How to Manage Your Screen Time and Your Stress
By: Miracle Pedro
Tags: Time, Quarantine, Screen, Miracles, Stress

During these last couple of months many of us have been locked due to the pandemic. I have personally a lot of screen time because of college. I also been super stressful and uncomfortable. My classmates and I were talking other day and many of them can relate my stresses including the temptation of streaming tv shows while working. As a person who is a social butterfly, I was used to doing my work in the library surrounded by people (seeing people hustle makes me want to hustle move). Now I do most of work from my bedroom that filled with so many distractions. And if I go down stairs to the kitchen, I surrounded by my family who also distract me (cause they are LOUD). Plus I feel tempted to binge watch some old 80’s show while typing a fifteen page paper that due tomorrow. Yikes. After hours of using screen, I feel myself having headaches, feeling tired, and anxious. What am I supposed to do? After talking to my peers, they gave me tips and tricks on combating these problems.

Do one thing at a time

Unless you have some kind of superpower you can not watch a whole tv series and listen to a lecture, do an assignment, submitting that business proposal, or make that Instagram post. Try your best do one thing at a time. Relax and focus. This minimizes stress and anxiety. And focus helps you keep track of your time and progress. I have done this and seen vast difference in my performance (unlike the times I have allowed myself to be distracted while working). But if you still feel that this is not always ideal, there is something else that I do that helps: pair visual with audio. What does that mean? If you are working on something visually, you can listen to something that doesn’t distract you but keeps you occupied. For example, I am typing up this blog while listening to a Entreprenista podcast with Stephanie Cartin and Courtney Spritzer ( ladies interested in entrepreneurship check them, I love this podcast so much). It’s informative but it doesn’t distract me. It’s not too loud, it’s just people talking in the background. I also like listening to calm music, it doesn’t distract me and makes me want to work. So try you best to do one thing at a time. And if that doesn’t always work for you, listen to something interesting and soothing to encourage you to work.

2. Find Alternative Hobbies

Once you are done with the work, task, assignment, lecture, meeting, etc, turn off your electronics: laptop, tablet, tv, and phone. Take the next one to two hours, get up and do something else. Recently I have been reading a novel called White River Brides by Frances Devine. After I am done with any work with laptop or I feel I have spent too much time on the laptop, I turn off my laptop, snuggle in bed, and read the book. I also engage in other hobbies like writing, sketching, dancing, and running. Some of my classmates talked about gardening, stretching, going outside for a walk, learning new recipes. In the end, this is a good time to unplug and try something new even it’s for two hours. Since I have been doing this, I have felt refreshed and relaxed. I can do my work with a fresh perspective.

3. Turn off the blue light

A lot of the physical problems we experience when it comes staring a screen for a long time is blue light. I would work on my laptop for hours and walk away with a piercing headache. I don’t even want to look at the screen anymore but I still have a paper to write. Blue light also affects sleep patterns and a person’s focus. One of the ways you can combat this is by buying a pair of blue filtering glasses but some are super expensive. The next best thing is using the night light on built into your laptop (if not available there are some applications you can get from the internet that that serve a blue light filter) and reduce the brightness of your screen. There are also blue filtering apps for your phone as well.

I hope these tips were helpful for you as they were for me. Stay Safe. Be Blessed.