To get right to the point, I'm a screen addict. I'm on my phone all the time, and even when I try to cut that time down, it all gets replaced with being on my laptop the entire time instead. Sure, it feels a bit more productive, but at the end of the day this is just a bigger screen with an ad blocker so I can play Neopets without getting bombarded by 17 ads for things that should NOT be on Neopets. This has been a problem for me since I got a DSi for Christmas when I was 7 Those late night Hello Kitty Party sessions were detrimental to my development but at least I was having FUN, dammit, but it's been an even bigger problem now more than ever because I'm in thesis. Yeah, I fucking graduate college in like three months and I can't get out of my bed without a good 2-5 hours of YouTube shorts deep frying my brain, I have to have like, a job and taxes or whatever sooner than ever and I can barely function because of the glass rectangle of doom that's permanently an inch away from my face. I'm so sick of it and I'm really sick of myself and the systems in place that let this happen or whatever for continuing to allow myself to rot like this. I've tried so many times to reduce my screntime by using apps and "discipline" or parental controls or deleting other apps, but I always end up slipping and it's incredibly frustrating. I've tried asking for a "dumbphone" aka what phones were before Steve Jobs decided that now would be a good time to invent the coolest brain melting machine ever, but despite my big age, I am not immune to my mom's final decisions so that's a no-go until I like, get a job, learn how to drive, move out when shit is no longer hitting the fan as badly economically so like when I'm 50. If this world even makes it that far., so for now I'm just gonna make do with what I've got.
Basically, I'm going to rely on other people holding me accountable because I have no willpower because that's more effective than just doing the same thing over and over alone and expecting a different result. My plan is to reduce my phone time to an hour a day and my recreational computer time to about 3 hours. 3 hours sounds like a lot, yes, but I literally just accidentally stayed up all night looking at pixel gifs knowing damn well I have 2 classes today, you tell me what's worse.
HOW I'M GOING TO DO THIS:
First, I'm going to set up screentime settings on my phone, and lock it behind a parental controls password to add more resistance to it. I'll know the password in case I need to access something that's locked, like my browser yes, I'm locking myself out of the BROWSER because it's too easy to say "ignore for today" when I get the screen time ended screen on websites. or the app store. As for my laptop, I'm installing an extension that controls screen time and blocks access to websites as after 3 hours. I'm also going to go the extra crazy mile of deleting Steam off my desktop so I'm not tempted to play Hades when I should be working on thesis. Also, for the sake of improving my brain even while I'm on a screen, I cannot have more than one screen on at a time and I cannot do more than one task on the screen at one time. No more YouTube while drawing, it may be over for me for a bit.
Additionally, I'm going to replace any extra time I'd typically spend on a screen with something else, such as drawing, writing, taking a walk, hitting the gym, reading, or doing some sort of task I've been putting off like laundry or reorganizing my shelf or something like that. This is the key to repairing my braincells, since these are all engaging distractions from the screen. I have 24/7 access to the art studio on campus so I'm in there all the time, but most of the time I spend in there has nothing to do with my actual work, so I spend way more time than I really need to in here. I usually get back to my dorm late at night now, which means I end up sleeping until 2pm. When I get this new plan going, I'll get more done way faster, so I'll only need to spend maybe 6 hours a day in there AT MOST and I'll still be caught up for thesis.
I'll also set restricted zones/actions. These are areas or situations where I physically cannot use my screens. These include the classroom, the studio, the bathroom, in bed, while I'm eating, and while I'm talking to someone in real life. My phone and laptop will be on my desk at all times when I'm in my room to really piss me off. The desk chair is not comfortable after awhile, trust me.
Finally, rewards! If I get through a week where I don't mess up my screen time and I do something off-screen (and not school related) every day, I'll treat myself to something like going to the mall or an extra hour of screentime for the weekend or something. I think if I manage to make it all the way to the end with little to no hiccups, I'll buy myself those Ohuhu markers I've had my eye on for a bit...
