My Journey To A Healthy Relationship With Technology
At this point in my life, I do not have significant challenges with controlling my use of tech devices, but I have struggled with this in the past. For the last year or so, I have been able to limit my smartphone use to about an hour a day. I primarily use my phone to check the weather, send text messages, play word games, make phone calls, and quickly search Google for an answer to a question. Before this, I would spend upwards of six or seven hours some days on my phone watching YouTube videos. This became a very unhealthy habit that led to significant physical and emotional suffering.
I was able to gain control of this bad habit I fell into during the pandemic by finding more productive ways to use my time on my phone, one of which is playing the Wordle, Spelling Bee, and Connections from The New York Times’ games app. I also watch sitcoms on my computer in the evening rather than on my phone, which allows me to not feel compelled to watch for hours on end. When I was spending too much time on my phone, I also felt a high level of anxiety, stress, FOMO, and overall worthlessness as a result of watching other people living their lives that seemed so much more exciting than mine. I have found that the less I use my phone and the more I can find offline activities to do, the better I feel and the more present I can be in each moment of my life.
One of my main strategies for developing and maintaining healthy tech use and habits in my life is to have boundaries for the times I choose to stay off any electronic devices. For me, this is when I am eating, outside, in between classes, and with other people. I find that my mind stays clearer, I am more at peace with myself, I can focus on my surroundings, and I can be more present in the moment if I set and follow these boundaries each day. I have also chosen to abstain from using any social media apps (outside of basic text messaging). This was a deliberate choice I made quite a few years ago in high school because I found social media to be very detrimental to my mental health and self-esteem.
Something I have always done is to prioritize a daily routine with activities that do not involve technology. This includes a consistent skincare and beauty regimen, completing household chores (dishes, laundry, etc.), and walking outdoors every morning. If I stick with this routine daily, I feel less stressed and less compelled to turn to my phone for distraction. I also enjoy buying and reading newspapers and magazines in their physical form rather than online. This is something that I regularly turn to as an enjoyable and healthier alternative to looking at my phone for entertainment.
