Week six

Our assignment this week was to take the challenge described in the Maryland Media Study. We were supposed to spend an entire day without networked media. That meant no phone, internet or other networked media device. Unfortunately for my job I have to use the phone and the internet and I work most nights of the week. The one day I don't work is reserved for homework and I am currently working on a research project. All this really did make me realize how consistently I am on networked media. So, with that said. It was absolutely impossible for me to complete this challenge. I did want to give it a try though so I set Wednesday as the day since I didn't have work until 4pm. I told myself that from the moment that I woke up in the morning to when I went to work I would stay off of networked media. It was definitely difficult. I had to hide my phone to keep myself from cheating and turn the internet off on my computer so that there was no way I could break down and do it. I had to stay very busy that day. I realized what a time filling just looking at my phone is. Anytime I am bored or not doing anything I go through my phone and do the same routine: check messages, check email, check instagram, look at Facebook for a little bit and then either check the weather or how my stocks are doing.

This challenge definitely made me more creative with my time. I cleaned my house and packed for a trip that still wasn't happening for two days. I took a walk down the beach, which is something that I should definitely strive to do more often since I will probably never get the chance to live this close again for a while if ever.

When I finally broke the media barrier I was at work so it actually wasn't very exciting and by the time I got back to my computer late that night, the shock from not going on the internet for so long had already worn off. It was a very interesting and enlightening experience that made it glaringly apparent how attached I am to all of the features that my smart phone has to offer.