The Two Worst Months Of The Year

Good lord…this is actually a little embarrassing and I’m just observing, not participating.

Well, not participating at this particular moment, but honestly, I’m just as bad as everyone else.

Or at least I was, but I’m really working hard not to be.

I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room for my annual physical with at least 15 other people (Baby Boomers and Gen Xers).

Even though there was a variety of ages, races, men, women, singles, and grandparents, there was one common thread among them all.

Every one of them had their face buried in their phones:(.

Millennials catch all the misery from the rest of us about their phone use, but we are just as bad, if not worse.

Yes, these fine folks could have been highly productive answering a very important work email that will make the company millions, but more likely, they were scrolling through Facebook, mindlessly looking at everyone else’s carefully curated life or playing Candy Crush.

And before you think this is just some rant about how in the good ole days people would actually interact with each other, I want you to think about this question. 

How much time do you spend on your phone?

(And yes, I get the irony of you possibly being on your phone to read this, but humor me anyway.)

1 hour? 2 hours? All-day?

The average American spends 4.5 hours a day on their phone!

I’ve personally reduced my phone time to less than an hour a day (yes, that's a humblebrag). 

You can check yours on your iPhone. Go to Settings -> Screen Time -> Tap on the time.

The common excuse is that you use it for work and scroll through a couple of social media sites to catch up on life. 

But does that really take 4.5 hours a day? 

This “Screen Time” section also tells you what apps you used the most. 

Did you feel better or worse after spending almost two hours on Facebook and Instagram? And if it’s neutral, consider yourself lucky. 

But where would that two hours have been better spent?  

If you went from 4 hours a day to 1 hour, you’d save 3 hours and a lot of anxiety.

3 hours x 365 days = 1,095 hours

1,095 hours = 68 days a year (16 hour days, because hopefully, you sleep while you are not glued to your phone).  

Even at 18 hour days, that’s still 2 months (and dude, 6 hours of sleep not enough).

THAT'S 2 MONTHS ON YOUR PHONE EACH YEAR!

If you do this for only 6 years (and trust me, you’ve already done that), then 1 year of that was just staring at your phone.

Are you freaking kidding me? Can you justify that?!

And that still leaves one whole hour each day to stare into your phone for “useful” activities.

• What if you spent two months a year just prospecting for clients?
• What if you spent two months a year creating content and writing?
• What if you spent two months a year training employees?
• What if you spent two months a year learning a new deep work skill, i.e., coding, a new language, personal selling, etc.?

In 6 years, you would have a much more successful business, you’d be happier, and you would have the time and money you need to do more of what you love.

To succeed you need to produce the best work you are capable of and that requires deep work; not being “busy”.