Importance of Technology in Today’s World

When looking into my daily routines and how technology plays into my daily life, I quickly realized how much we depend on technology to get us through the day. The apps that I use on a daily basis on my phone are; texting, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Safari, Email, and TikTok. I use my iPhone as well as my Macbook throughout the day and occasionally an iPad. These apps that I have listed are ones in which I constantly use throughout my day and often spend a lot of time on them. Applications such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are all used for social interaction and do not serve real purpose other than to socially interact with people in my community and the world. These apps that I use for social media can be so addicting and often I find myself scrolling for hours for no reason. Applications like Safari, Email, and Texting are ones that I use for work purposes, school purposes, and family purposes. My computer that I use daily is solely used for school and educational purposes and I do not use it for anything other than that because my phone is much easier.

An app that I use to help me stay focused is called StayFocused and we actually learned about this Chrome extension during our class last night. This program has helped me stay productive because it basically block other websites and restricts how much time you use on other programs in hopes of keeping you on task. You can personalize what websites you can go on and the time limits as well. If we hadn’t talked about this extension last night I would have definitely downloaded it because I have found it extremely helpful for me so that I can stay on task. Having so many tabs open and options to go from I often find myself drifting away from what I really should be doing. I am currently on maternity leave, causally subbing and full-time school so I have a huge load of work that goes on in my life. Having this extension allows me to stay on task and complete what I need to without getting distracted. Both my phone and my computer can keep track of what my screen time is during the day and what I spend the most time on. A few months ago I was so shocked at how much time I was spending on social media and useless apps but after using this program I have been able to limit the useless apps a lot more.

I encounter many distractions all the time when on my phone and computer. One that comes to mind is when I am using YouTube to listen to videos that have been assigned for classes. I have noticed that when watching these many ads pop up I will often click them and then I am completely distracted and forget what I am supposed to be doing. These ads are usually clothing, baby items or makeup skin products and I feel like they know exactly how to get me to become distracted. I also have noticed that in my emails I have many ads popping up which results in decreased productivity. I think there are so many apps that take my time and decrease my productivity and these are Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. I do think it is important to be able to balance these types of programs between doing work. I set certain times during the week and weekend when I am only supposed to go on school work or spend with my family and after those hours are done I can use any other apps that I want. It has been really important for me to find a balance between school and my family so that has really helped me stay on track because I want to be with my family as much as I can and I value that immensely.

I think I have been able to create a good balance between my screen time for school purposes and my own personal well-being. One thing that I have done is to set certain days of the week and times to stay off of my computer and focus on my mental health. During the week I do not do any school work past 6 pm and set that time aside for my family and for my own mental health. I set Sunday aside when I do not do any work at all and I do not touch my computer on this day. I think since using the StayFocused extension I have been really able to focus and spend less time on procrastinating or getting distracted. This app over the past few months has truly helped me work on balancing my mental health and overall well-being with my technology use. I think that technology is a wonderful tool however, I do think it can easily overcome our lives. Setting these boundaries such as only doing academics on certain days has made a huge difference in my life. I have been asked many times how I can do this, and I explain how even setting the smallest boundaries can help one’s mental health so much.

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