Sydney Paulson's Media Blog

I'm going to the ERAS TOUR on Saturday! My sister got tickets last August and I have been looking forward to this concert every single day since. While I am over the moon excited, this week was also filled with quite a bit of stress trying to finish all of my school work and homework before I leave for the concert tomorrow morning. This has also been a slightly heavier week homework-wise for me than usual, so I have been spending extra time on my computer and less time on social media or watching shows. A couple nights ago my roommates and I decided to have a movie night and it was the perfect homework break for me. It reminded me that sometimes taking a break from homework and important things is beneficial for our well-being. 

With midterm tests and papers this week, I definitely spent a lot more time on my computer and my phone studying than I normally do. I noticed how tired I was at the end of the day after staring at my screens for so long in order to get my papers and studying done. I also struggled a little bit mentally feeling like I didn't have time to give myself a break and scroll TikTok or watch a show. It is safe to say I am glad midterms are over and I am looking forward to having a little bit more free time next week. 

 I started my week off with a lot more screen time on Sunday than usual because of General Conference. My family ate dinner outside on Sunday and we were talking about how General Conference is great, but it is a lot of sitting and watching tv and it felt very nice to get outside and sit in the fresh air. I had a very similar feeling as I was nannying this week and decided to take the kids on a walk after we had been inside all day. I had done about two hours of homework on my computer while the kids took a nap, and it felt amazing to get outside and take a break from my computer screen. Even though General Conference and homework are not bad, they are still media, and this week showed me how consuming a lot of media/watching a screen for a long time can affect my outlook on life. 

I didn't have to work this week, so I had a very different schedule than most weeks. I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which left me with a lot of free time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I noticed I spent a lot more time watching TikTok, watching a show on my laptop, or scrolling on Instagram than I usually do. By the end of the day Wednesday I was trying to figure out why I felt so unproductive even though I had finished all of my homework for the week. I realized it is because I had spent so much time looking at and interacting with screens. Like I said, I had finished all of my homework, so spending time on my phone or watching a show wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At first I was slightly confused why I felt so unproductive when I had finished everything I needed to do. I haven't noticed the impact of my screen time before, but I decided to spend less time on my phone on Friday and more time outside and with my family, and I felt much better at the end o...