I’m currently taking a class in positive psychology, and part of the course is to do “applied assignments”. While I could go on and on about how much I love this class, the assignments are the star of the show here: they don’t require any knowledge of psychology, and they’re quite helpful/interesting. As a result, I thought I’d share the second of these assignments, which I’m (at the time of writing) currently in the process of doing.

giving something up

Here’s the original prompt:

Start by making a list of the things that are part of your life on an almost daily basis. Usually, these are activities ranging from fairly simple ones, like watching TV or playing tennis, to fairly complex ones, like being critical or gossiping. They can include habits, like drinking or junk food eating. Sometimes, a whole range of activities is subsumed into a thing that they are used for, like a computer or a car. Those are part of this as well. Then, divide this list into things that you need to have/do and things you only enjoy having/doing.  This is not always an easy division to make. Really think about the difference between needing (I can’t manage significant aspects of my life without this) and wanting (this just makes my life more pleasant/convenient/interesting). Set aside the list of things you need and focus only on those that you want. Pick one that really matters to you and is an important part of your life. Then give it up entirely for the period of the assignment. Keep track of the effects this has on your life, practically and emotionally. At the end of that period, write an analysis of your experience.  There are many ways this analysis can go, depending on what you gave up and how it influenced you. Just be sure to be thoughtful and explain your reactions and conclusions.

I decided to do a toned-down version of a digital detox to attempt getting some time back into my schedule. I had already given up Facebook and most social media accounts (you could probably measure the amount of time I spent on those websites in minutes/week), but I realized that I had essentially just created a set of different vices – I spent basically hours a day browsing YouTube and Reddit, even past the point of having content available.

I had enabled Screen Time/Digital Wellbeing on my phone, and over the past three weeks (from September 13th through October 3rd) I had averaged 3 hours and 50 minutes of screen time per day [1]. To reduce the amount of time that I was spending on my laptop and phone, I decided to take 4 steps:

1. I switched my phone, watch, and laptop to grayscale (I actually used to do this before bed since it was less visually stimulating, but I wanted to see what would happen if I kept it like that for 2 weeks).

2. I uninstalled Snapchat (which I kept on my phone for some reason, but rarely used).

3. I stopped taking my phone to the bathroom.

4. I gave up using YouTube/Reddit except for school (which I eased into by putting in place a 10-minute daily limit a few days prior). I even blocked the domains on my phone.

reflections

after a week…

• Not taking my phone into the bathroom has been seriously incredible. Everyone knows about shower thoughts; toilet thoughts are equally high-caliber.

• Grayscale everything can be moderately annoying at times, and I’m not really sure that it’s having the effect that I had hoped for (making electronics less interesting, and therefore encouraging me to use it less).

• YouTube and Reddit were indeed time sinks during my week - I imagine that after all is said and done I’ll shift to a pattern of using them only once a week. I’ll reduce the amount of time I spent per week (since I won’t be re-reading the same threads to view new comments, or engaging with the less interesting material) and also benefit from the productivity gains associated with less context switching.

finishing up

• I didn’t actually improve much as far as using my phone less. The number of pickups per day basically didn’t change, and screen-on time for my phone declined, on average, by about 30 minutes per day. I probably spent even more time than normal on my laptop, which means that I probably didn’t change anything overall.

• I’ll continue to not use Reddit or YouTube on my phone, and I actually installed Freedom to block it on my laptop also during weekdays.

[1] I’m actually fine with spending time on certain apps (e.g. Peloton, or FaceTime), though the 3:50 stat includes these apps. I probably should have taken them out, but Screen Time deletes usage data after a month.