The article on Addiction and Distraction, written by Tony Schwartz summates how distraction on the internet is practiced as a habit which interrupts daily routines. The author connects this idea and elaborates by describing his experience of how he realized his insane addiction to the internet. He realized his compulsive behaviors towards internet through the close observations on his deteriorating health. The effects on health were quite detrimental as he drank lots of diet soda, and increases consumption of alcohol almost every day and was no longer exercising regularly as he used to before.
Similarly, I also find myself addicted to distraction. Like Tony, I am compelled towards Facebook, which is my primary interface for distraction instead of checking emails. Now, that I recall the effects of distraction, I remember that I snacked too frequently when being distracted. The hunger for some reason just drastically increases at an instant and other time it makes me sick of it. My resolution was very much like Tony’s ambitious plan. I informed my father to shutdown Wi-Fi after bedtime. This plan showed positive results, my chronic procrastination reduced by a great amount and I was more focused and my irregular cravings for food had stopped. This issue is not only relatable to the author and me, rather to every being who utilizes internet as a part of their daily routines. The distraction nature of the internet is definitely a problem because many internet users have not yet realized of how major this problem is and can become. Others who know that this problem exists cannot map out a way from this problem. The rest who are like me and Tony still remain the victims of distraction of internet; though know how to manage time and internet wisely so that it would not interrupt our lives with a negative impact. As mentioned in the article, Tony references a survey in which it states of how millennials check emails outside of work more than during work hours. This evidently proves how distraction caused by internet (in this case with emails) is accumulating as a major concern. Distraction to the internet is so widespread that it’s hard to control. It causes build-up of pressure because distraction causes one to fall behind in schedule which pressurizes them to work harder to get the task done on time. This pressure can cause the change in eating habits which directly impacts on their heath and cause more issues of not taken care of them. Distraction on the internet can also cause the unnecessary shopping which results in less wealth. There are so many more issues; the ones listed just scrap the surface of the problem. If I tried to disconnect myself from the internet, I wouldn’t be able to function appropriately because I’d feel as I am lacking the information which I need to harness it from the internet. I believe that the point of vacation is to enjoy it in every aspect as one would wish. Personally, I would hate to have myself disconnected from the internet. Otherwise, it would kill the purpose of vacation. I want to enjoy moments in my vacation and be in touch with the world (in terms of information and with long-distance relatives). As a result, I would not eat properly because I would feel that I am incomplete (missing out on the information that I should know) if I were disconnected from the internet. Hence, in a way I would go insanely crazy without internet on a vacation. Schools should address this issue because as mentioned above, many individuals are unaware of the existence of this issue. More importantly, it should be addressed to students in the school because majority of them struggle to create an effective plan on how to evade distraction from the internet. They suffer the consequences such as stress form the pressure created from the distraction on internet and seek opportunities to reduce the impacts. They should be educated on this topic so that they can know how to improve their current results with few simple, personal steps.
0 Comments
When, the project was assigned, I was initially bewildered on what was exactly were the expectations of this project and its purpose. I could have checked out the website on which the assignments are always posted, but didn’t have time to so, after being caught in other coursework. Due to this reason in addition with being lazy, I did not even take time to take a glance and see the assignment itself until about two days prior to its due date. I commenced working on the project late, and even more, I kept delaying parts of it each time I tried to spend time on it. With this said, by the end of the submission, I truly felt unsatisfied with my final product. I desired my final product to appear as an appealing poster type, more like an infographic. But due to the unconditional work habits, my final product seemed incomplete, and too simple. Near the end of doing the poster, I came upon the realization that I cannot extend the length of the poster, rather restart if required a larger size. Due to time restrictions, I stuck to the original piece and submitted it in. later, when I looked at other products from the class, I felt that I did not put much effort into it and that my final product appears more preliminary than a finished product. I was disappointed in myself, but at the time, I assured myself that such bad work habits will not be repeated for any course.
Without a doubt, I can say that I procrastinated on the learning task assignment. When the work periods were provided, the initial two classes were unproductive due to the unavailable internet and logon services on the TDSB computers. Even, after those days, when the logon services and Wi-Fi/internet resumed in class, I either worked on other coursework or talked to other classmates because I was demotivated to physically start on the research and most importantly, I didn’t want to read through the presentations for the process of topic selection. I procrastinated due to other factors as well, such as the coursework for other loaded courses and extracurriculars. I was busy with completing a biology lab report, along with a math quiz and its assignments, and a culminating English presentation all due Monday (the same due date as the learning task assignment). Although I was glad I received an extension, I was also aware that I will not be able to manage my time through all the work efficiently. Hence, I did procrastinate, because I could have used the time provided in work periods to effectively complete the task and leave the remaining time for other coursework. But since I didn’t do this due to and rather be unproductive, I accomplished very little from the goal that I had. During the class periods, when we were required to work, I was mostly working on other coursework, to get all caught-up or to simply stay ahead, but I didn’t realize that with me working on other subjects, I was working towards an unsatisfied result. I predicted that even if I procrastinate, I will manage somehow to make this task appealing. Although, this thinking backfired when I realized I was given more course work from each other course. Honestly, for this task, I expected to do well enough, earning a satisfactory mark on it. When this task was assigned, I felt that I could do well although I will have to put time into it. I thought this because the expectation(s) for this task was to utilize a creative medium to present the researched information on the chosen topic and I am not creative in any aspect. My creativity seems far too simple to be creative and so for me personally, I had to give more time and effort to this task. Of course, for any task in any course, grades are significant to me. Thus, for this project as well, grades are significant to me. Keeping this in mind, even if I prioritize grades first, I tend to not give importance to certain projects until the last minute arrives and the pressure of the due date is stressing me out. I performed the task and started to spend time starting Thursday, with the most on Saturday/Sunday. With this said, I can say that I undoubtedly delayed this task far too much, which should be corrected in the future tasks. Yes, I am worried about the tasks in one way which is that if they require something creative each time I will tend to procrastinate just as I did because it also takes me a while to brainstorm. And thus, I will not receive a pleasant grade which I desire. I suppose you can alter one thing that I presume everyone in the class experienced. For instance, a course like this should have more projects which are not purely researched based, because they tend to not fascinating and becomes boring and tedious to do. Rather, tasks such as the first major assignment should be assigned more often. This way, when interactions between people increase, they can get work done faster, and have less chances to procrastinate (if each member contributes and cares enough for their mark). Also, for each assignment, it would be nice and appreciated if we had an example from previous years, just to have a rough idea and so that it’s not as difficult to commence the project. Since the expectations are loose, this should be available to provide an easier start many people like me that were merely stuck and confused what and where to begin from. |
AuthorA grade 12, who is always mistaken as a niner. Archives
January 2017
Categories
All
|