It’s all based on my story

My 2022 New Years resolution was to keep my screen time below 50 hours per week. This is over 40% less than the average American! Every week but two (the Olympics and the week I got COVID) I kept my screen time under 50 hours. Even while building this program! It was the culmination of years of attempts to reduce screen time, as I saw the adaption of smart phones and social media as a problem pretty much as soon as it happened.

I Learned Three things

1.

Tracking screen time on my phone and imposing punishments only incentivized me to do things on a laptop instead. All screens need to be tracked.

2.

There is a difference between intentional and unintentional screen time. It’s the unintentional screen time that needs to be reduced.

3.

Our excessive screen use is in essence a behavioral and mindset issue.

Intentional vs. Unintentional Screen TimE

Intentional

  • Doing your job, which is at a computer

  • Setting aside time to watch a movie or sporting event

  • Doing specific research on a topic of interest (and only that topic) online

Unintentional

  • Picking up your phone because you are waiting in line and bored

  • Scrolling through social media

  • Letting a streaming site autoplay videos