By Meghna Kumar

Throughout high school I have always felt as if I’m short of time. When I began to scrutinize how I spend my time, however, I realized that I spend a lot of time on my phone. Sometimes I need to use my phone, if it’s replying to a question someone texted me regarding Key Club or if someone asks for help with homework. But other times, I’m just engaging in random conversation. Conversation that I could have in person when I see my friends everyday. Other times, I’m wasting time posting memes in a Facebook group, typing away in a GroupMe groupchat, or sending what I believe to be funny selfies on Snapchat. So I decided to go on a 13 day hiatus from all social media and see if I felt more fulfilled regarding how I use my time.

Day 1:

Today, I deactivated my Facebook and logged out of GroupMe. More than missing these sites, I’ve discovered an almost instinctive reaction for me to go on social media anytime I have nothing in front of me. I have resolved to kick this habit by reaching for my book instead. I will admit that it’s been hard at times, and I’ve almost felt guilty thinking about all the messages I haven’t responded to.

Day 5:

I genuinely feel like I’m missing out right now by not being in Facebook. Even though, in reality, I’m probably not missing anything except for weird, annoying posts. My phone is like an extension of my hand and I feel like I’m missing an integral part of me. Aaaahh, I’m seriously anxious right now.

Day 10:

I still occasionally want to use my phone, but for the most part, it’s no longer a reflex for me to reach for it whenever I have an extra minute. My concentration has improved greatly because I no longer have the nagging in my mind that I need to text back a “haha” to a friend’s meme because without checking my phone, I don’t know when they text me. I think I’m going to try to make a habit of keeping away from my phone because I’ve found that it actually adds about an hour to my day.