Nowadays, it seems like everyone is warning us about the dangers of spending too much time in front of our screens. Whether it’s our parents, scientists, or even social media posts, it seems impossible to escape from the advice to cut down on our daily screen use. But have you ever wondered how all this screen time affects our ability to engage with our university courses?
You probably don’t need me to tell you that being on your phone before bed isn’t a great idea. Our screens emit blue light which prevents our bodies from producing melatonin (the hormone we need to feel sleepy) for up to three hours. I also find that I am forever falling into the trap of scrolling for ages on Instagram or bingeing shows on Netflix. For me, this lack of sleep affects my mental health, and I know that I am always more anxious when I am running on a less-than-ideal amount of sleep. The comparisons we are constantly making when scrolling on social media can also affect our mental health because we seem to forget that what we are seeing is only a highlight reel, and end up thinking that it is what our lives should look like all the time. This can cause us to question our self-worth and can even be a factor in developing anxiety or depression. Social media can also increase feelings of isolation and loneliness since we find it more convenient to connect with our friends and family online, and can therefore forget to make plans to meet up in person, meaning that we live a large part of our day-to-day lives physically alone.
Furthermore, an excessive use of our screens can impact our academic performance since it can lead to decreased focus, reduced productivity, and difficulties in retaining information. All of this makes succeeding in exams and assignments much more difficult. I have personally noticed that I often struggle to focus for long periods of time and I have put this down to my overconsumption of the short form videos that I am constantly bombarded with on social media. We are constantly seeking the dopamine rush that we get from our screens so putting them away when it’s time to study can be very difficult, especially when you are having to monitor it yourself at university. I’ve found that the best way for me to stop getting distracted by my phone is to put it out of reach as often then the effort to actually get up to pick it up doesn’t seem worth it.
Although there are clearly many negative consequences of spending too much time in front of our screens, I am against totally demonising them and it’s just not realistic to avoid them since they are essential to modern student life. I am forever checking my timetable on my phone and I do most of my work on my laptop since I find this much more convenient than having to constantly file loads of paper. Moreover, the internet is a really useful tool for improving our academic performance. If I miss a lecture, the online recordings are a lifesaver, and having all the library’s resources online really helped me to prepare for my assessments over Christmas when I was away from Sheffield. Therefore, I think it is more important to consider how we use our screens in our free time. I have my university emails connected to my phone which is a bit of a pain because I can never fully de-stress from university life since I am just reminded of what I haven’t done whenever I get a notification. This is something that I really need to work on and one way that I have been trying to do this is by getting back into reading more since this takes me fully away from my phone. Reading is obviously not the only option here, but I would really recommend picking up or developing a hobby that doesn’t involve any screens so that you can have a mini screen detox every day.
Overall I definitely think that we all need to consider how and when we are using our phones and laptops due to the links between screen time and sleep and mental health. However, it is completely unrealistic to expect to achieve zero screen time and I honestly don’t think you should even attempt it as it is likely to make you miserable. Yes, I need to reduce the time I spend on TikTok, Instagram and Netflix – and you probably need to too! – but I am not giving up my daily calls with my family – it’s just not worth it!