Digital Detoxing (Or Trying To)

If you were to ask me how I would describe myself, the first word that would come out of my mouth is "perfectionist." Any accolades that I have achieved in life have been from probably 10% determination, 20% intelligence, and 70% perfectionism. One time as an undergrad I took part in a study for class credit within the FSU psychology department. This particular study was about obsessive-compulsive disorder and how to measure it. The lab assistant who conducted the experiment on me concluded that although I don't have the disease because I do not have compulsions (physical or mental manifestations of obsessions), I do have obsessions (constant thoughts that disrupt daily life). Mix this in with a little bit of anxiety, and you have a person who cares way too much about grades, a.k.a. me.

Since starting a degree in education, I've actually gotten better about this. I've always been passionate about lifelong learning, and getting my master's in instructional systems and learning technologies at FSU has helped me realize that although good grades aren't necessarily a bad thing, when it comes to education you should focus on the act of learning itself and bettering yourself. If you get a B or C in a class but you walk away with a solid understanding of a topic from said class, that's not the end of the world.

When I saw that our class was going to do a 24-48 hour digital detox challenge this week, I was actually excited. As we're all well aware of, there's been a lot going on in the world. There always has been and there always will be, but it seems like times haven't been this chaotic for a hot minute. Add in graduate school work in general and the fact that we just had our first big paper of the semester, and you have one tired Erin. I needed to walk away from it all for a second.

So yesterday, I did just that. It was surprisingly harder than I expected it to be. I have to use a computer every day for work and yesterday was no exception. I had to keep reminding myself during my breaks that I couldn't check social media. I got a good chunk of work done and all I wanted to do was play Animal Crossing: New Horizons on my Nintendo Switch but I had to tell myself, "No screens more than is absolutely necessary!" Instead, I cleaned my bathroom while listening to an audiobook and washed laundry, which was desperately needed. I wish that I could have done the digital detox challenge for longer than 24 hours, but today I had to get schoolwork done (luckily for me, I am off of work. Happy Juneteenth to all who are celebrating!) I might try it again at another point in the semester, but for now I'm happy that I at least got 24 hours to myself!