Sunday, March 1, 2020

Self-tech knowledge

The only person's screen time that I'm in charge of is my own. Are parents really in charge of their kids' screen time? Are teachers in charge of their students'?

What I can say is that my digital detox has been one of the best things I've ever done. With my newfound time, I continue to work on my book, have picked up "elevated cooking" as a hobby and feel that I'm — finally — in control of my time. My brain cells are coming back.

My first step with this Renaissance was to "chart it up!" Most people have no clue how many times per day they touch their iPhone, iPad or whatever gadget that has them addicted. Do you?

Is it possible for you to understand how many times per day you look? Try counting.

Actually, there are apps that can do it. But I find that my Screen Time info. in Settings in the iPhone works better. Most people have double the screen time they think. For me, I feel like I'm hardly on the phone, but I still have about two hours of screen time each day.
I wonder how much screen time my students do per day and what the range is. If you are a student reading this blog, please comment on how much screen time you had last week and which app stole the most of your time. Also, is screen time a problem with you or not? The comments will show as "unknown" or "anonymous."

By the way, I just Googled it, and apparently, the average person touches his phone 2,617 times per day. The top 10 percent of users touch their phones more than 5,400 times per day.

Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Big Tech in general have taken us over so much that it may be hard to even consider 1) the value in limiting screen time and 2) how in the world to do that.

Now, first things first. These are the main things I hear when anybody is asked why they're on the phone so darn much:

No. 1: It's part of my job
No. 2: I need it for school.
No. 3: What if (important person) calls or texts?

OK. All of these reasons are reasons to not be on the phone so much. If it's for the workplace and school, then why are we on it during our downtime, too, and in the wee hours of the night? I realize that truly oppressed people do not realize they are oppressed. Is oppression too big of a word? Are we oppressed by Big Tech?
Even the most rabid phone addict must admit that understanding one's own screen time usage is important. Self-tech knowledge.

The value in getting off social media or limiting screen time has been huge for me. I just feel calmer, and I feel that I have better face-to-face conversations. It's a game changer to refuse to look up any factoid that might pop up in conversation. Is Mrs. Cunningham from "Happy Days" still living? Don't look it up. Don't look it up!

It's not just me, some 46-year-old Gen Xer, warning about screen time. It's an alarming issue. I actually ran across a lot of good coverage of user tech in USA Today. Feel free to check these articles on how phone addiction affects our brain and how parents model phone addiction. Monkey see, monkey do. If I'm on the phone a lot, won't my kids be, too?

Now, the big question is how to cut down on screen time in a world of screens. The best aha moment I experienced recently happened at my gym, Chuze Fitness, where I was pondering my digital detox and realized that there was a row of 10 TVs in front of me. Maybe, in a way, a "digital detox" is not even possible, but rather a "digital balance."

I must acknowledge that I watch about an hour or so of TV each night, but at least I'm pretty much off the phone and, instead, working on a revision of my nonfiction book on relationships during my downtime. My life feels better than ever, but I am questioning how digitally detoxed, or balanced, I actually am.

The other day, my 12-year-old daughter Chloe asked, "Dad, when you're typing on your laptop, isn't that screen time, too?"

120 comments:

  1. 6 hours but I'm good with it

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  2. 5.5 Hours,as of yesterday, 4 on minecraft

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  3. 7 hours on average, sometimes more, but I'm okay with it

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  4. average is three hours and seven at the most. Used mostly because of youtube. I use my phone for music and comics than anything else so my screen time isn't that much of a problem.

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  5. 10 hours 20 minutes on a good day

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  6. my average screen time daily is 7 hours. I mainly use my phone for school, calling friends, or social media.

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  7. I don't have that feature but I would say maybe 6 or 7? I'm okay with it.

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  8. 12 hours, instagram takes up most of my time, almost spent 24 hours on instagram in a week

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  9. I got a fat 12 hours and i blame it in tik tok and spotify

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  10. my average screen time is 7 hours

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  11. 7.5 hours, but I also use other devices like a laptop

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  12. 13 hours and i think its only a problem when I should be concentrating on other things but instead im on my phone

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  13. 24 hours on using an ISR drone

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  14. 10 hours because of disneyplus and khan academy

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  15. 5 hours on youtube and tik tok average a day. i do be addicted doe, yesterday was 12 hours in a day

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  16. I average 4-5 hours a day mostly on social media or listening to music.

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  17. 6 hours on youtube and 1 hour on safari reading comics for free

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  18. My average is 7 hours screen time. Mostly tik tok and Netflix.

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  19. 2 hours on Youtube for my computer, 10 minutes on Minesweeper for my phone

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  20. Average 6 hours a day, Facetime takes a lot of my time.

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  21. 8 hr 23
    TikTok 2 hr 6 min

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    1. I wonder if you're thinking it's too much. It sure looks like A LOT.

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  22. My average ranges from 8-9 hours. I spend the most on snap n tik tok ya feel.

