ASUN – Page 5 – Insight Magazine

Shopaholics Not So Anonymous

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Even with a closet full of clothes, I can never find something to wear. I find myself sitting in class envisioning outfits and collaborations of what I own with an imaginary item and going out to find it to add to my collection of fashion. I am addicted to the ideas in my head about what I want and where I can actualize these ideas to bring them to life.

Cotton is an addiction of mine, and swiping my card to acquire it is second nature to me as part of a fashion hungry generation. I am well aware that I should be saving my money for a rainy day, or as my parents would much rather prefer, for a successful future. But I am sadly an addict, a victim, if you will, to the high that is accompanied by feeling and looking my best in the things that I purchase and wear.

This feeling is common amongst other versions of shopaholics. But what is a shopaholic? Can a shopping addiction be measured by the amount of clothes you have in your closet? The numbers in your bank account? Maybe it is the amount of technology that you own or the number of books you have lining your wall. This is the mystery behind shopaholics, it isn’t just fashion or clothes, it seems to be an addiction of anything you can spend your money on.

A shopaholic is defined as “a compulsive shopper” by Google Dictionary. What is compulsive though? Kat Sanchez, 19, a sophomore at the university tells me that she shops repetitively every two weeks for clothing, but if she sees something in between the time period of her shopping sprees she’ll pick it up without question. Sanchez classifies herself as a shopaholic, and for a college student I suppose her self-classification is correct through her eyes as well as many others who are struggling to look good, yet are trying to afford to keep up with the rest of the college atmosphere.

Many female college students here at the university are the most interested in items that feed into self-love, self-appreciation, and fanciful food to assuage their need to shop along with their want to feel new and remarkable through their purchases. This is what I have learned through what I purchase and why I purchase things as well.

Hasha Daswani, 20, a senior at the university also classifies herself as a shopaholic in terms of buying clothing and makeup. “During the summer I would shop weekly, usually thrifting, but now that school is in session I am not doing it as much, but I like to buy things that make me feel pretty,” she said.

College shoppers are a different breed. While we still may have the impulses to buy items that a woman with a sugar daddy does, we have to be economical and minimalistic in our shopping endeavors even though this is not always the priority.

While collegiate women shoppers are more interested in items like clothing and beauty materials, it is clear that collegiate men are shoppers, too, but in a completely different capacity.

Tyler Duke, 21, a senior at the university tells me that he spends the majority of his money on eating out, and a similar answer arose when I spoke to Corey Sondgroth, 24, a nursing student at Truckee Meadows Community College.

Sondgroth explained, “It is hard to save money because I eat out so much.”

Could a compulsive eating out habit be a form of shopaholism? Is a foodie just another version of a shopaholic? It seems as though it may be another form of coercion we impose on ourselves and seems to be uncontrollable in the light of all the things that money can buy to satisfy our watering mouths.

There is also another form of shopaholism, where you are addicted to going out just to see things and feel the items that could potentially be yours day-to-day, but not spending until you see the exact thing that you want.

“I go shopping everyday, but I don’t spend money everyday. I wait until I find what I need and what I want in an item, piece of clothing, or whatever else may be on my mind for purchase at the time.” Says Chelsey Gray, 25, a hairstylist in the Reno area.

What makes people want to shop so much? Is it fitting in? Being happy with material items? Maybe it is using these material items to make us feel better.

Shopping feeds my soul, it gives me the opportunity to create outfits, find myself, and be something brand new with every purchase. There is a strong feeling connected with getting something new, I feel new. I am recreated from a retail haven upon each purchase, and that is why I will never stop shopping despite the college student struggle to maintain three digits in my checking account.

October 24, 2018

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Text messages that read "Ghost" and "Mode"

Ghost Mode

By ASUNUncategorizedNo Comments

“Have you ever ghosted anyone?” I asked a male, 19-year-old, business finance major at the university.

“Yes,” he replied with suspicion in his voice.

“Why?” I replied with more interest now because the truth of his ghosting experience was about to be unveiled.

“You start talking to someone, and you think they’re attractive yet you have nothing in common, so you’re like ‘fuck that’,” he said.

