Deleting social media can increase academic performance. (Photo by Shane Kaneshiro)

By Makayla Dilliner | Staff Writer

You don’t wake up one day hooked on social media. At least that was never my experience with the popular Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat or YouTube. Instead it was a long process that eventually prohibited me from achieving my true intentions in life. Most notably when it came to my grades. In high school, rather than doing my homework, I would often find myself giving the excuse of “I don’t have enough time to complete an assignment” when in reality, I chose not have enough time and productivity.

The fact of the matter was that I let social media take up all of my time. Years of endless scrolling has contributed to my lack of focus, attention span and overall motivation to meet my academic goals. 

That’s why I have gone app-less. I deleted my Snapchat account two years ago. And at the start of my first semester  at KCC in August, I deactivated my Instagram account. Now, with zero distractions, I have finally been able to carry out my academic goals. However, staying off of the popular platforms is not as easy as a push of a button. 

In 2018, while I was in intermediate school, social media was a fun way to connect with my friends and classmates. However, as I grew older it became difficult to deviate from social media in order to solely focus on my school work. My habit only amplified most notably during the COVID-19 lockdowns, spending up to 12 hours every day on my phone. Until the summer of my freshman year in college, I would routinely be on social media for up to four hours a day.  

What started as a fun way to interact with friends and family became an endless spiral of scrolling past my obligations. I found myself no longer able to sit through a book or school assignment. Staring at a screen brought both a decrease in my mental health and productivity. Other than attending school or an occasional weekend out, my only hobby was “the scroll.”

Out of my 24-hour day, my social media usage would sometimes equal or even surpass my hours of sleep. Having a large impact on my life, I finally made the decision to look up from my phone and instead look toward my education. 

It was through my successful attempt to stay offline where I understood that this small hobby was really a much bigger problem — grazing the lines of addiction. Urging to download it again, I was became desperate to fight boredom.  I ached to be entertained with seconds long videos, all the while I could have been completing school work.

I struggled to find ways to productively fill the new time, not wanting to focus only on homework. I felt like I was never going to surpass this laziness in order to achieve what was really important. That is until, I finally did. 

While it was much worse than I thought it would be, my motivation to excel academically outweighed my lack of self-control. I was no longer blindsided by a screen that I had real value and worth in the future. Ultimately, seeing the spike in work productivity, focus, and energy I have experienced “off the grid,” I have made the choice to continue to stay off the social media apps.

While I believed I was alone in this practice, it turns out there is an epidemic in my age group who is going through the same thing. According to Gallup, on average teens will use social media for 4.8 hours a day. Favoring Tik Tok and YouTube, the Gallup report found that teens aged 17 years old will spend as much as 5.8 hours a day on the apps.

Little by little, my urge to enhance my grades, work ethic, and overall life, overtook my desire to scroll. Finally, away from stress, I am no longer rushing to complete school assignments whilst staying up hours into the night. Removing social media from my life has given me a new sense of focus. With focus, came the time and drive to complete my tasks at hand. 

When it comes to social media, my college education has been an essential part of following through with my assignments, study time and grades. In previous years, I did not take my goals or my time very seriously.

Despite the ups and downs of my experience, I truly urge readers to follow suit. Now, completely removing social media may not be possible for everyone. To some, it may even sound a bit extreme. However, there is no doubt that limiting scroll time or the amount of apps in your library can help give you the boost you need to increase productivity. 

Through our mistakes comes growth. With growth comes change which ultimately leads us to success. While I can no longer turn back the clock when it comes to hours wasted on my phone, I can now move forward with a new mindset. A mindset that I hope will keep me on track and maybe even you offline.