By Jackylyn Jean Oasay, McKinley High School

The first thing I do in the morning is grab my phone. Not just to turn off my alarm, but to immediately fill my brain with spikes of dopamine and content. Actions like these seep into our days, inevitably becoming great wastes of time and productivity. For instance, when five more minutes of TikTok turn into an hour of time wasted, or even worse, a whole day. However, our phones and devices are everywhere. We use our phones to send urgent messages, for work, paying expenses, etc. 

Despite how useful it may be, the content we consume from apps that take our time and lives away makes us into addicted, dependent beings who lack self-control. Since phone usage is inevitable, we must be intentional—-this means physical limitations and boundaries. 

It is undeniable that phones and devices are necessary for the world we live in today. They give us access to instant communication, information is in our hands 24/7, and the applications installed make life more convenient. Our phones also provide entertainment, manage finances, and have given us the ability to contact emergency services whenever. With our constantly evolving digital world, it is impossible to completely throw these devices away. Therefore, we must adapt to it rather than succumb to it. Although it is useful, it comes with harmful consequences. 

Our phone usage and addiction has hindered our ability to socialize. In class, our teachers give us free time and when I look around, I see everyone on their phones. It has become even harder to socialize and integrate groups because even during school assemblies, people choose a device rather than being present in the moment. The term “phubbing,” which is a portmanteau of phone and snubbing, means to prioritize digital interaction over social interaction. An example of this is someone going on their phone despite being talked to. With 97% of Americans owning a smartphone and students reporting around nine hours of screen time, there is no doubt phubbing is prevalent. When phones compete with real-life attention for nine hours a day, relationships and focus naturally suffer. 

Phones also compete with productivity. When I do my work, my phone is usually in close proximity. I noticed myself picking it up multiple times when I am supposed to be focused. The worst case is when someone messages me, and I waste hours of productive time scrolling and consuming meaningless media. This also relates to those in the workforce. A 2024 Insightful study found that 62% of employees report that smartphone notifications compete with their concentration. It takes a powerful amount of self-control to resist not checking our notifications or picking it up. 

This generation and time relies on instant gratification. The internet gives us the ability to search up anything and get the answer in a matter of seconds, our attention spans are fried down to eight seconds, and constantly getting dopamine from social media likes and every scroll. Therefore, stopping an addiction as strong as phone usage requires physical limitations and replacements. I have tried to put a screen limit on apps that distract me, but always found myself denying every “your time is up” notification. 

This is why apps that limit screen time or block distractions can be so helpful. Apps like Brick, Opal and Freedom create physical boundaries that force users to step away from

doomscrolling and limit notifications. I have been using Opal to block apps like TikTok so I can limit my distracted scrolling, and even choosing to limit Instagram and Messages. I have created these boundaries since I noticed my biggest barrier is getting distracted by the endless notifications. Using these apps does not take away our phones entirely, but gives users control over them, turning a source of stress into a resource we can use intentionally. Without these limits, it’s easy to fall back into the cycle of instant gratification and loss of valuable time.