It’s time to put down 3C products

3C products are closely related to our daily lives. We rely on them for information and to contact friends. However, have you ever spotted the impacts of 3C products on our mental wellness?

With the advancement of technology, while using different devices to connect with the outer world desperately, we easily forget getting along with our inner selves. Being flooded with all kinds of news and vast information online, we have no room settling down and getting in touch with our thoughts and emotions.

How could we make good use of 3C products, while avoiding becoming distant from our inner selves and losing our control over them?

Are 3C products dominating me?

When you think you cannot live without smartphones and become over-dependent on internet, you may already become addicted to it.

According to the diagnostic criteria for “internet addiction” developed by University of Pittsburgh, if you score 5 “Yes” for the questions below, you might be suffering from “internet addiction”.

1. I will pay much attention in online activities, and will still be preoccupied after going offline.
2. I think I need to spend more time online to make me satisfied.
3. I have been trying hard to stop and control myself not to use internet, but it fails.
4. When I try to spend less time or stop using internet, I will become desperate or agitated.
5. Online time and frequency is far beyond the time I plan to spend.
6. Using internet negatively affects my social network, my work and academic study, my life or even my health.
7. I did tell lies to my parents or friends to hide from them the fact about how much time and how frequent I go online.
8. I went online to escape problems or to release certain feelings, such as a sense of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, or depression.

Are 3C products entirely harmful?

Everything is a double-edged sword, and the online world is not so bad after all. In the United States, a Medical Journal published their research report pointing out that the better the doctor plays computer games, the more effective their surgery will be. In CUHK’s recent research, it shows that students tend to show better critical thinking skills in online discussions than in-class discussions, and are less affected by factors like “face” or “status”, from which we see that online world do have a positive impact on students.

Hence, the most important thing is that the 3C products user can maintain self-discipline and take good care of their inner selves using ways besides 3C products. At the end of each day, let’s try setting a “me time” for ourself and stay away from electronic devices. We can write a journal getting in touch with our thoughts and emotions. In these exclusive moments, we can truly communicate with our inner selves.

8 ways to reclaim autonomy over 3C products

If you are really too into surfing the net or using social media, being too dependent on them, you may try the following means:

1. Try to list five disadvantages of internet addiction and five advantages after getting rid of it.
2. Change your internet surfing habits, consider switching off notifications, and undergo other activities before using internet to lower your impulse and desire in using internet, e.g. having snacks, having a leisure walk, reading, etc.
3. Record the number of hours you go online per week, and set targets on using less internet. Treat yourself when you achieve the standard of a 10% reduction in online time (on a weekly basis).
4. Restrict the amount of time being online and arrange work or other activities to do after using internet. Set alarm clocks when necessary and place them distantly.
5. List the activities you will have missed due to going online, and think about whether it is worth the while. If you have really missed the things you should have done had you not been using internet, do it immediately afterwards.
6. Acquire effective stress coping and relaxation strategies, cultivate your own interests and social activities to have a balance life.
7. If it is possible, try to go to library or reading room to revise; try hard to stay away from the temptation of using 3C products by switching them off or having someone to keep them.
8. Participate in more social activities, seek help and advice from your friends or family.

Hope you can try the above means to cope with internet addiction and become the real owner of the your own 3C products, instead of being owned by them. If necessary, you are also welcome to seek assistance from student counsellors.