ACCOUNTABILITY:
This is where YOU come in! I'm going to update this page every Saturday until this experiment ends. I'll share my screentime stats, what I did for the week, and what I need to work on for the following week daily activity will be logged in a physical journal that I will scan and upload. You actually don't have to do anything, but the knowledge that someone out there is going to see that I fucked up and spent 18 hours on YouTube in a day makes me want to rip my skin off, which is why this experiment pretty much has to work or else I'll die of embarrassment :D To make it worse, I'm sending this blog post to some friends of mine, so people I KNOW will know if I'm actually sticking to my word, how horrifying!
FAQ:
When will this experiment start/end?
I'm considering today (10/2/2025) day 0 since I came up with the idea today after fucking up my sleep schedule horrendously and I'm also getting everything set up, but I want to start getting these habits started today. Once this blog goes live, it begins. The experiment will "end" on 12/13/2025, since that is the day after I graduate and it's on a Saturday it also happens to be on Amy Lee's birthday, because everything is Evanescence. I say "end" in quotes because I may continue with this or something similar for hopefully forever, I'm just going to stop the weekly updates then. I'll potentially give very occasional updates after.
What's considered "recreational" computer use?
Basically any games, social media or adjacent sites like forums/DeviantArt/YouTube, personal web, pretty much anything that has nothing to do with my schoolwork. Drawing programs and drawing reference sites are less limited though, since improving my art is important since I'm an art major. They will still be banned by 8pm, which is two hours before I go to bed. The only time I'm allowed to be on my laptop after bed is if I fucked up and haven't finished an assignment yet and it's due the following morning.
So no games at all? How will you survive?
I have a 3DS and a Switch I can use for games, but they will count towards any remaining phone or computer screen time I have. This forces me to choose and prioritize one thing over another.
What happens if you mess up?
Okay, I'll try to give myself grace this time. If I fail a day, I'm not going to beat myself up and I'll just try again. Simple as that. And of course, you will find out all about it when Saturday comes around.
WEEK ZERO (10/2-10/4)
This test run was interesting! While I have seen a significant decrease in my screen time and less desire to stay online, I've only been in the studio for an hour yesterday. I would've done more today, but cramps have kept me in bed all morning and that drive to get in there and draw was gone. Hopefully tomorrow, then.
Day 0 was just getting everything set up and then sleeping through one of my classes, so nothing much to report there.
Day 1 on the other hand, was quite productive. I listened to some new albums I've been meaning to get around to (Deftones' private music, Chevelle's Bright as Blasphemy, Halestorm's Everest, and Kittie's SPIT XXV EP) expect a review of at least Everest eventually, that album left me pleasantly surprised. They really bounced back after Back From The Dead..., worked in the studio, did some laundry yet to be folded, but they are clean at least!, did a bit of cleaning in my room, took a walk, remembered the English department has free books I ended up with eight, and got to reading. One of the books I found was weirdly perfect for this experiment, so I started that first.
Hamlet's Blackberry by William Powers is a 15 year old book that blew me away with how relevant it still is today and how our attitudes towards technology have essentially remained the same since the invention of writing. Seriously, back then people feared that writing would cause memory retention and face to face connection with others to deteriorate. Sounds familiar, right? I'm on chapter 9 as of writing this and it really opened my eyes to how I feel about smartphones and the internet and how my jaded, borderline Ludditeish attitude is 1. nothing new and 2. not helpful to my issues at all. It's helping me distinguish the differences between my actual problems with technology and the "kids these days" rhetoric that's being pushed. Powers' goal for his book is to strike the balance between our online, hyperconnected world and the real world outside of the screen. Being always online isn't helpful to us as a whole, but neither is a complete rejection of our devices. He also mentions how tech companies are really pushing us towards the always online end of the extreme, which is why I think we are seeing such intensity come from the other side of the spectrum; it's like a pendulum that gets more and more intense with each swing. I've been so focused on just reducing my time online and finding ways out of its grasp, when I should've also been focusing on how I spend my time on here. We need to make more conscious decisions whenever we log on and ask ourselves what we want to get out of being on here. Are we using the internet to connect with others or as a shield to block us from reality? Are we talking to our friends or are we distracting ourselves while we're standing in line? And while we're online, how are we feeling? Happy to talk to others? Excited to find new information? Bored? Stressed? Get into the habit of logging off when you start to feel the latter. I've already been finding myself closing my laptop whenever I'm bored instead of just clicking away to a new site in search of dopamine. For the record, this does not mean I'm already ending the experiment. I still think I'll benefit from not being online so much, and I feel like if I end it I'll just go back to spending 12 hours a day online. I need time for my brain to get used to this, and once it's over I'll hopefully be more inclined to not only spend more of my time offline but do more than just scroll and passively watch videos when I'm online.
