Within the relentlessly fast-paced rhythm of contemporary life, the pervasive sensation of simply “not having enough time” is rapidly turning into the default psychological state for countless young individuals.
Despite engaging in an unceasing cycle of academic and professional tasks, the young find themselves trapped within a relentless vortex of persistent busyness, crushing performance pressure, and a chronic, prolonged distraction. This combination ultimately generates a distorted perception of temporal reality, making the precious hours of the day appear to slip away at a considerably accelerated rate.
Consider the illustrative case of T.K., a communications student currently residing in HCMC. On days without scheduled lectures, her routine frequently doesn’t commence until eleven in the morning. This delayed start stems from her tendency to spend the entire night aimlessly wandering social networking platforms, engaging in prolonged digital conversations with peers, or obsessively watching television dramas.
“There are numerous times I observe myself operating in an almost unconscious state, utterly oblivious to time. When physically exhausted, I simply collapse into sleep with the television continuously playing, only to be abruptly jolted awake the following day by relentless mobile alarms,” T.K. candidly confessed.
Even after the Lunar New Year holiday, returning to her rigorous academic schedule and undertaking vital preparations for her graduation internship, she remains entirely incapable of relinquishing her deeply ingrained social media addiction, despite parental reprimands.
Similarly, the circumstances surrounding Minh Hieu, a corporate employee aged 25 living in HCMC, offer another compelling testament to this digital phenomenon. Following each demanding workday, he habitually finds himself reclining lazily upon his sofa, endlessly scrolling through various social media feeds as a psychological coping mechanism to artificially prolong the excitement of the passed holiday season.
He shared his personal experience: “There’re moments when I become profoundly captivated by cinematic review videos for consecutive hours. I’m suddenly startled to realize the clock has struck ten in the evening, and I have yet to consume dinner or attend to personal hygiene. I then frantically scramble until midnight to complete my daily chores before resting briefly.”
To proactively control daily existence and utilize time efficiently, it’s absolutely imperative for individuals to strategically classify their available time across distinct functional categories:
- developmental pursuits like academic study and professional work,
- physiological recovery including adequate sleep and exercise,
- pure entertainment such as social media or gaming.
Furthermore, the deliberate establishment of proactive behavioral boundaries is highly constructive:
- actively disabling unnecessary notifications,
- resisting the conditioned reflex to unlock smartphones absentmindedly,
- imposing strict temporal limits on daily social networking exposure.
The key objective is to steadily navigate toward a carefully balanced allocation of time, guaranteeing current lifestyle quality while safeguarding future prospects. Only when absolute mastery over their own time is achieved can people genuinely hope to master their lives.
It’s an undeniable reality that social media currently generates a powerful pull captivating a vast multitude, not restricted exclusively to the younger demographic. This expansive digital entertainment ecosystem, overflowing with short videos and interactive livestreams, invisibly functions as a series of dangerous psychological traps that are effortless to enter yet difficult to escape.
Most notably, algorithmic architectures meticulously engineered to deliver highly personalized content, combined with infinite scrolling mechanisms and the deceptive thinking of “just five more minutes,” function collectively to artificially inflate user retention metrics. Consequently, substantial numbers of individuals frequently perceive themselves as continually lacking sufficient time to accomplish meaningful real world objectives, yet they paradoxically possess an excessive surplus of time to exist passively within the digital realm.
During a recent broadcast of the TV program “Life Stories,” while discussing why individuals continually feel a lack of time, Pham Van Quyen, a lecturer from Gia Dinh University, voiced a compelling perspective: “We aren’t suffering from an objective deficit of time, but rather a profound deficit of conscious personal restraint. Fleeting minutes spent casually scrolling through social media interfaces or checking mobile devices rapidly compound into countless hours of wasted, unproductive existence. Once we purposefully trim these activities and intentionally utilize temporal resources, we’ll realize we have consistently possessed ample time for a fulfilling existence.”
Echoing this sentiment, financial expert Nguyen Thi Thu Huong asserted that social media platforms monopolize the younger generation’s time due to an absence of meticulously structured planning and clear objectives.
She emphasized that logging onto social networks for personal entertainment remains a legitimate activity; however, it must be strictly maintained within conscious control, governed by a rationalized daily schedule. This schedule must unequivocally prioritize fundamental life pillars such as academic pursuits, personal development, and familial obligations. Establishing clear goals enables people to deploy time with deliberate purpose, ensuring social media ceases to uncontrollably dominate their lives.
In reality, becoming embedded within social media causes severe negative consequences. Detrimental results include profound cognitive degradation in sustained concentration, the paradoxical sensation of feeling continuously busy yet entirely unproductive, disrupted work and life balance, and deeply concerning psychological impacts.
Confronted with these challenges, many opt for extreme disconnection from social platforms. However, this drastic measure merely establishes a temporary solution because social media inherently functions as an essential tool facilitating interpersonal connections, satisfying academic requirements, and unlocking career avenues.