His empathy was obviously off the charts.

Millennial dating culture claims a surplus of hookups and a regress in ‘humanity’ according to those who have a moral compass from the 1980’s.

There is little to no value in the type of connection that is being pursued on the surface level, and the impatience of this generation is proven through our serial dating habits.

These habits have shown again and again how young people in the university setting have come to terms with the relationships that they value and the relationships that they see as failing their standards for continuing interaction and the patience it takes to open up to someone.

A male, 21-year-old community health science major at the university explains his reasoning behind ghosting.

“I’ll ghost a girl sometimes if I feel like she doesn’t really deserve an answer from me, but if I feel someone is special or I’m into her enough I’ll be straight up,” he said.

Sometimes you don’t have to have done anything for someone to ghost you. It is simply because they are disinterested in what is being offered and were simply exploring you as an option on their quest for someone that they really connect with.

This is what everyone has done since the beginning of dating and courtship, but college students through their serial ghosting makes this truth so much more harsh and damaging.

And isn’t this what most people are doing in the dating world? Searching for an undiscovered feeling of joy or someone to connect with, and to involve themselves with on an alternate plane than all other relationships?

“I ghosted a guy that I dated for four months because his stress became my stress, and I thought that it was too much for me to deal with. I couldn’t handle the way that he relied on me so heavily in an emotional capacity after meeting not so long ago,” admitted a 21-year-old female senior at the university.

There doesn’t always have to be an emotional edge to the reason why people ghost, there are also people who ghost for sport and see a potential hook-up in everyone sexually appealing and able to handle a conversation long enough to create interest.

“You build something up, you make it your own, and once you’re finished with it you’re like, ‘yeah I’m done’,” said the first source (19-year-old male) about his venture in the realm of ghosting.

“If I have too much other shit to deal with then I’ll be like ‘OK bye,’ but like without saying bye,” said Ashley, a 21-year-old accounting and finance major at the university.

There is also the victim’s side of ghosting. The side that the ghost never gets to see unless they have experienced being the victim before.

If you have experienced both sides, then you know that ghosting takes a toll on both individuals, and it affects the way that they view their successes with relationships of all kinds.

A 21-year-old female living in California shares her story of being ghosted, “I dated a guy for three months who stopped talking to me. He lived a floor below me in the dorms, and the day he stopped talking to me he posted a picture of him kissing his ex girlfriend.”

“How did you feel after he did this?” I asked trying to understand how a victim of ghosting feels immediately and for a time thereafter.

“I felt confused, abandoned in a way. I also felt like I didn’t mean anything to anyone. It made me a little cold for a while, but I kept looking for someone who would actually give me the time of day and treat me how I deserve,” she continued to explain.

Can ghosting be the answer to self-actualization? Being ghosted sure can make someone reflect on the choices they make, the people they interact with, and the way they view themselves.

Although being ghosted isn’t requested it can lead to the happiness that is accompanied with a better understanding of yourself.

Of course, this happens only after suffering from the traumatic experience of feeling connected to someone only for you to understand that they dropped you like a freaking mic.

Ghosting has been happening to people since before cellphones were created. Remember the 2000’s rom-coms where the antagonist never shows up and leaves the beautiful girl weeping? Well, that scenario has already happened to so many people in real life.

We college students and fellow millennials are living in such a connected and communication driven realm where it is too easy to dehumanize the person on the other side of the screen.

There isn’t an hour of the day when I look around my present environment and don’t see someone on their phone. I wonder who are they talking to? How did they meet them? Where is the reliability in the relationship or if it will even exist tomorrow.

October 24, 2018

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Pack Profile: Alan Deutchman

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Journalism Professor Extraordinaire

In the suburban town of Woodbridge, New Jersey, 13-year-old Alan Deutchman sat in the back of his father’s car as they drove down to the News Tribune office to meet the paper’s Editor-in-Chief. Alan’s father, Hal, had recently called the paper asking if there were any employment opportunities for his son, but the paper responded by saying there were no paper delivery boy positions available at the moment.

