Screen Time Math.
In the last post I discussed various ways to integrate a tech detox into your life. You can check that here.
This post and the next few will continue on the theme of screen time reduction but will include more general tips for digital wellness. My clients have found many of the strategies I’ll discuss to be helpful in regaining some control of their devices. I hope you do too.
Let’s begin.
As with any habit change, before you attempt to make any modification to your lifestyle, it’s important to first gain as much awareness of your behavior as you can.
In the case of screen time, this is particularly important as many folks wildly underestimate the quantity of time they spend on their devices. The addictive nature of our gadgets often puts us into zombie mode - mindlessly scrolling or binge watching that makes accurately assessing screen time very difficult.
Thankfully, smartphone manufacturers now include some variation of a Screen Time Function usually found in your Settings or Control Center. Depending on your device/software, you’re also likely getting weekly alerts of how much screen time you’ve accumulated.
Although these updates are nice, I think the key is to really feel that number. For that purpose, I encourage clients to do a quick exercise.
First, go check your average screen time.
To find it on your iPhone: Settings -> Screen Time -> See All Activity
Now do some quick math to find out how many DAYS per year you spend on your phone and then a bit more math to figure out how many YEARS of your remaining life you’re projected to spend looking at your screen.
Let’s do the math for the average American:
The average American spends roughly 4 hours per day on their phone (data around this varies between 3 and 5 so let’s go with four).
4 hours a day x 7 days a week = 28 hours per week
28 hours per week x 52 weeks = 1,456 hours per year or 60 DAYS per year
For a 30 year old person expecting to live to 80:
60 days per year x 50 years of their remaining life = 3,000 days or 8.2 YEARS of their remaining 50 years will be spent looking at their phone screen.
Woah.
There are a few important things to note about this exercise:
There are obviously very productive/worthwhile things you can do on your phone - your screen time number might include a language learning app, reading long-form articles (like this one, ha!), etc etc. Assess your use accordingly.
Similarly, your job might significantly impact the quantity of time you spend on your phone. Again, assess accordingly.
This metric only includes time on your phone - no Netflix, tablets, etc. When you extrapolate the data from this exercise it really starts to get wild.
Don’t beat yourself up. Your gadgets are tough opponents. Inform yourself with the data and begin working on strategies to clean up your consumption.
I’ll be giving some ideas how to do that in the next few posts.
P.S. if you do this exercise and find that you’re spending a few hours on your phone each day, quickly think back to times you may have scoffed at the idea of integrating something like a meditation practice (just an example) into your life. You may have even said something like “where do YOU THINK I am going to find the time to do that?!?” After really looking at your screen time report, you may realize that in fact, you do have the time - it’s just being swallowed up by a screen.
“We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not.” - Ram Dass