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  23. I dont know 6 hours mostly youtube

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  24. I usually spend 6-7 hours on the weekends on tik tok,snapchat and instagram

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  25. The integral from 0 to 2 of 2 dx hours. Desmos and symbol app. Thanks morita

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  26. 4 hours 43 minutes 5 hours on ig, 2 hours on twitter

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  27. My average is 5 hours and 45 minutes a day.

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  28. I spend around 3 hours on my phone. It is mostly youtube and music

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  29. Average 6 hours a day. I spend most of my time on instagram and messages.

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  30. 4-5 hours. I spend it on tik tok, Instagram, and Snapchat.

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  31. 4 1/2 hours a day

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  32. 3 hours and 30 mins, Tik Tok most used

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  33. 3 hours a day. I spend most of the time on instagram and messages

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  34. 4 hrs 47 min most:instagram

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    1. I think 30 minutes of Instagram a day should be enough. Right?

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  35. 4 hours. Most used it tik tok, snapchat and messages.

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  36. I spend about 5 hours on my phone each day using discord and instagram most of the time. I would like my time to go down...

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  37. 2 hrs a day. I'm fine with my screen time. Mainly just playing mobile games and youtube

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  38. 4 hours and 4 minutes, with Youtube in the lead of phone usage.

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  39. On weekends i've got 5h 2m but my daily average is basically 3-4h because right now its 56m. honestly i'm fine with it right now because I used to used my phone WAY more.

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  40. I spend about 6 hours a day on my phone, I mostly spend it on instagram, tik tok, and spotify.

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  41. 6 hours and 12 minutes a day

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    1. i use disney+ and spotify too much. i think i need to use my phone a little less

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  42. I spend on average 5 hours on my phone. I feel like it's ok since some people spend a lot more. Although I would like to spend less time on my phone.

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  43. my daily average is 4hr and 32min. i am okay with my time because it isn't being a big part of my day.

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  44. I spend on average around 10 minutes on my phone. I don't think this is bad, because it's just 10 minutes

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  45. 4 hours and 48 minutes a day mostly just netflix and youtube

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  46. I spend on average 1 hour and 36 minutes on my phone daily. I need to lessen my amount, and I'm not very satisfied with it. 1 hour 20 minutes max is my goal.

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  47. Approximately way too long. 5 hours and 34 minutes which includes music. Majority is Youtube and the rest is app-games.

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  48. I can't say how many hours I spend looking at a screen since I mainly use my tablet and I don't have it on me right now, but I personally don't think of it as a problem. I spend a lot of time working, especially because of how paranoid I can get over homework, so even if you may think it's too long, I think I deserve a break. Also, I know for sure I spend most of my screen time on Youtube, with Tumblr second.

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  49. I used my for 3 hrs everyday I am cool with it

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  50. I spend around 4-5 hours a day. Mostly youtube, google, or social media.

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  51. 4 hours and 32 minutes last week

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  52. I spend about 3hr 25 min on my phone daily. I want ot get it down to 1 hr every day.

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  53. I spend about 3 1/2 hours on my phone everyday. I spend most of my time on Twitter and Youtube. Most of the time, I use Youtube as background noise while I'm working so make of that what you will.

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  54. 2 hours and 10 minutes, I don't think that's bad because I check all of my social media and school apps twice a day and text people for clubs and events

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  55. I spend about 7 hours on my phone daily. I NEED it to go down to at least 5 hours each day,because screen time prevents me from being productive.

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    1. I support that. Cutting it from seven to five has got to be a good move. Right?

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  56. My screen time is about 6 to 7 hours on the weekends. During the week/on school days, my screen time is a maximum of four hours. I do not see it as a problem because I make sure to finish my responsibilities beforehand.

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    1. I worry that our chill time on our screens doesn't exactly chill us out. I think it actually stresses us.

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  57. Great song choice, I love St. Vincent. 90% of my 1hr per day on Spotify is dedicated to St. Vincent.

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  58. I spend about 3-4 hours a day for social media and youtube (for music). But when i deleted tik tok for lent, my screen time went down. I am happy with my screen time.

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  59. Daily I use about 3 hours and 30 minutes a day. This is mostly because of Youtube. I'm ok with the amount of screentime I get, but if I were to stop using Youtube it would decrease dramatically.

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  60. THis is all fake news especially on how much hours I have on my phone. It says I spend 5 hours and 21 minutes on my phone weekly. 100% of that is on youtube. That time is lies and fake news. In reality I spend up to 9 hours daily. I use safari in private which doesn't affect screen time. I also play games on my PC. Yesterday I played roblox right after I woke up. I stop playing when it turned 12:00Pm. I don't think its a problem because I haven't died yet.

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    1. Fake news! ... True, kind of. We're only talking about our smart phone. What about other screens we have??

