By Stephanie Homeyer/reporter

In Take Back Your Technology Nov. 6, TR students learned to use technology instead of being consumed by it.

Stevie Blakely, academic success center coordinator, and Jessica Hoover, her student assistant, handed out two blank schedules, one for an ideal week and one for a typical week. Blakely asked attendees to place all of their electronics on the table.

“Technology is a useful tool but can also consume our lives,” she said.

Hoover shared how she can let technology control her life.

“I once texted my husband just down the hallway to come and plug in my phone so that I did not disturb the cat asleep on my chest,” she said.

Blakely described her own dependency.

“I often have the radio on, email up, my phone next to my keyboard for texting and my wall-phone for phone calls while I’m working,” she said.

One student in the audience shared being in tears and unable to sleep after leaving her phone at a nail salon.

Blakely said although common, this dependency is not good.

“This multitasking, having multiple devices active at once, isn’t good for students’ study habits,” she said.

Blakely referenced a study done by Last Lecture author Randy Pausch, which stated that on average, every distraction from a single task leads to a 6-9 minute interruption. Afterward, it takes the brain 4-5 minutes to refocus on the original task.

A distraction can be anything from a text message to checking Facebook to someone walking past, Blakely said. Putting one’s phone in another room, doing only one thing at a time and checking things like email and text messages only once during a study period will help to reduce these distractions, she said.

“Technology, if used correctly, provides multiple benefits,” she said.

Technology helps people keep in contact with family members living far away, check class materials online and locate information easily, Blakely said.

“Technology is a useful tool if used instead of abused,” she said.