After Hal explained that his young son didn’t want to deliver the paper but rather write in it, the News Tribune found the whole situation to be so humorous that they brought Alan in to discuss potential writing opportunities. But Alan had his first pitch ready to go: A profile on his 7th grade science teacher who wrote a song on how to teach the metric system, and thus Alan had his first writing gig even before entering high school.

Alan recalls being interested in reading and writing from a very young age. Growing up in the suburbs of New York City, he remembers his parents having a subscription of The New York Times and always reading it at breakfast. His love for reporting and storytelling translated into his production of a classroom newspaper in second grade, a published poem in Highlights Magazine, and, of course, his big break at the end of middle school with the News Tribune.

Throughout high school Alan continued to publish work with the News Tribune, writing cover stories for the weekend section as he continued to grow as a writer. After graduation he attended Princeton University.

During his college years Alan wrote for a slew of campus publications including Princeton Alumni Weekly, Daily Princetonian, and Business Today. Alan also spent a lot of his time writing song lyrics and comedy sketches for student theater productions.

By the time Deutchman was ready to graduate from college, he already had an impressive resume of summer internships including The Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, American Society of Magazine Editors, was actively writing for Newsweek, and had written and published a book when he was 18 on how to get college scholarships, giving him a real taste in professional writing. Yet, Deutchman recalls still struggling to landing his first job.

“I applied to big city newspapers because I wanted to report and write my own stories, and they all said call back when you’ve had four to seven years of professional experience and I didn’t want to go back to a small town newspaper — I had been doing that since I was 14,” said Deutchman.

So Deutchman took a risk and used the money his parents had saved up for him to go to grad school and moved to an apartment in New York instead in hopes of meeting the right people and getting the right opportunities.

Just when Deutchman began to feel like he was making the wrong move and spending his grad school money on nothing, he landed a job as a fact checker and researcher for Fortune Magazine.

In addition to working as a fact checker, Deutchman would spend his nights and weekends crafting story pitches and sharing them in meetings only to have his story ideas assigned to other writers. But soon enough an idea of reporting on venture capital gave Deutchman the chance to fly across the country and write his first big story for Fortune.

After a couple years of fact checking, Deutchman got promoted to staff writer and wrote his first cover story for the magazine on 25-year-olds and their attitudes towards business. Deutchman recalls the issue doing incredibly well in part because one of the guys he interviewed looked like a young Tom Cruise and having him on the cover was a nice contrast from the usual old guys on the cover of Fortune.

With Fortune, Deutchman moved out to San Francisco to become the magazine’s west coast correspondent at the perfect time – when the Internet started to come into fruition which allowed him to do reporting in Seattle, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and beyond as the Internet and tech became something everyone was interested in reading.

After four years of working in New York and three years working in San Francisco, Deutchman wanted a change. “When I turned 30 I thought ‘I just spent my 20s writing for business magazines’ and it was great experience, but there were so many other things I was interested in writing about like arts and culture, politics, and I wanted to go in a creative, literary direction with my writing,” he said.

During his year as a freelance writer in San Francisco, Deutchman received some of the wackiest story assignments which involved visiting a prison and almost getting arrested.

He received an assignment from Details Magazine to write about street prostitution in San Francisco near Union Square where street walkers were everywhere. The city created a program where they’d send police women undercover as prostitutes, and when men would solicit their services the police women would arrest them.

For punishment, the men could either go to jail or attend a class that would educate them on the societal effects of prostitution and why it’s harmful. With the green light from the head of the vice squad, Deutchman just needed permission from the district attorney in order to sit in on the educational class.

“I called and left messages, and she wouldn’t return my calls,” said Deutchman, “I would put on a suit and go down and hang out in the office, but there was no way to get through and my deadline was coming. I was a freelance writer, I needed my articles to get published to make money so I could pay my rent.”

In the meantime Deutchman interviewed the public defender who hated the program. He remembers her saying that if he went out with her on a Saturday she’d point out one of the undercover police women, and then he could go up to her and solicit her services. The undercover cop would then arrest him, so he could be in the class.