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  61. My average screen time per week is about 5 to 6 hours. Today I have used my phone for 1 hour. I agree with the monkey see monkey do because everytime my family goes out to eat, I try not to use my phone on the table because when I look around at the other tables, most of them are all on their phones.

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  62. I probably spend like 4-5 hours per day. I would say about 1-2 hours is on the phone and the rest of the hours are on my computer at home while on google classroom or playing video games.

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  63. Welp... my screen time is usually about 40 minutes per day. Today I used my phone for about 22 minutes (basically 22 minutes of Webtoon). I don't think screen time isn't a big problem than before because I don't have Brawl Stars anymore.

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    1. God bless you! That is exceptionally low. Impressive. It sounds like you actually live in the real world, not the phone.

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  64. It depends on how my mom is feeling

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  65. My daily average is around 4.5 hours, which is mostly on Messages or TikTok. However, I facetime people and listen to music with my phone turned off a lot, so I'm not sure how accurate this is.

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  66. My average amount of screen time is 4-5 hours a day. The majority of it is spent on calculator and netflix. Screentime is kind of a problem with me, but not really.

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  67. My average screen time per week is about 3 1/2 hours. My most used app is Instagram

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  68. 6 hours a day. Youtube is my most used app. Im okay with this cause I really dont have anything else to do.

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    1. There's a whole world out there. Do your 20 percent project! :-)

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  69. My weekly average is 5 to 6 hours. I mostly use instagram and youtube. I know that this is a bad habit, but I don't make an effort to change it.

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  70. My average, according to my phone, is ~1-2 hours (mostly 2 hours). My main apps are iMessage, YouTube, & Spotify.

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  71. my screen time is 1 hour a day. This doesn't sound like much because i use my alarm and music mostly, and i rarely check social media. Also, i wait til the end of the day to check my messages so that might contribute to my low phone usage.

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    1. That's so smart, to check your messages at the end of the day. I should do that.

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  72. My average daily screen time as of last week was 2 hours and 45 minutes a day. Most on the time on Instagram and Safari. Today I have used 55 minutes on my phone. I think I should use my phone slightly less on average a week.

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  73. 7.5 hours. Most of the time, I either read books I downloaded on to my phone, or I play mobile games. I'm sorta fine with that.

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  74. My screen time, according to my phone, is approximately 6 hours per week. This is because over the weekend there is not much for me to do, seeing as I am not legally able to drive yet, so to pass my time I spend most of my days on my phone.

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  75. My average screen time from last week is about four hours to four and a half hours. I am not proud of it because most of my screen time is wasted on Tic Toc and Instagram. I'm pretty sure yesterday, right after I woke up, I went onto Tic Toc. I need to stop using my phone so much and I want my screen time to become close to two to three hours.

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    1. True. Going to the phone when we wake up is not a good sign. But I do that too, reading the news of the day...

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  76. My average last week was 6h and 47 minutes.

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  77. I mostly spend 5-6 hours on my electronics everyday. My phone doesn't really have a screen time feature, so I used my phone's battery usage to estimate how long I spend on my phone. My time is probably as long as it is because while I do my homework, I have music playing from my phone or I'm listening to a podcast.

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  78. My screen time is about 3 hours a day, which isn't that bad. I spend about 2 hours on Instagram and the rest is Youtube.

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  79. 6 hours 48 minutes daily average , 3 hours 46 minutes today . Most used app is instagram , 5 hours and 36 minutes . I'm alright with it but it'd be better if it was three hours

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    1. I support you in going from 5 1/2 hours of Instagram to three hours. I wonder what would happen if you just deleted the app and see what that's like.

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  80. I only spend around 6 hours on my phone daily. My most used app is instagram by a large margin. I'm fine with it since I balance it out with other activities.

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  81. I spend an average of 3 hours and 21 min per day, my most used app is messages and I think it should be even less considering what I could be doing in that time. Including my other devices I probably spend about 5 hours a day in front of a screen.

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  82. My average screen time for this week per day was 3-4 hours. I actually thought that I spent a lot more time on my phone. Screentime made me realize how much time I spend a day on my phone. I only have 24 hours and 7-8 hours is spent sleeping. The amount of time I spent on my phone doesn't really bother me in a bad way though.

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  83. On average I am spending 7-8 hours everyday on my phone. I think that this amount of time isn't anything out of the ordinary, however, this is about 1/3 of my day and that's actually a lot. Most of time on the phone is spent on messages and instagram. I spend about 4 1/2 hours everyday on social networking alone, which includes instagram, messages,snapchat, etc. Even though I can see that my screen time takes lots of my time, I don't think that it is a big problem in my life.

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    1. Well, ultimately, that's your call. I had a lot of time on social media, too, and my life got so much better when I ended it. It was like entering a different, better, world.

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  84. I think i need about 8 or 9 hours a day because my whole life right now is basically on technology. All the way from school to entertainment.My parents forced me to put on screentime so i dont watch the phone when i should be sleeping.

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