I was watching a TED Talk the other day given by Adam
Alter, titled, "Why Our Screens Make Us Less Happy." In this presentation, he laid out how most working folks, these days, are investing their time:
Sleep 7-1/2 to 8 hours
Work 8-1/2 to 9 hours
Survival Activities (eating, bathing, taking care of kids, etc.) 3 hours
That leaves most working people with about four hours of "white space" a day. White space is the personal time we use for hobbies, relationships, friendships, dreams, relaxation, planning vacations, etc. It may not be four hours in a row, of course...and not everyone is even afforded those four hours (such as someone who is a full-time caregiver for another person in their life).
But for those that do have four hours, screen time is often taking up a lot of that white space. It's so easy to keep checking for email, responding to text messages, or wasting hour upon hour on social media for personal entertainment.
It's very easy to allow the time we're spending on our computers, cell phones, and other devices to take up a huge percentage of our white space.
Why? Because screen time, especially screen time that involves social media, often has no "stop cues."
Let's say you're watching a sitcom on TV. That sitcom has a start time and an end time...like 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
You might say to yourself, "I'll just watch this one show and then get to my personal goal planning." It's very clear when that program is over. It's a stop cue.
But when it comes to scrolling through Facebook or Instagram Reels, those mediums have no built-in stop cues. It's very easy to waste a
ton of time scrolling, reading, liking photos, laughing at 15-second videos, and on and on. It can be an endless activity that robs us of the limited precious white space we have to engage in meaningful activities.
Keep this in mind when you're engaging in screen time during your white space. Is
that device time enhancing your life or just wasting precious time?
If you're hoping to more effectively manage (limit) your screen time, an effective way to manage it is to build in your own personal stop cues. So, if you want to sit on the sofa, kick up your feet, and scroll through
Facebook for a bit, set your phone alarm to sound in 15 minutes.
I guarantee you that time is going to seem to whoosh by...but at least you'll then be reminded that you've been on your
screen for that 15 minutes, and you can then make the decision if you want to continue with screen time (if you do, set your timer for another 15 minutes), or if you want to use your precious white space for something else.
