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Screen Time and me!

When I wrote about screen time and my kids, a reader asked for my thoughts about screen time for adults, and what I specifically do to control my own screen time.

Just like with my kids, what I’m largely concerned about for myself is the type of screen time I’m having.

In general, I’m happy to spend time on a screen when

  • I’m producing rather than consuming
  • I’m building relationships
  • I’m learning

Examples of things that feel valuable to me:

  • writing blog posts
  • making Instagram posts
  • texting with friends
  • responding to people’s social media posts (vs just scrolling by)
  • editing photos
  • reading helpful content

camera and laptop

On the other hand, getting sucked into someone’s social media feed, scrolling the endless Instagram explore page, reading tons of news stories, or reading things that don’t really add value to my life feels like a waste of time to me.

Even though I know this, the siren call of useless, time-wasting screen use still can easily pull me in!   So, here are a few ways I try to fight that.

I don’t have tons of apps on my phone.

They all fit on two pages, with room to spare.

Less stuff = less possibility for distraction.

I closed my personal Facebook account.

I do still have a Facebook account for my blog, but I have almost nothing in my feed on that account, which makes it largely for production vs. consumption.

I took Twitter off of my phone.

I’m mostly a consumer on Twitter, and having it on my phone made it too easy to open it all the time. Better to keep it on my desktop only, where I’m much less likely to check it over and over.

I seriously limit the number of people I follow on social media.

I figure that if something is going to distract me from my real life, it had better be important or really enjoyable.

So if someone’s feed isn’t adding value or joy to my life, I unfollow.

(And if that’s true of any of my social media feeds for you, I’d encourage you to unfollow me!)

Also, if someone’s feed tends to send me down too many rabbit-trails, I unfollow.   I’m not strong enough to resist rabbit trails!

I have almost no notifications turned on.

Messaging is basically the only app I allow notifications on; I check everything else manually because my soul, those notifications make me want to pick up my phone more often than I should!

I installed Moment on my phone.

It’s a free app that tracks how much time I use my phone each day.   What I’ve learned from this app is that small amounts of time add up to way more than I think they do!

The app doesn’t do anything magical, but it’s a helpful reality check. When I think I’m just popping in here and there a few times, Moment tells me, “Um, no, Kristen. Your “popping in and out” was actually 3 hours total.”

So, it’s useful in the way that keeping a food diary or a spending diary is helpful.   We humans tend to estimate things in our favor, and Moment keeps me more grounded in reality.

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Just so you know, even with all of these things in place, I do sometimes still spend too much time in a day looking at my screens, so please don’t imagine that I have all of this perfectly figured out.   Screens are super addicting for our human brains, and I imagine that there will always be some struggle to find balance.

But I do think there’s value in fighting screen addiction, and the tactics I listed above do help me waste less time on my screen than I would if I just gave up without a fight.

______________________

How do you control your own screen time? And how do you differentiate between useful and not-useful screen time? I’d love to hear!

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Kristyna

Sunday 29th of April 2018

How did I miss reading this post until just now?! It's probably because I'm not spending enough time in front of screens.

hmmm...

Screen time is definitely a struggle and I know the more mindful I am, the better I am at not just mindlessly suckling off the internet. (ok, that sounded weird.) I find if I plug my phone in to charge I'm more likely to leave it alone. I turn off the computer between uses to save power and the temptation of just checking something quickly. I try to be purposeful and try to have books close by so that when I catch myself mindlessly scrolling, I can pick up a good book to read which is more enjoyable and beneficial. Part of the reason I started a blog was to be more productive with my online/screen time. I might be spending more time right now since I have to write posts and try to interact and let people know that I actually have a blog and would love for someone to read it instead of just my husband (even though he's pretty wonderful.).

Anywho. Great thoughts on a very relevant subject.

Shannon

Wednesday 18th of April 2018

The moment I deleted the facebook app from my phone, I became a better mom.

This is a great list of ideas. Thank you for writing it!

Ashley Breanna

Monday 16th of April 2018

Good post!

Isabelle

Monday 16th of April 2018

I did a digital detox for 15 days and it felt great! Just used the computer for "essentials" basically. I'm not on the detox anymore but I still pay attention. I cancelled Instagram, for once. I also limit my screen time at night, no screens after 9h30 (in bed by 10h30). I also try to just be more mindfull about what I watch in general (Cat videos on Youtube? Noooo! Interesting documentary? Yes!). I also limit my time on Facebook and have a limited amount of "friends" on it. I rarely post. I don't use other platforms (Twitter, etc) We also limit the kid's screen time. It really is addictive!

Mrs. Kiwi

Thursday 12th of April 2018

I just got my first smart phone (I know I'm so behind the times), and I am shocked by how easy it is to get sucked in and not set it down.

My trick to use it less is to put it in another room when I'm trying to focus. I don't have kids and never really get emergency phone calls, so I'm able to do that. It helps so much!

Heidi Louise

Thursday 12th of April 2018

How did we get emergency calls before cell phones? I have a one-step-up-from-flip phone that I take out only when we are traveling, (and even then, if we were in an accident on the road, I suspect a dozen drivers would call it in as they drove past). I've never opened a Pinterest account, as I fear that would take much time as well.

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