“I called my editor in New York and asked ‘is it okay if I commit a misdemeanor, a crime to get the story’ and they were like ‘yeah go for it,’ but then the district attorney called me back and let me sit in on the class, so I didn’t have to go get arrested to get the story,” said Deutchman.

That’s not the only time Deutchman came close to getting arrested for a story. Years after the prostitution story, Deutchman received an assignment from GQ to interview Sam Waksal, the man who conspired with Martha Stewart on the insider trading case, in a men’s minimum security prison. After Waksal’s family declined an interview, Deutchman decided to just go down to the prison and find Waksal hanging out.

Sure enough there were no fences, and the prisoners were just walking around. Before Deutchman could find Waksal, the prison guards brought him in for questioning.

“That was pretty funny because I had never been to a minimum security prison before, and it was the summer and I was wearing what I usually wear which is khaki pants, running shoes, a navy blue t-shirt, and a plain baseball hat, which is just kind of how I dress, and I didn’t realize that’s how the prisoners dress,” said Deutchman, “When you go to visit you’re not allowed to dress like that because you’ll look like one of the prisoners which I didn’t know any of that.”

Fortunately the guards let Deutchman off with a warning as he avoided jail time yet again.

Throughout the rest of his time freelancing, Deutchman wrote stories for The New York Times Magazine and Wired as well. But with the unpredictability of payment while freelancing full time, he moved to New York once again to take a job as a senior writer with GQ where he had his own column about business called The Profit Motive.

After a few years working for GQ it was back to San Francisco for Deutchman. This time around he had stable work as a contributing editor for GQ, Vanity Fair, and New York Magazine. He also pursued a literary direction at this point in his life writing books including The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, A Tale of Two Valleys, Change or Die, Walk the Walk, and How Steve Jobs Changed Our World.

Throughout the entirety of his writing career Deutchman always felt like he’d eventually want to teach, too. “My father was a professor for 45 years, so I grew up going to his university, watching him teach, liking being on campus, and I always had the idea that at some point I’d like to be a professor,” he said.

When he got into his 40s Deutchman’s father kept sending him job listings of professorships around the country and asked him what he was waiting for. After sending Deutchman all of these listings, Hal called his son up on the phone and said the journalism professorship at the University of Nevada, Reno, would be perfect for him.

Deutchman remembers taking a closer look at the job because of Reno’s proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area, but after coming out for the job visit he discovered he liked the faculty, had a good feeling, and took the job as the Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Business Journalism in January 2011.

In his seven years of teaching at UNR he’s taught classes in business journalism, magazine writing, multimedia reporting, and created a relatively new course called “Narrative: The Art of Storytelling”.

Deutchman’s favorite course to teach by far is magazine writing. “I love how in that course it creates a community of practice where the students contribute so much to each other and are so supportive and encouraging of each other’s writing, and it develops that dynamic where they respect and trust each other,” he said.

His advice to students now is “Don’t wait around for someone to tell you ‘you are a journalist’ or ‘you’re a writer’. No one is going to appoint you. You need people to give you opportunities or to mentor you, but you have to kind of know that this is who you are, and this is what you do with passion, with great energy, and commitment to your field,” he said.

In addition, he said finding a good mentor to help guide you through your career, having one to two great samples of your work, and developing subject matter expertise is crucial for a successful career as a writer.

With a daughter in first grade, Deutchman says he’ll be in Reno for a while and hopes to finish out his career teaching at the Reynolds School of Journalism.

October 24, 2018

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woman standing with a flannel and stripped shirt

Cut Fast Fashion: Piecing Your Ethical Wardrobe

By ASUNUncategorizedNo Comments

As a child, my grandmother and I would take the public bus and wander into flea markets and thrift stores. Because of this, I like to say I grew up in them. She enjoyed spending the day looking for unique clothing and home decor. As I drank strawberry juice at flea markets and played with dolls in thrift stores, my grandmother would look through dresses, vases, and more, looking for the next thing to bring home. I didn’t know then, but my grandmother was an expert thrifter. Thanks to her, I became one, too, but now with a conscious, ethical twist.

