It seems obvious that the more we are on our phone, we have less human interaction, more dependency on technology, and often tend to be unproductive. Though it is not my longitudinal challenge, one of the most difficult challenges for me was keeping your phone in your pocket. As someone who does everything on their phone from watching tv, sending texts, and drafting emails, it was difficult to actually put it away and I often found myself making excuses so that I could use it. I think this is particularly true when trying to study or get work done, I find reasons to procrastinate and most of the time I push off my work so that I can be on my phone. I am sure this is true for many of us, as a study by Zhou et al., (2024) shows that mobile phone addiction (MPA) is positively correlated with procrastination! This paper did a meta-analysis on 75 studies to examine how MPA and procrastination affect each other, also considering factors like sex, culture, and education level. One of the interesting results, though not surprising, was that individuals with a higher degree of MPA were more inclined to procrastinate. I know I am a procrastinator but I am not sure to what degree I am addicted to my phone. I do think for myself there is a certain level of dependency that is strongly correlated with my tendency to procrastinate but I think self acknowledgement of MPA is difficult.
Self reports of MPA are also very interesting because of differences in culture and norms. Zhou et al., (2024) specifically provides the example that in China, students have more academic pressure to succeed as college acceptances and education bring honour to the family. One of the ways these students relieve the stress from their familial pressures is by the entertainment on their phones. When phones are their only freedom, it seems natural that they resort to using their mobile devices and lean into procrastination. I relate to this a lot and it’s true that my phone is a way that I can take a break from the workload I have or allow me to zone in on something that isn’t tied to my academic performance. BUT procrastination and MPA will not help me in the long run! I am trying to be more intentional in how I use my phone and when I take it out of my pocket but I thought this paper was really interesting because it outlines exactly why and how our phone addictions can cause us harm. Let me know if you relate to this and what you are trying to do to stop procrastinating!
Resource: Zhou, X., Yang, F., Chen, Y., & Gao, Y. (2024). The correlation between mobile phone addiction and procrastination in students: A meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 346, 317–328.
Sophia :)
I agree that being on my phone is one of the easiest ways to procrastinate, (especially during the time I should be doing homework). I also found it interesting that students in China use their phones as a way to escape the high expectations of their culture. I wonder how the U.S compares? In my experience, we seem to have a variety of subcultures surrounding our phones globally (social media and mobile games to name a couple), I wouldn't be surprised if the screen time was high universally.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much phones have changed our activity levels in the U.S. alone, back when I was a kid landline was still around and so I had to spend my free-time playing outside or using my imagination to entertain myself, which is a skill I still use often and am proud of. But with the advent of smartphones and the parenting style of entertain children off of those smartphones I do wonder if we will be able to observe any physiological changes such as weight gain or even undeveloped parts of the brain. Either ways, I believe that we should do our best to attempt to socialize with others in real life, since we may lose those essential communication skills if we stop using them from heavy reliance on cell phones.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our phones can be a strong factor of procrastination, I noticed during the challenge that without music or some form of entertainment I would be unable to start simple activities due to the habit of having my phone out. I found this article interesting because it argued how a phone could potentially be used as a tool for productivity rather than a inhibitor. It would be great if we were able to change the correlation to something more positive and potentially beneficial especially being in a technology dependent generation.
ReplyDeleteJewell, Sarah. “Productivity via mobile phones: Using smartphones in Smart Ways.” Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, vol. 8, no. 1, 8 Mar. 2011, pp. 81–86, https://doi.org/10.1080/15424065.2010.551501.
This is really interesting. I have also wondered about how the technology is affecting the children in today's age. I have been overseas, to areas that don't have as much technology exposure, and I was amazed that the kids seemed much more capable at younger ages than our kids here. In just a generation we have seen dramatic effects on our development. And like you said, the phone is just such an easy thing to get sucked into to relieve stress and procrastinate.
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