Julia (Jewels) Hatchard

Naftzinger

FYS-125-JN

9/11/2019

Auto-ethnographic Study

The time use-diary, like many other forms of writing, is a tool we can use to keep records

and maintain organization. Over the span of a week, my writing habits were documented not

only to see how much writing I was doing, but to also monitor the influences of my environment

on my work. I believed that I wrote mainly to keep organized and to focus my actions to what

needs to be done in a given day; however, the relationships I found by analyzing the time-use

diary proved to be different than my initial thoughts. After looking back at my time-use diary, I

noticed that the main relationships were those between my purpose of writing and the time spent

on a given piece, the type of writing I was doing and the medium it was done in, and the spaces

in which my tasks were done.

There were chunks of time where I was writing for the three main categories: school,

work and personal use; however, the longest length for my writing tasks was attributed to writing

for school purposes. School is a very demanding prospect in my life, and it requires a lot of time

to write for it. Setting aside chunks of time seemed to have an effect on how much writing I

would do for school on a given day. For example, I had a math paper to write and—unlike my

texts to friends or my messages to my boss, which are quick—my school writing is extensive,

and I needed to work on it continuously for the work produced to be quality and cohesive.

Another example of school writing being lengthy was when I would be taking notes for school in
one sitting rather than intervals compared with my other projects. The main reason I do

consecutive writing for schoolwork is because it helps me with retaining information. Although

the lengths of time are approximate, school was the purpose of writing which had the longest

intervals of continuous work.

Another relationship that was prominent in my time use diary was that the medium I was

using to write with was heavily dependent on the recipient. All school related projects were

either done on paper with a pen or on my laptop, while my phone was used mostly for personal

communications or work purposes. The technology I used was based on a sociological

component of authority and appropriateness. In other words, I [explanation]. Although there may

have been other implications of why a specific device was attached to certain recipients I noticed

that I didn't do my schoolwork or my Factory work on my phone.

I believe that this relationship, between medium and purpose, occurs because writing

medium tends to be influenced by working status, which is stated by Dale J. Cohen, Sheida

White, and Steffany B. Cohen in the article “A Time Use Diary Study of Adult Everyday

Writing Behaviors.” A specific example of this decision making is when I did tickets in

Footprints for work, I was physically in the Factory and working. Although I have access to all

of the same applications and services to make tickets for people on my phone and personal

laptop, I did not use them for this purpose. Although I have the ability and access to type my

schoolwork on my phone, I did not do so because to me the phone has no connection to

schoolwork. This supports the point that the mode in which I write is relevant to the content in

which I write.

Another example of this is when I was sending texts to my friends. I did not pass them

notes on pen and paper, and I did not send messages from my laptop; instead, I used my phone to
text them. My pen is used in relation to school work because I purchased it for this specific

purpose, and my phone is used explicitly for communication with others because that was the

intended purpose when I bought it. The reasoning for this is because my devices and modes of

writing depend on their recipients.

Finally, the spaces in which I did my writing had a significant relationship when I looked

back on my time-use diary. The most shocking discovery about my writing habits from the study

was that my most productive writing occurred on my bed. This seems to be what most people

would be opposed to, however, my academic papers, notes, personal messages, and many other

productive tasks were completed on my bed. I believe that this is attributed to the amount of time

that I spend in my room. In this space, my mind is clear, and I write down any leftover notes in

my head and also send personal texts and work messages. I found this to be an interesting

discovery because it seems that my writing had imitated the way that I live in this space, since a

college dorm room is a mix of all three of the categories. I go to school and work here, but I also

reside and sleep here. Similarly, specifically on my bed I produced papers, snapchats, and

messages to my boss. Another instance where space is relevant to my writing is when I was

writing tickets for the Factory, I only did this type of writing when I was in the workplace and

nowhere else. Connect to thesis: how was this surprising to you?

Before starting my time-use diary I thought that most of my writing would be school

related or work related but the most writing I had done was personal writing to friends. Through

this discovery I realized that rather than organization, my most prominent writing is for

communication with friends. Overall, my final findings differ from my initial thoughts of writing

mainly to keep organized. Although communication is arguably a way to assure organization and

documentation I realized that personally throughout the week that my writing is in fact a habitual
practice and there is a method to it. This method can be seen clearly through the defined

relationships of my writing which were between the purpose of writing and time spent on a given

piece, the type of writing I was doing and the medium, and the spaces in which my projects were

completed.