Siri, How Do I Stop Using My iPhone So Much? : Smartphones in College Life

By Chelsea Donohue on July 3, 2012

I recently heard someone joke, “I wish there was an app that would make me stop looking at my phone so much.” This, though obviously a contradiction, doesn’t seem so ridiculous. In a world where flip phones are a rarity and the iPhone is ubiquitous, something that would help us spend a little less time on our phones doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

I’ve had a phone since the 7th grade, on which I occasionally texted my friends (I wasn’t allowed unlimited texting back then) and sometimes played the one game that the flip phone offered. I called my mom for rides home from school once in a while, but I really had nothing to do on it that occupied my attention for more than a few minutes. In the summer going into twelfth grade, my mom bought me my first smartphone, a Blackberry. I loved how I could see all of my messages to a person in a conversation format and became addicted to BrickBreaker. Although I was using my phone more than I used to, I still didn’t find myself constantly checking it or using it for extended periods of time.

It wasn’t until this past December when I received an iPhone 4S for Christmas that I realized just how much Smartphone technology has affected my life. I hate to say it, but my iPhone is basically another limb. It’s always on me and if for some reason I don’t have it, I feel like I’m missing something. Its come to the point where I will intentionally leave my phone in the car or in the house just to get a break from my constant desire to check Twitter or play my friend back in a game.

As a student, certain apps on the iPhone have helped me with school-related tasks. Having the internet on my phone has helped me do everything from rechecking that fact I was unsure of while studying, to responding to emails about club meetings or class assignments. There are plenty of apps that are designed specifically for productivity; there are translator apps, note-taking helpers, dictionaries, calendars, to-do lists, and writing aids. My school, Gettysburg College, like many other schools, has its own app, with information relating to school visits, driving directions, admissions, and a map that can locate you anywhere on campus.

Not all iPhone apps are designed in a way to help you be more productive. In fact, in my experience, I’ve learned that they do just the opposite. Study breaks to “just check Twitter” have turned into time consuming “let me just play this one game” breaks. I find myself scrolling through my newspaper apps, playing a few games (Scramble will waste an innumerable amount of time), checking out Instagram, finding a movie for later on Flixster, and then checking Twitter again, seeing if anyone has posted in the time I’ve spent on other apps.

With so many things to do on your phone, it’s hard to imagine ever having time to do anything else. For me, allowing myself a few breaks while studying (the first kind of break I previously described, not the latter) has helped me to keep a healthy distance from my iPhone when need be. An iPhone can sometimes seem like more of a burden than an aid while at school, but by controlling which apps you allow yourself to download, you can learn to monitor how much time you spend looking down on your iPhone instead of up at the world.

For me, the best part of having a smartphone in college is having your school email on your phone. As your alarm goes off and you grunt to wake up and turn it off, you see the little red number above your email app, giving you that spark of hope that your 8am class was cancelled and that you can go back to sleep for the time being.

 

Photo from Flickr.com ; Uploaded by Yutaka Tsutano

 

 

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format