Hello,
Introduction
m screen time is somewhere near 8 to 9 hours a day which is just watching nonsense stuffs on TV, YouTube, Anime and manga.
This screen time doesn’t include any productive hours.
I may have managed to go less than half an hour in the previous similar challenge
but it was mere luck and because of circumstances where i couldn’t use my phone.
I was feeling proud of myself when i saw my screen time reduced but when I got back to my normal life nothing changed.
Plus just giving up on phone, YouTube, TV, etc., didn’t work for me.
So I decided to continue this challenge from the previous one that i was into with some changes.
Details of the challenge
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This will be a weekly challenge
Reason - in the previous challenge though there were many people who enrolled but after a period they became inactive. Plus a monthly challenge seems too long and few start losing the motivation or few stop updating because they performed poor in the initial days. So having a chance to start freshly every week might boost up many to not give up. -
The winners will be announced every Sunday excluding the the Sunday on which it is announced
Explanation - For example if today is Sunday and the winners are to be announced for previous week then the hour of screen time of previous Sunday will be considered and the hours of this Sunday will be considered for next week. -
As you might have read the point 2 wherein in this challenge there will be two types of winners
- One winner every week who has the least hours on screen
- other winners who did much better than previous week
Also I’m planning to notify who did worse in a particular week so as to cheer them up (Please don’t feel guilty of this. I have no reason to humiliate anyone. Its important to keep in check on people who aren’t doing good and may need some motivation or help. I too can be low performer in some week. I needed help and motivation when i was at worst and many people here helped me and it worked for me)
Rules
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This challenge is to be accountable for unproductive screen time
Anything study related or work related or hobby related is allowed
(Note:- Binge watching shows or playing mobile, pc or console games isn’t a hobby. Hobby can be like learning some new language or some musical instrument etc.) -
In a week u have max 3 chances to exceed 3 hours a day
Explanation:- In any particular week your screen time can exceed 3 hours only thrice which is almost 50 % relief
So if at all the screen time is more than 3 hours for 3 days in a week then u cannot be a winner for that week even if the screen time for next 4 days is 0 hours.
The goal here is to become disciplined and build consistency.
(previously i would have screen time of 6 to 8 hours for 3 to 4 days and then it would be less than 1 hour for few days due to circumstances and then back to 6 to 8 hours. So it’s important to be consistent. and i feel three days is a big relief.) -
The three days relief and 3 hours max limit may decrease over time which I’ll inform you depending upon whether there are any new participants or not.
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U are required to track time manually or through an app.
(I would suggest manual as much as possible)
but don’t give an average hour of screen time
the reason for this being is to be accountable to yourself which you may feel (even though slightly) in case of manual tracking
Incase you use an app u are required to share the screen shot directly -
All of u are required to update scores by yourselves.
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All of u are required to update regularly
If possible daily but it is mandatory to update once in 3 days
Failure to do so will be removed from the challenge for that week
(Reason - Previously i wouldn’t update out of guilt of performing bad. But things wont change if u run away because of the failure) -
The motivational videos that will be referred here will not be counted in screen time
but if u start spending more than one minute on the comment section or any other videos then the entire time of even the motivational video watched will be counted -
using this forum for more than 30 minutes a day will lead to inclusion of entire time in unproductive screen time
Point system
The point system is different in this challenge
- For every hour of screen time, it will be 2 points negative
- for every productive hour (like study, work or workout), u will get 1 point
You have chance to make negatives to positive by the end of the day
Example - If your screen time is 2 hours, then it’s -4 points but is the productive hours is 4 hours it’s +4 points so total score for that day will be 0.
Note:- Choose the productive work that you are struggling to do and not something u are already doing regularly or you are good at.
**Objective of this is that we should try to inculcate new productive activities instead of just boasting with hours of productive activities which we already find easy to do **
Also the reason for this point system is that in the previous challenge though my screen time would be less than 1 hour my productive hours would be zero
Tips and advices
1. Using grey scale or bed time mode on your phone
( Reason - Our brain is naturally drawn to colours and we all know how colourful does our phone looks and how colourful are the app icons and the sites. So to avoid being induced by colours this is one of the best thing we can do
I have experienced feeling uninterested in using phone when on grey scale and to enjoy using phone i need to bring it back to normal.
So my goal is not to remove grey scale no matter what.)
2. Using Declutter app
(This app simplifies the home screen view and i have to type the name of the app I want to use every time.)
(Reason - Now I’m no more mindlessly opening the app and find myself hooked to it. This has happened with me in past wherein i didn’t feel like watching anything on YouTube but I used to automatically open and the app and even without thinking i used to type roast video.
The same goes with whatsapp.
So using this app helps u to thoughtfully decide whether you want to use these apps or not.
3. Keep track of all your screen times and don’t just take it as average.
If possible maintain a record of the time when u start using the screen and then time u take break(even if it’s 5 minutes break) and the time you actually let go of the screen
(Remember every minute counts)
Also both the starting and stopping minute will be included in screen time
This will act as a double check to using screen time consciously and not mindlessly
is not manually then u can use the apps that track screen time
but manually will be better as it gives a sense of self accountability which u don’t get when u track using apps.
I used to previously take average when forgot to track it
Note:- So if at all u don have an almost near figure and u take an average, it will be considered as similar to exceeding 3 days.
4. I don’t have much idea how to implement above tips on pc or laptop but in case of getting over YouTube addiction on Pc use chrome extensions which are very helpful
You can just search chrome extensions for YouTube and u will find them easily.
If u are not able to find it, I’ll make sure to leave the reference video in the reference section.
5. If u want to get over screen for YouTube or social media on phone, try using these in SPIN BROWSER
i actually hated using YouTube in the app because it disabled comments for all videos + it was not user friendly (i faced resistance while using on this app) + this browser doesn’t show all the videos of any particular channel, So you have to be super specific when u want a particular video of a particular channel )
Reference and motivation
- https://youtu.be/71HbGjbSOiE
- Extension for pc and laptop to overcome youtube addiction
https://youtu.be/IlkO8g_nwlI
This is a battle of freeing ourselves from the digital slavery and we will slowly but surely escape from its evil crutches.
. To be honest the thing is I don’t come online very often nowadays so I won’t be able to hold the accountability for long . I already have participated in a few challanges but failed to hold the accountability there as I don’t come online very often so I don’t want that same thing to happen again . That’s why not participating .
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