Had I been assigned this project prior to this week, I would have targeted my TikTok addiction. However, through brute force, I have avoided using the app completely for the past week. Instead, I measured picking up my phone as a behavior I want to change. Though avoiding TikTok has significantly reduced my screen time (since I essentially don’t use my phone for anything else), I noticed the number of pickups during the day remained steadily above 100.
I took note of the reasons I was picking up my phone and what I was doing on my phone during hour long intervals. I found that this interval was more doable than every time I picked up my phone since I often unconsciously picked up my phone for something, and it was easier to recall why I picked it up at different times in the past hour than to note it in the moment. I am sure, however, that there were many pickups that I missed considering the data my phone captured, which I attached below.
While noting my behavior, I initially attempted to analyze what encouraged me to pick up my phone, but I eventually grew tired of the documentation. Next time, I would note more religiously what I was doing right before I picked my phone because it could have revealed a pattern of what keeps and what loses my interest/attention more. Overall, I picked up my phone due to push notifications from other people, when I needed directions for driving, and when I was bored from or finished an assignment.
After creating the connection circle and fishbone diagram, I realized that Instagram was in many of the intervals. TikTok was mentioned a couple times, though I am not logged into the platform, so it was a mere habit with no reward. Through the habit ecosystems and my own thought process during the study, I realized that I often visit social media when I am looking to be entertained and distracted from the stress and anxiety of unfinished work. This creates even more stress. Next time, I would test this feedback loop by measuring when I open Instagram and what precedes that action.
Raw Data
Monday
8:30 – woke up, checked for notifs
9:30 – messages from alice, needed receipts from door dash, bored of psych videos and checked snap
10:30 – messages from steven about office hours
11:30 – respond to polly about lunch time and ask ciera about cheap places for gas, play music in the shower, messages, changing music, checking the weather, opened tiktok out of habit looking for something entertaining, maps looking for gas, stressing out about capstone and work I have to do opened up tiktok, change music
12:30 – msg from polly, directions to restaurant, text abbib, write down to do list
1:30 – check if polly is coming, check time near end of meal
2:30 – directions, call mom, play music, text abbib, check to do list, going to bathroom, going on instagram
3:30 – reading is boring picked up for snapchat, opened instagram, respond to annie, respond to abbib, respond to harrison cuz I forgot
4:30 – texts from ciera, abbib, more likely to go on instagram and other distract or apps in the middle of readings, finished a section and opened instragam, finished reading – instagram
5:30 – take note about reading that intrigued me, texting abbib, respond to alice, order dinner
6:30 – respond to messages, listen to music
9:30 – music while getting ready for bed, text abbib
10:30 – calling alice
Tuesday
8:30 – email, opened instagram, opened tiktok, texted abbib, music for shower
9:30 – instagram, music
12:30 – check email and text back capstone group, check slack, do not disturb = no notifs
1:30 – music
3:30 – instagram for abbib, check msg from abbib, check slack
4:30 – what’s app, take note for poem or writing idea, check weather, instagram
5:30 – directions, call alice, text eugene and christina about parking, slack for creative writing, group me, opened to text brendan for cs help
7:30 – text abbib, respond to texts, text RAs, went on instagram
9:30 – health, instagram, text other RAs
