I recently agreed to do something very stupid:submit to as much screen time as possible in a span of 48 hours. From 10am on Monday morning to 10am on Wednesday morning, I had to be exposed to at least one screen for as long as possible. The results were... interesting.
While working, sleeping, eating, or even going to the bathroom, a screen was present. The only breaks I had were to shower and a single trip to the shops (three minutes down the road) to stock up on food. Suffice to say, it wasn't fun.
This isn't the first time I've done something idiotic for MakeUseOf; in the past I created a fake boyfriend online I created a fake boyfriend, and he was kind of a jerk to me I created a fake boyfriend, and he was kind of a jerk to me This service allows you to text a binary; within a few minutes you will receive a message back. Naturally, we had to test it... Read More I acted like a prick with a selfie stick. Here's How People Reacted I Behaved Like A Prick With A Selfie Stick, Here's How People Reacted Basically Nobody Reacted. There are no flashes, shouted warnings, or lobed projectiles. People just weren't that worried. Read More When it came to finding someone willing to submit to massive amounts of screen time, I was the obvious choice.
There is a wealth of research showing that excessive screen time, especially in teens and children, can have detrimental effects on cognition, mood, and sleep. This article by Victoria Dunckley M.D in Psychology Today gives a pretty good overview of current research.
Going into it, I wasn't sure how much screen time would affect my cognition or mood, but I was pretty sure it was really going to mess with my sleep. There is a lot of research linking nighttime screen exposure to poor sleep. F.lux, an app designed to minimize blue light exposure from screens F.lux gets a huge upgrade with Movie mode and F.lux home programming F.lux gets a huge upgrade with Movie mode F.lux home movie and scheduling You can now run F.lux at home using Philips Hue, enter Movie Mode when using your computer as a home theater, or turn it off until morning if you're working all night . Read More
I generally try to avoid screens for at least an hour or two before I go to sleep. For these two days, doing so was not an option..
Briallyn Smith, one of the authors here at MakeUseOf, has a degree in psychology, so she had a series of tests for her to take before and after my two days of excessive screen time. In addition to completing an emotional mood survey, I had to play eight Cambridge Brain Sciences cognitive games.
This is what Briallyn had to say about the test design:
So yes, science! To be frank, doing the tests was horrible. Calling them games is really stretching the definition of the word. A Stroop test is not a game; It's a digital simulation of torture. One of the worst parts of the entire experiment was suffering through the hour-long test battery. Twice.
After completing the battery of tests, I quickly began to question my own sanity. I am quite an outgoing person and usually get out of the house at least a few times a day. On a typical day, I go to the gym, head to the village for lunch, and maybe meet a friend for a drink, while I squeeze in a couple of hours of writing. One of the hardest things to deal with initially was the knowledge that I just learned. couldn't do some of that.
Instead of working, which I probably should have been doing, I watched a bunch of TV shows and read a lot from my Instapaper queue. Instapaper might just be the best reading app for the iPad. Instapaper might just be the best reading app for the iPad. One of the classic reading apps for iPad and iPhone is Instapaper, which still shines above all others for its unique tilt-scroll and page-turn features. This well-designed app is compatible with dozens... Read More .
I even read (and shared) a Daily Mail article. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Although in my defense, it was pretty good..
After about eight hours, I considered turning to alcohol to help me with the rest of the experiment, but resisted the idea.
I mostly just caught glimpses of short stuff A Short Guide to Drunk Watching [Weird &Wonderful Web] A Short Guide to Drunk Watching [Weird &Wonderful Web] Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video have made binge-watching a mainstream mainstay. Before you start binge-watching TV, you need to arm yourself with some important information. This short guide helps. Read more I had not had the opportunity to see previously. I don't watch much TV or movies because most of my free time is spent outside the house.
The first day, I did it 17 hours before I decided to go to bed.
Unfortunately, I suspected I was in for a bad night's sleep. Not only had I been looking at the screens until the moment I decided to close my eyes, but there were screens running throughout the night. My desk screen was on, lighting up my entire room, and propped up next to my face, my iPad was playing a continuous stream of YouTube videos. I even kept the volume on.
All this had a great effect on my sleep. It took me much longer than usual to fall asleep. I woke up several times and couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't feel rested when I woke up in the morning.
All in all, it was completely miserable..
With a lack of good sleep, the second day started with me going completely off the rails. Wibble.
The first day I felt bored and cooped up, but actually I was fine overall. The second day was different. The first day I chose not to work, the second day I felt I couldn't. I just watched movies and TV shows and rediscovered that reading on an iPad is almost as bad as reading a real book Suck Books:Why I Love My Kindle More Than Dead Trees Suck Books:Why I Love My Kindle More Than Dead Trees Modern e -Readers have thousands of novels, weigh almost nothing, have built-in lights, and don't give you a concussion when they touch their noses. Read more.
I haven't tweeted anywhere near that much. I felt lethargic and miserable. I tried to distract myself by playing on PlayStation, but nothing helped. In general I just went a little crazy. It was as if he was sick.
With eight hours to go on the stupid experiment, and absolutely gutted from my lack of sleep the night before, I headed for bed. Once again I was subjected to my iPad and desktop screens throwing light into the room. He sucked.
I slept very bad. A little better than the night before because I was more tired, but still not feeling well at all. When I woke up I just dawdled on Facebook until it was time for me to finally finish the horrible cognitive tests.
The tests sucked so much the second time. If I really wanted to make someone suffer, I'd insist that they spend a week trying to get better at one of these games.
While doing the tests, I felt the effects of what he had put me through. I found it much more difficult to concentrate on the games. The first day had been boring, but I was still able to concentrate on the tasks, on the second day my mind wandered much more and I felt worse. I eventually got to all of them.
My subjective misery seems to have come through the results. I'll hand over to Briallyn for the recap :
So what does all this mean? There were definitely big differences in how I felt and how I performed on cognitive tasks after the two days of screen exposure. The problem is separating what caused the effects.
I was exposed to screens for two days, and I couldn't sleep for two days. It's impossible to extrapolate how much the actual screens affected me and how much they did indirectly through sleep deprivation.
In any case, I don't think being locked up staring at a screen for two days is good for anyone. Going out and doing things, and having some novelty and social interaction in your life, is hard to replicate in front of a screen.
The first thing I did when time was up was go for a walk outside. It was a great relief. And there is a lesson here for anyone and everyone who spends too much time staring at screens day in and day out. What it consists of looking from time to time and realizing that there is much more to life than this...
What do you think of my stupid suffering? Do you think you would have coped better in such conditions? How many hours a day do you spend looking at screens? And do you think it's detrimental in any way, shape, or form? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