Okay, tangent over, day 2 has been a very lazy day so far, but I'm still seeing results from the experiment. When I logged on for the first time today, I spent about 20 minutes online before I found myself thinking "I'm bored, I want to read." I haven't felt the urge to read like that in an embarrassingly long time. I used to be a heavy reader up until middle school, when I got too caught up in social media and such. There was never a time where I wasn't carrying a book with me, and I could easily plow through one in a day. Once I got older and more online though, I've been reading less and less, and it's done something to my brain I think. I would go from reading new books every day or week to maybe one or two a year if I'm lucky (aside from manga/graphic novels or the occasional audiobook or fanfiction). I really want to go back to how I used to be, and this reduction in screen time is already helping tremendously. I can't wait to see how I change as the experiment goes on. UPDATE: I have just finished Hamlet's Blackberry, I cannot reccommend it enough if you're looking for answers on how to be online without going insane. I'm now trying to find a ride to an art show happening tonight, hopefully I can go...
WEEK 0 STATS:
Day 0
Phone screen time: 1 hour, 42 minutes
(Recreational) Computer screen time: ~10 hours
Day 1
Phone: 29 minutes
Computer: 3 hours
Day 2:
Phone: 18 minutes
Computer: 2 hours, 36 minutes
WEEK ONE (10/5-10/11)
Oughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this was kinda hard... I found myself wanting to be on the computer so bad but the time limit was keeping me from staying online for too long. I ended up changing a rule to where I can look at drawing stuff/draw as long as I want as long as it was before 8pm because I need to get better at drawing for school. Speaking of the 8pm limit, I totally forgot about it a couple of days and stayed on for a little bit past then I think I was on until 9 at the latest?. I ran out of interesting books to read so I haven't been mowing through books like week 0. Why did I think I'd want to read a collection of essays about Baroque poetry? Oh well, I'm going home in a week or two and I'll grab some of my books then, but for now I'll probably stick to rereading Bizenghast again.
Day 1 was not super eventful, but it was probably the most productive I've been in awhile. I cleaned my entire dorm, did two loads of laundry, finally folded all of the clothes that were just shoved into drawers, Read The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy which was alright, I found myself going "Oh, that's where that came from" every couple of chapters, hah.
Day 2 was one of those days where I stayed online past 8. I was preparing to delete my YouTube account, and I wanted to grab the links of all the videos on my Evanescence playlist and throw them onto a temporary page on Archivescence to later add to the interviews section and potentially a new section of other Ev videos. There were over 400 to go through, so it took a bit.
I went to a movie night on day 3, so my computer time was very limited. I watched The Boy and the Heron, which was beautiful of course. I also ate way too much candy, but it's okay because I counteracted it with a bunch of veggies the next day :p
Day 4 was weird for me, because this was the first time in this experiment where I hit the 1 hour phone limit! I was trying to transfer photos from my phone to my laptop and it was taking a bit. My thesis committee chair told me that the drawings I thought were finished were actually not done, so I have to spend more time in the studio working on them and making new drawings at the same time.
I was really struggling on day 5, that was the day I decided to change the rule about drawing.
Day 6 also felt like a struggle, but I forced myself off the screen to take a walk and I spent an hour in the studio... It was quite nice.
