organizing my work
1pm:
scrolled on instagram for 10 minutes 1:10-1:20
reading cs 347 paper and writing notes
2pm:
finsihed one of my cs 347 article readings and was falling asleep so napped until 3
3pm:
continued working on cs 347 commentaries and cs 124 lecture videos
got distracted watching instagram after wanting to take a quick break in a hw slump
4pm:
continued 347 commentary
met with group on zoom for 247B
5pm:
continued writing 347 commentaries
biked to dinner 5:45
6pm:
finished dinner 6:30 biked back to KA
went to the bathroom and got my 5 min warning for 45 min on instagram
got time limit and ignored it
7pm:
started writing second commentary
no instagram usage
8pm:
opened app and closed it instantly remembering this assignment
9pm:
no instagram usage
10pm:
scrolled for 10 mins when relaxing
11pm:
Sunday
10am:
woke up, no instagram usage
11am:
scrolled for 10 minutes
12pm:
no instagram usage
1pm:
scrolled for 20 minutes after i got back to my room from a meeting
2pm:
went to bathroom at 2:55 and scrolled
got 45 min limit and ignored
3pm:
no instagram usage
4pm:
scrolled for 5 minutes before realizing
scrolled again after finishing a part of my homework
5pm:
no instagram usage
6pm:
finished another piece of hw and scrolled for 15 minutes
7pm:
no instagram usage
8pm:
no instagram usage
9pm:
no instagram usage
10pm:
scrolled before bed for 20 minutes
11pm:
