Week #4: Limiting Screen Time and Getting More Sleep (Part 1)

Hello Blog! Today is the first day of my fourth week of trying new healthy habits! This week's healthy habit is limiting my screen time and getting more sleep at night! Although most of my screen time is unavoidable since school is virtual at the moment, I plan to limit my unnecessary screen time. This includes social media and other sources of virtual entertainment! I will be using the screen time setting in my phone to track my screen time for each of my apps! I will also watch the time when I am on my laptop or watching television. I plan to keep my unnecessary screen time limited to two or two and a half hours. This includes all screens, my phone, television, and laptop! I also plan to go to be before 11pm. each night which is much earlier than usual. This will be a drastic change for me!

This is my screen time report from last week! I spent an average of almost six hours on my phone each day! I spent a total of seventeen hours and forty minutes on social media last week as well. This is time I could have been using to get work done or even sleep! Today, I did my best to keep my unnecessary screen time under two and a half hours! My overall screen time today was above this number, but this is because I had to use my phone for school and other tasks that needed to get done that did not involve social media or entertainment!

Throughout my research on this topic, I discovered many of the benefits of cutting down screen time and getting more sleep. I learned that each night when we fall asleep, our body repairs and heals itself. We also process information when we sleep. When we do not get enough sleep, our body cannot function properly which results in negative thoughts, stress, and anxiousness. Sleep deprivation has also proven to have physical effects such as weight gain and a weakened immune system. These consequences can lead to mental health disorders and decrease one's quality of life. It has also been proven that kids today spend around seven hours on their phone each day. When we go on our phones, we see pictures of our friends hanging out without us, models setting unreasonable beauty standards, ad celebrities living unrealistically gamlours lives. Studying these factors for over seven hours a day is bound to make us feel worse about ourselves and our lives which lowers our overall quality of life. Therefore, screen time is proven to be a major factor in the decrease of this generations mental health. Screen time and social media have also been linked to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. Overall lack of sleep and too much screen time is likely to decrease our physical and mental well-being.

Today I limited my unnecessary screen time to about two and a half hours which is much less than usual! Since today is the first day of this healthy habit, I have not seen any changes to my mental wellness. One thing I did notice is that my day felt longer. I believe this is because I wasted less time on social media and watching television. I felt like I had more time to get things done. I plan to go to bed early tonight as well! Stay tuned for more updates on Wednesday!

Sources:

Publishing, Harvard Health. “Sleep and Mental Health.” Harvard Health, 18 Mar. 2019, www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health.

Rogers, Behavioral Health. “How Does Screen Time Affect Kids' Mental Health?” Rogers Behavioral Health, 8 Jan. 2018, rogersbh.org/about-us/newsroom/blog/how-does-screen-time-affect-kids-mental-health.

Watson, Stephanie. “11 Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 15 May 2020, www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body.

Price-Mitchell, Marilyn. “Is Too Much Screen Time Affecting Your Child's Health?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 5 Nov. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-moment-youth/201811/is-too-much-screen-time-affecting-your-child-s-health.