And that brings us to today, day 7. I've been on here for quite a bit, but I'm going to an art show around 7pm today, so I'm taking in as much as I can haha. I did spend a lot of time offline though, I did laundry, swept and mopped the floors, took out the trash, and even remembered to do my skincare routine. I'm glad that I've been more productive lately, but it's been hard fighting that part of my brain that just wants to stay online. That's the point though, isn't it? Fighting the need and distracting myself with chores and drawing. It feels like I'm cosplaying a productive, normal person... When will it stop feeling like pretend and start feeling real? Hopefully after awhile into this experiment, these decisions I force upon myself will become habit.
STATS:
Day 1: Phone: 18 minutes. Computer: 2 hours
Day 2: Phone: 16 minutes. Computer: 3 hours
Day 3: Phone: 22 minutes. Computer: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Day 4: Phone: 1 hour. Computer: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Day 5: Phone: 29 minutes: Computer: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Day 6: Phone: 13 minutes. Computer: 2 hours, 46 minutes
Day 7: TBD
WEEK TWO (10/12-10/18)
Well... This week was challenging to say the least. I tried changing up the plan when I was struggling, fell off HARD, and had to reintroduce the time limit almost immediately. If you read the latest blog, you would've seen that I tried shifting the guidelines to be less time-based and more intention-based. I think I had something there, but I forgot to account for how inherently addicting social media is and how attached I am to certain sites and being lazy. I thought I was going to completely fail this experiment and give up, but I saved myself in the end!
Day 1 was still on the old system. I gave myself an extra hour because I was doing okay with the experiment so far and I wanted to be on a vc with some friends. I dyed my hair, finished up one of the drawings for thesis, did some other assignment, took a walk, and made a playlist for class since we can play our music on the speaker.
Day 2 was when I decided to try and change everything up, you can just read the new blog for more information on that.
Day 3 was pretty unproductive outside of going to class. I didn't work on my thesis because I had more delayed materials and I was getting frustrated with a piece I was working on, and I didn't work on my essay assignment because I happened to see a friend I haven't been able to talk to much because of our schedules and we had lunch together. I read through Selkie Girl, a kinda cute but mostly sad YA novel I found in the English department. I needed something less headache inducing after reading this boring short story where the guy wrote in New York accents for everyone which made it harder to decipher what the hell was even happening.
Day 4 SUCKED. I broke a lot of rules, like having my phone out in the studio and in bed. I barely got anything done that day. I thought I had to redo one of my thesis drawings, so I got discouraged and avoided being in the studio for a bit. I think I only wrote 3 sentences of that paper.
My decline continues on day 5, where I started having ideas on how to get back on track. No more Discord/YouTube apps allowed on my phone, but I can keep the browser. No more scrolling through Reddit, I should only be on there if I need to look up a question I have. I have to devote at least an hour a day on something skill-building, such as drwaing, reading (on or offline), or working on the site. My laptop doesn't leave my dorm unless I have an essay to work on (I had it out in class that day...), and devices must stay in the art studio during class. Back to my 8PM cutoff date except for Friday and Saturday, where I can be on until 9. If I'm watching a YT video on a skill I'm learning or something educational or whatever, I have to take notes on it so I'll retain the information. I did end up finishing that essay at least.
Day 6. Oh god, day 6. I planned to clean the dorm that day (especially because I stained the tub with hair dye again...), but instead I sat at my desk on my laptop the entire day and even stayed on until MIDNIGHT. 4 hour time limit ended up coming back for socials/games/yt.
Today, day 7, was already starting to get better! I did spend quite a bit of time online, but I also cleaned and finished that thesis drawing! I didn't have to redo it after all :). I took the long way back to the dorm and stopped by the duck pond. I turned off my music and just stared at the water for maybe 20 minutes as the sun went down. It was very peaceful. I added some new stuff in the graphics collection, btw. Lot more to come soon. No screentime stats for this week or any week after, since that's no longer what it's solely about (and I also didn't keep track).