How Glued Are We to Our Phones?
And how to minimize screen time?
This might be a bit of an obsolete talking point but how are you truly so glued to your phone and have you ever thought of figuring out how to minimize screen time?
Social Media
It was in the year 2009 when I created my Facebook account. I was watching a local talk show on my television when a popular actress proudly revealed her Facebook account. I did not have an idea about this social networking site before watching the show so it made me curious and quickly turned to Google for it.
As soon as I got to explore the site, I was eager to create an account of my own. I just had my first-born son so it felt like the time I spent focusing on my pregnancy had made me so ignorant about what had happened anew.
Shortly after I set up my profile photo and bio, Facebook recommended people whom I may know and I was surprised by how accurate the recommendations were.
I was excited to get reconnected with my high-school and college friends, classmates, and even acquaintances and from that moment, Facebook became my bare window of my friends’ personal lives, not to mention all the fake news and other offensive posts.
Later did I realize that watching other peoples’ drama can cause insecurity and even self-pity. And for this reason, I try to limit my connections on Facebook and set up the preferred pages to follow. Only ones that suggest positivity in life.
Selfie
Outdated but still on the top of the list. I honestly got hooked on taking selfies. I cannot even count how many selfies I had taken with my first ever Android phone but honestly, it was a lot! Well, I did it because my connections online also had done it. At least that was what I believed in.
However, many people noted similar reasons why they post excessive selfies on social media. For instance, posting selfies allows them to connect but it was really just an excuse because the truth is, posting them in public especially where their friends could see them gives a different sense of satisfaction.
Another popular reason is that people just want to let others know how fashionable they look with their Gucci handbag.
In fact, the hashtag OOTD was one of the hugely popular hashtags with more than 2 million posts on Instagram.
Not until I got too preoccupied with my kids and work that I stopped taking and posting selfies unless I am promoting something worth promoting for.
As a result, many of my friends missed me! Some have even sent me messages asking how I was not visible on social media anymore. It sounds funny though!
Notifications
The ding of my phone’s notification, the clattering sound of the keyboard when I type, the buzzing tone of my vibrating phone, these all seemed to be very pleasing to my ears, that hearing them made my head quickly tilted in the direction of my phones.
I used to pick up my phone more or less 50 times a day just to check on my notifications. Even when I was at work. That made me realize it has affected much of my productivity as a working mom.
But then I realized, notifications are basically just distractions which is indeed why social media was invented. To make us addicted to it.
Therefore, believe it or not, turning our phones to silent mode is way much better. Try it!
Online Sale!
As soon as the Covid-19 outbreak reached my city, government officials implemented a very strict lockdown. This has caused almost all households to opt to buy necessities online. It was convenient and beneficial to both the consumers and somehow to the economy.
However, even when the restrictions were lifted, I could not stop indulging myself in online sales. My family could not help but stay alert of the next sale and “add to cart” here and there.
As a result, our screen time had increased further and taken a toll on family time and productivity.
Hence, we set an effective way to avoid this by controlling the urge to open our shopping applications.
Can you suggest other ways to deal with this?
Wrapping up
After what was said and done, there can still be many ways to minimize our screen time. But first and foremost, it has to start from our own willingness.
Willingness to control our phone usage instead of being controlled by it.
I started by putting my phone far from me during bedtime. It helps me shut my eyes soon and sleep well too.
Thank you for reading!
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