The start of a new semester always has me in a “new year, new me” sort of mood. One of the many start of semester activities I do is set some goals to accomplish. Ranging from the basic “get at least eight hours of sleep a night” to the adventurous “strive for a 4.0 GPA” (both goals I typically cackle at come finals week), my list is short with about five goals a semester. This semester, one goal has been rather thought provoking in implementation: put down my cell phone. When I first wrote it down, a flood of questions popped into my mind. When should I put it down? How could I put it down with all the notifications I get in an hour? Am I really about to commit myself to a whole semester of this? My five word goal turned into a thousand thought per second conversation with myself that honestly took some time to think through.
In semesters past, I was THAT person who would try to pay attention in lecture but was probably scrolling through Instagram for the tenth time. Coming from a very technologically based high school where cell phones were actually a big part of the classroom experience, I developed a terrible habit of being on my phone in class. Something that used to be an asset to my education became a detriment, and my subconscious knew this had to be fixed. In a non-academic way, my phone has also inhibited me from experiencing things to their fullest. For example, I was THAT person who would Snapchat every living second of a concert. Though this was much appreciated for those who couldn’t enjoy Electric Zoo themselves (shout out to those who got me through my loss this year), I realized I was too preoccupied fumbling with my phone rather than enjoying myself. My memories on my Snapchat story were more copious than the ones in my own memory, and let’s remember which ones last longer than 24 hours.
Putting my phone down has taken a lot of self control. During the semester I average about 30+ emails a day and countless notifications between Groupme, Slack, and Messenger, in addition to what I typically get from my social media accounts. I have a constant desire to be on top of my extra curricular and social life, but I have realized there isn’t an inherent need to be. At the end of the day, the email with minutes from the meeting you went to last night can definitely wait. The easiest solution to put the phone down for class has been shoving my phone to the depths of my backpack. Though it’s such a pain to get out later, I can honestly admit I have been so much more focused in class. In terms of using my phone elsewhere, I have been trying to change my perspective before using it. If I was my friend watching me check my emails while we’re out for lunch how would I react? Believe it or not, notifications from your phone will still be there in an hour or two, it’s okay to let them sit there. All my grades and life experiences will probably benefit from the simple task of not constantly checking my phone.
All in all, am I really about to commit myself to putting down my cell phone for a whole semester? Yes, and you should too. Especially for senior year, I would much rather secure better grades and create lasting memories with my friends than see another Harambe meme. Putting my phone down will probably be the hardest goal to accomplish but it will definitely make the other four that much easier.
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