It's currently 11:32 p.m. on a Wednesday night. I have a billion tabs open on my laptop right now, ranging from my assignments on Blackboard to various distracting social media sites like Twitter and YouTube. I'm supposed to be writing a rhetorical analysis essay for my Writing 102 class, due tomorrow of course. But I'm absolutely brain dead. I can't do it. I don't want to find two more sources that would support how this author established a well-written argument to persuade their audience. I don't want to have to explain what I mean after every little sentence. And I cannot, for the life of me, write a perfect conclusion that ties whatever random nonsense I just wrote in my essay altogether. I suck at those.
My phone distracts me. So much. Every time I try to edit something off my first draft, such as simply rewording an awkward sentence, I always get side-tracked by my notifications. My phone is always on Do Not Disturb because I know for a fact I would impulsively pick it up after hearing a vibration. However, I tend to have a habit of still checking my notifications even when it's on silent, just to see if anyone sent me an important text.
Other times I would just open Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter to check if any of my feeds updated with new posts. I don't know why I always feel the need to do this. There's literally nothing important for me on those apps. I just use them as an escape when writing essays on topics that have no interest to me. I can't sit down for three hours straight and remain focus on one assignment throughout that whole time. It's impossible for me. I'm bound to drift my focus to something else that's more interesting. That could be a cute dog or baby videos on Instagram, or could even be funny memes my friends DM me.
I think it goes without saying that millennials today are addicted to social media. We can't go a day without our phones, mainly because of those apps. We can't hang out with friends without posting all of us together on our Snapchat story. We can't go to parties or other social functions without getting tired from interacting with others and scrolling through Instagram. Personally, I use social media on a daily basis, spending about a third of my day on the media platform. I have become addicted to it that I find it hard to stay away from my phone and other technology.
Sometimes I could even swear I heard my phone vibrate, check it, and see there are no notifications on it. I don't know what about social media makes it addicting, but I do know it does a great job of shifting your focus off of your priorities. I'm practically conditioned to check my social media at least once an hour. i know this is very unhealthy, but I constantly check this because it allows me to be updated on the happenings around the world and other relevant information presented on the media platform.
I just wish I knew how to discipline myself and limit my time with these apps. They take up way too much time out of my day. I can literally spend hours reading posts and texting my friends; the same two hours I could've used to make more progress with my essay. Hopefully, soon I'll realize how pointless it is to keep updating my feed every 20 minutes while I should be getting something done and resist the urge to do so.
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