Too Much Screen Time

           My eyes hurt man. I wake up in the morning and within approximately ten minutes I am looking at the screen on my smart phone. I get to the gym about an hour later and even though I will generally leave my phone in my car or locker, my eyes are instinctively drawn to the highlights of the previous night/weekend’s sporting events on the television screen. I shower and head into work where I am greeted at my desk with three monitors and my phone to my side acting as a fourth, additional screen. Throughout the day, I sneak in a few pages of reading and rest from the screens but for the most part – my day is spent staring at those three monitors. I go out for lunch and drive around, listening to music or eating with friends – while occasionally checking my phone. Back to work with my screens. 5 o’clock rolls around, I stroll over to Barnes and Noble – more screen time on my personal laptop to work on my dreams and business. I come home, eat food, shower, and get ready for the night – with intermittent glances at my phone. A game or two of madden or Chell with my roommates is not uncommon before I am off to bed and getting ready to repeat the process tomorrow. My eyes hurt man: TOO MUCH DAMN SCREEN TIME!

           Does this type of a day or pattern sound similar or resonate with any of you? I do not like to make assumptions however, given the current social and technological landscape that we live in, I suspect I am not alone in my excessive use and viewing of digital screens on a daily basis. It seems at this point, there is simply no escaping them. We connect with lovers and friends via our phones and computers (often in a constant manner) texting, snapchatting, Instagram direct messaging, and even occasionally calling to keep in touch. We conduct business and close deals over the phone and email – often times never even meeting our clients and business partners in person. And of course, for the majority of us, our after-work and downtime entertainment now come via computer screens and televisions be it via video games, Netflix, and/or watching the big game with friends.

           Personally, as I have stated before in previous articles and posts, I am not the BIGGEST fan of technology and the rampant rate at which technology is now advancing. Having said that however, I have slowly come to terms with the fact that tech is indeed changing the way we live our lives and is an inevitable force that does not seem to be going away any time soon. Although I will now readily admit that much of these advancements in technology are certainly making our lives a lot easier and more convenient, I simply cannot imagine nor believe that this incessant screen time is good for us as individuals psychologically, physically, emotionally, and/or socially. Thus, I have personally attempted to, and continue to attempt to, put DOWN my phone, steer clear of screens, and reduce my overall screen to eye time as often as I possibly can in order to attempt and enjoy the finer, more AUTHENTIC aspects of everyday life.

           I am sure that there are countless ways in which we can each individually strive to reduce our daily screen to eye time however, I have stuck to focusing on five primary methods. Five easy to implement, yet highly rewarding and healthy screen-time reducing tactics:

1. Turning the smart phone off - The biggest anti-screen time activity I try to consistently foster and implement into my life relates to actually physically shutting my phone off as often as possible. Some suggest simply putting your phone into airplane to prevent distractions and incoming social activity however, I have found that if I still have my phone turned on, I will instinctively turn to it and try to engage in the other apps and activity I can utilize on it. Thus, as often as possible, I try and shut my phone completely OFF for extended periods of time as a method of detaching myself from it. The two major times I practice religiously shutting my phone off, is at work and at night prior to heading to bed. While working, shutting my phone off serves to, in theory, increase my productivity and eliminate any unnecessary further distractions. At night, it has been scientifically shown that shutting one’s phone off and eliminating screen time at least 30 minutes prior to climbing into bed will improve one’s overall quality of sleep.
2. Night mode on - Another interesting strategy for me has been to turn all the screens that I use on a daily basis into night mode. My computer screens at work are permanently on night mode (with a nice orange tint to them) and my phone screen automatically kicks itself into night mode come a certain time of the day/night. Although the new look and color is a bit odd at first glance and tough to adjust too, it is a great way to ease the strain on one’s eyes while also allowing us a bit of a release from the harmful blue lights that are emitted from our digital screens.
3. No phone at the gym – There is a great clip of Joe Rogan and David Goggins from the Joe Rogan Experience podcast where the two debate the fact that “listening to music at the gym is cheating.” Truthfully, I have never fully watched the clipped but see the headline of it pop up on my YouTube timeline all the time. Now I don’t know if this argument is entirely valid or not however, I certainly know that when I have my phone on me at the gym it generally serves as nothing more than a big distraction from my workout and ultimate goal in being at the gym in the first place. Thus, as often as possible, I attempt to stay disciplined to my own personal “no phone at the gym” policy. Why do we even need our phones when we go to the gym? We don’t. Our whole aim in going to the gym or on runs or any type of physical activity, I presume, is to exercise and improve our physical health and overall wellbeing – there is simply no need, or place, for the distractions which our smart phones bring along with them when we are at the gym or out for a nice long run.
4. Overall limited social media usage and restrictions – At some point towards the end of my college years, there was a period of time where I had deleted practically all of my social media accounts. Not just the apps off of my phone, but actually completely deleted all of my personal accounts for Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. It was nice. It accomplished my goal at the time of reducing my anxiety levels and it felt nice to live a bit more in my present moment. Mainly for business purposes, I have since recently redownloaded and re-created accounts for these platforms again (except Snapchat – I’m good on that drug as I often say) but really don’t find as much satisfaction or put as much weight onto them as I used to. I have however, set up the social networking timer on my phone, although, I often ignore that when it pops up on my phone. Nevertheless, trying to reduce our overall time spent on social media is an easy and effective way to reduce our screen time. Social media is not real. If anything, social media platforms serve as great social marketing and branding tools for us personally and our businesses, however, let’s not put too much weight or look to much into them where it then begins to affect our personal mental and emotional well-being.
5. Reading books…actual, physical books - Ahh how I do love Barnes and Noble. There is something wildly authentic to me about being surrounded by real, physical books and the knowledge that comes along with them: the introvert in me lights up. For me, reading throughout the day not only revitalizes me, but it also provides me with some much-needed time away from screens. I recommend reading (physical) books to anyone interested in gaining some true, retainable knowledge, as well as some time away from staring at a blue lit screen. It is scientifically proven that we retain information read on paper better then we do the short clips we read on Twitter or other social sites. So, go (old fashioned?) and read a book would ya?

           There we are. A non-exhaustive list of 5 simple tips, tricks, and techniques that we can utilize in order to gain some much-needed time away from the blue-lit screens we spend far too much of our days staring at.

           My eyes hurt man. Practically from the second I wake up in the morning until pretty much the moment I hit my pillow at night to call it quits for the day, my time is spent staring at screens: computer screens, phone screens, monitors, and tv screens. I suppose this is simply a byproduct of the times we live in. Nevertheless, I guess what I am trying to say is this: all these screens and screen staring time pulls us away from much of what is beautiful in our lives. Rarely do we interact with coworkers or loved ones without a screen in the room or serving as a barrier between us. These blue-lit screens have become massive buffers to the natural social awkwardness that comes along with being a human being who healthily physically interacts with other human beings around him or her. So thus, I implore that we take the time to put the screens DOWN. Let us each strive to minimize our time spent staring at these intoxicating devices and in turn, let us shift our focus instead to the beauty that is out in the magnificent world around us.

Thanks for reading! For more of our work check out joejohnstonpublicspeaking.com or schedule some time to chat with me directly!