Like most teenagers, I spent my weekends at the mall. I would run to stores like Forever 21 to buy the trendiest clothing of the week. Though I would spend my money on different items, my closet never seemed to grow. It wasn’t until this summer I realized that I had fallen victim to fast fashion where I was valuing the quantity of clothing rather than the quality of it. Fast fashion is the mass production of cheap and trendy clothing. Because companies want to produce in a fast and cheap way to earn a quick buck, the quality of clothing becomes unsatisfactory, and the wages for those who make the clothing become nearly non-existent.

According to The Los Angeles Times, The U.S. Department of Labor investigated garment factories and found that workers were earning four to seven dollars an hour for 10 hour shifts sewing clothes for companies like Forever 21. Workers are earning cents for each item they sew, thus earning less than minimum wage because sewing cannot be done quickly. Companies are violating basic minimum wage laws and trying to find loopholes by hiring immigrant workers who are fine with a small wage. The exploitation of workers is being done in the name of fashion, but at what cost? Sure, the consumer is purchasing a trendy new top, but behind it is exploitation, violation, and cheap fabric that only pushes the consumer to go on and buy more clothes to make up for their losses.

Shopping slow fashion, which is the focus on ethical fashion that pays their workers ethical wages and uses ethical fabrics, can be a great solution to cutting your own ties with fast fashion. Whether you want to stop shopping from big brands like Ross, TJ Maxx, Forever 21, H&M, and Zara who support fast fashion because of ethical reasons and or an excuse to start collecting ethical and unique pieces for your wardrobe, is up to you. When I started my fast fashion and slow fashion research, I realized I always had my feet in the slow fashion pool by thrifting. Slow fashion can be expensive and intimidating, but with options like shopping occasionally, thrifting, antique shopping, upcycling clothing, shopping locally, and shopping online on apps that support thrifting and ethical fashion, you can adopt slow fashion into your life without hurting your wallet.

Creating an ethical wardrobe and adopting the slow fashion lifestyle has its pros and cons. I like to think that the slow fashion journey outweighs the cons, though. I have found that thrifting and antique shopping have helped me see my wardrobe as a collection of things that make me feel good and look just as good. Thrifting and antiquing has strengthened my relationship with fashion by valuing and cherishing what I have. I now spend my time looking for what best fits my body and my personality. I don’t spend my time looking for the trendiest thing or what the next person has.

Aside from this, slow fashion has also saved me money. Kelsey Tabbert, Depop seller and vintage clothing enthusiast, has been selling on Depop since January of 2017, and has found success selling vintage clothing on Depop, an app where you can sell and shop second-hand clothing. Much like thrifting and antique shopping online. Tabbert believes shopping vintage shouldn’t hurt your wallet and should instead excite you and encourage you through your slow fashion journey.

“Really put in the work finding yourself out in the wild. It takes a lot of work, but it can be rewarding. The search can be half the fun! Make sure you hit up your thrift stores on sale days to even save more. If you’re really devoted, you can also keep an eye out for local estate sales,” she said.

Though Tabbert encourages looking out for vintage clothing, she also encourages thrifting to find affordable clothing, “You can find current brands for cheap. It’s great for the environment and great for your wallet.” Which is true as well.

Clothes that don’t get purchased from thrift stores or clothes that you casually throw in the trash end up clogging up our landfills. Once they make it to the landfills, they increase our carbon footprint because of the carbon dioxide emissions from their production and disposal, according to The Guardian. Though it’s a good idea to donate your clothes to thrift stores like Goodwill, stores like Goodwill receive hundreds of items everyday. They end up having to discard their old inventory in landfills to make room for the new. Instead, I recommend you to use old clothes as cleaning rags, donating them to local centers where they go directly to people in need, or even exchanging them or selling them online or at shops like Plato’s Closet.

Lastly, cutting out fast fashion encourages you to shop local and shop from local artists. Earlier this fall, I moved to London, England, and was worried about not being able to shop from local artists and shops that support the local community. London, known for being one of the most expensive cities in the world, houses shops like Primark that are on the cheaper side thus more appealing.

