I’m a Media Arts & Design major, so I guess you could say media is a pretty integral part of my life. It’s not all that I do, but I really like having music on in the background when I’m working, and I definitely don’t mind refreshing my Instagram or Twitter feed when I’m not doing anything. Because of this, I was absolutely terrified on my first day of class two weeks ago when my teacher gave us our first assignment: in the next week we were supposed to find a 24 hour period and give up all media.
To clarify, that meant for 24 hours, I couldn’t text, call, email, listen to music, check social media, watch TV or really about anything else in that realm unless it was for work or a class. Honestly, I considered dropping the class.
Almost everyone in that class is a justice studies major, and I’m one of the only media majors, so I thought I was gonna suffer a lot more than everyone else. I was surprised to find out that I was the first one to actually do it, and I was one of like 10 people that actually did it for the full 24 hours.
I thought giving up social media was going to be the death of me because I’m definitely known for frequent tweeting and consistent snapchat and instagram use, but that part was actually pretty easy to give up. I carried a book around with me and actually finished it during my technology-hiatus.
Honestly, one of the hardest things to give up was texting. I don’t necessarily text people constantly, but it was really weird to know that I couldn’t. Whether it was silly things like texting my friend something funny I saw or something more important like texting my roommate something I needed her to do, I definitely wasn’t aware of how much I actually rely on texting.
The other thing that was hardest to give up was music. I pretty much always have a pair of headphones with me, and I turn on my radio almost immediately after waking up, so living in silence for 24 hours was a true challenge. When I drove, I sang to myself to mimic what it’d be like to have the radio. Honestly, I do think my morning routine got 5-10 minutes shorter without me fussing about what artist to listen to.
All in all, this assignment was incredibly hard but incredibly necessary. I’m now aware of how much I depend on (or at least enjoy) media usage, and I’m trying to become a little less attached. If you’re feeling up to it, I definitely dare you to try the challenge as well, even if it’s only for a few hours.