I checked my screen time recently and was genuinely shocked. Apparently, I spent an average of 4 hours and 21 minutes a day on my phone last week.
Which is funny, because I don’t think I’m on my phone that much… although my wife might tell you a different story 😉
But when I really looked at it, I could see where it had gone:
- A bit of mindless scrolling
- Picking it up during the TV ad break out of habit
- And those random moments where I suddenly need to Google something… like proving to my wife that tigons (yes, tiger-lion hybrids) do exist. And just for the record, so do ligers!
Now, I’m not saying we should all throw our phones in a drawer and live off-grid. But it did make me stop and think, and I’ve come to the conclusion that our phones aren’t the problem, it’s how we use them!
So from now on I’m aiming to be more intentional with when and how I use my phone. Whenever I find myself reaching for my phone out of habit I’m going to be asking myself:
Do I need more noise in my life?
Or am I actually craving something quieter, a pause, a breath, a moment to just be? Because it’s easy to let our time slip away in tiny, unnoticeable ways. But being more mindful, even just now and then, can help us reclaim a bit of it.
Not to be perfect. Not to be productive every second. But just to be present… something I’ve been working on for a while now!
Because sometimes the most powerful thing we can do… is nothing at all.
How long do you spend on your phones? And how intentional are you being with your time?