Being new to the city, I was tempted to go in and buy affordable clothes in this nearly unaffordable city, but instead tried finding local clothing shops. Walking in my neighborhood one day, I found Vivien of Holloway, a shop that sells clothing and accessories inspired by the mid 20th century. Looking through the racks, I found a shirt I wanted and asked the employee how this shirt was made and what their shop advocates for. She told me that each section belongs to a designer who creates and designs their own clothing. Designers make a limited amount and take their time to sew and create each piece, making it unique to Vivien of Holloway. I purchased the shirt and left the shop knowing I supported a designer and their craft. Side note: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Stores that are running things ethically would be more than happy to talk about their inventory and message.

Though slow fashion has made me happier, I am still in the process of dedicating my wardrobe to solely slow fashion. I’m a college student with a tight budget and a love for fashion, so it is difficult to pass by shops with sales and not want to buy it all. I would say that a slow fashion con is that, well, it is slow. Slow fashion means that you won’t always be the friend with all the shopping bags and the shiny, new things. But you will be the friend with the things that you need and things that you know you will cherish for a long time while slowly finding your style and finding clothes you love. Fast fashion is tempting though, but I have decreased my fast fashion intake by a great percentage. Another con is shopping for essentials like undergarments. You could go deep into your journey and shop only from ethical shops for everything including undergarments, but it will get pricey. I suggest to shop undergarments from shops that you usually shop from, but focus on taking good care of them and only buying new stuff when necessary.

How to stop shopping fast fashion:

Quality Over Quantity: Spending a hundred dollars on a pair or two of jeans might sound insane at first, but looking at it from a long-term perspective might change your mind. If you focus on buying a few items a year that are costly but well made, you will eventually save money. Sure, you can buy four pairs of jeans in one trip, but they will eventually fail you after a few weeks or months by getting damaged or discolored in the wash. You would have to go back and repurchase, spending more money in the end.

Thrifting Dates with Friends: Get your friends into lowering their fast fashion intake, too, by inviting them on thrifting dates. Creating a small circle of friends that thrift is a great way to bond and add new clothes to your wardrobe. Second-hand shopping avoids your consumption of new and mass produced clothes. I have found lovely clothes that have lasted me years at thrift stores.

Shop Eco-Friendly Clothing: There are many shops online that use organic and natural biodegradable materials. Fast fashion clothing tends to use toxic and cheaply made fabrics that aren’t good for you or the environment. Eco-Friendly clothing companies are likely to push the ethical agenda and are most likely to pay their workers an ethical wage. Look out for the about me section on company websites. Remember, if they are doing everything right they will most likely be proud and talk about it on their website. You can always call or email them with your questions.

Shop on Apps: During the summer I fell in love with Depop. Though I sold a few items here and there, I mainly used Depop to shop affordable, vintage clothes and engage with fellow fashion lovers. Depop is a friendly community with even friendlier sellers that have helped me collect vintage clothes without overspending. Depop also sells second-hand clothing aside from their vintage clothes. Some of my favorite shops are Kelsey’s shop, Full of Sand: Midwest Thrifts, Twitch Vintage, Unicorn Tears XD, Mute Style, Lady Paige Thrift, Hunnybee Vintage, and The Prairie Misfit.

Shop Locally: I mentioned this earlier, but shopping locally and from local artists is a great way to lower your fast fashion intake. After visiting Midtown’s shops like Junkee and Bad Apple Vntg, I noticed these shops had things made by local artists and used clothes on their racks. Junkee sells vintage clothing and antiques, but also has a section in the antiques section that sells goods made by local Reno artists. Bad Apple Vntg sells random goodies, but their small vintage selection is wonderful. I bought my favorite denim top with a cherry print from the 90s there! Aside from supporting local artists, shopping locally also helps the community’s local economy.

Take Care of Your Current Clothes: I still own some fast fashion items like my favorite denim jacket and my favorite leather jacket. Though I bought these long ago, I have tried to take care of my clothes by washing them with the right detergent and following what the handling tag advises. Sure, I bought both from Zara, known for its fast fashion reputation, but taking care of them helps me avoid going back and giving my money to these type of companies. For my non-fast fashion items, I take care of them, too. I try to keep them that way by washing them right and sometimes even air drying.

If for any reason you cannot stop shopping at your local mall, it’s alright! Just being aware and attempting to cut down your fast fashion purchases can help. It’s a journey and should be enjoyable. I have had my moments of guilt for shopping at a fast fashion store, but then quickly correct myself by remembering that I’m starting this journey and should take my time. I also stop and remember that I’m not only doing this for myself and my wallet, but also for unethical wages, toxic fabrics and mass production, my community, and for the environment. Having these thoughts keep me patient. I have made great progress over these last few months and hope to continue. If you decide to rethink your purchases, have fun piecing your ethical wardrobe and rocking your new finds!

October 24, 2018

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Escape From Technology

By ASUNUncategorizedNo Comments

A study done at Baylor University has found college women are on their phone 10 hours daily and college men about eight hours. Professor James Roberts, Ph.D. said, “As cell phone functions increase, addictions to this seemingly indispensable piece of technology become an increasingly realistic possibility.” Technology is a huge part of the 21st century: it is how we communicate, do research, watch entertainment, keep up to date with politics, see recent tweets or Instagram posts, and so much more. But there are ways to take a step back from all the technology that surrounds us and immerse ourselves in real life.

1. First thing in the morning: make time for yourself, not the phone.

First thing when waking up, what comes to mind? Is it “I need to check Twitter or Instagram” or “I need to check my text messages or my missed Facetime or phone calls?” Well those thoughts can wait. In the mornings it’s a time for yourself. Some ideas include doing yoga for five to ten minutes, taking a nice shower to get up, or write out goals and aspirations for the day. Whatever it may be it should be a time for you. All throughout your busy day you have time to easily swipe up on the phone to see those notifications, but what there isn’t time for is self-love and giving yourself the time to be you. Don’t lose time on technology when the time could be better well spent.

2. When in conversation with someone don’t even think about pulling out the phone.

Sometimes in restaurants I look around to see people glued to their phones and not saying anything to each other. Now that’s sad and embarrassing to rather be talking to someone else and not to someone you love and care about. It allows for a deeper connection to make eye contact, to see their reactions to certain things, and be in their presence. Maybe try to shut off the phone completely or leave it in the car if you know you’ll be tempted. Any way that could allow the phone to not be a distraction. Life is more than screens and updates on Twitter. It is about the relationships we build through real life interactions, about the real laughs not the LOLs. It’s about being able to grow deeper connections with others around you.

3. Making time to shut off the technology to be present.

It’s hard to shut off the phone and deal with that the temptation, but there is a way to change that and it’s easy at the touch of a button. Moment is an app that works to help you unplug and use your phone less to create a balance between technology and real life. There is also a feature on the new iOS 12, Screen Time, that shows you how much time was spent on the phone and certain apps. This is an awesome feature to show how much time is wasted on the phone. It seems even Apple is realizing that smartphone usage is getting out of control and needs to be addressed.

4. Before bed turn off the phone. Don’t even have it under the pillow. It’s not a good idea.

Technology has produced so many temptations. We can stay up late binge watching Netflix and Hulu or Facetiming family, friends, and significant others. There is so much we can accomplish just at the touch of a button from our beds, but at times it can hinder us of the basic requirements of sleep. Minnesota State University research found that a sample of undergraduate students sleep four to ten hours nightly and on average get 6.9 hours of sufficient sleep. About 70% of college students get five to seven hours nightly. A very high 92.9% of sampled students said to have always or very often used electronic devices before bedtime. The statistics from the participants in this study show that usage of electronics before bed can affect the amount of sleep someone receives. Sleep is very important, especially in college, and we need better sleep to feel better and look better, too.

Escaping from technology can be difficult, but taking time to follow these steps could be beneficial in the long run. They can allow more time to relax, disconnect, achieve better sleep and better health, and allow an increase in productivity daily to accomplish your goals.

October 24, 2018

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