This might not be the best time to curb phone and social media usage, but leave it to me to do the opposite of logical. (I’m also the person who will start a diet right before the holidays.)
I was curious how much time I have been “pissing away” (those were my words to a friend) on social media and my addiction to my Boggle app.
Folks: the results were not good. Not good at all.
Of course, I am giving myself a bit of a hall pass because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the amount of time I spend on my phone and iPad doing something other than reading is… feels… embarrassing.
There are a bunch of worthy apps that you can download to your devices to track your time and productivity. I hesitate to suggest one in particular because:
1. So far all I have done is track how much time I waste. I haven’t done the work yet to effectively change anything.
2. We all respond to different stimulus. Each app operates a little differently and uses different motivation.
Back to Me and My Time Wasting….
The average person spends 2 1⁄2 hours per day on social media. That doesn’t count games or other non-work/informational apps and websites.
What could I do in 2 1⁄2 hours?
- Exercise
- Write a blog post (or two)
- Read a book(s)
- Brainstorm for my writing or any other project I’m currently working on
- Call a friend and have a meaningful conversation
- Call my Congressperson(s)
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of things I could be doing instead of perusing my social media accounts. What am I really doing while on social media? Is it a total waste of time?
No. Some of that time is spent working, updating and recording video for my coaching page The Witty Entrepreneur. Some of that time is spent catching up with friends in different parts of the country and world, seeing what they are up to, watching their children grow up. And, some of that time is spent becoming more aware of the world around me. People I am connected to on social media bring awareness to parts of the world that I may never visit, while others are business owners that bring awareness to challenges that I can learn from. Not to mention the emotional support I experience by being part of groups with similar interests.
I can’t imagine not interacting with social media on some level. The fulfillment and support it provides outweighs the “bad” that seems to be bothering me.
I Do Have a Social Media Usage Routine
Reflecting on how I spend my time on social media, I noticed that I have a routine.
I partake in specific activity and avoid others. The days that I spent more time on social media – according to my tracker – were days I was heavily involved (reading and responding) with groups that I am a part of.
I don’t do a lot of random scrolling and I don’t argue with others nearly as much as I used to. But, I also tend to avoid posts that might prompt a response. There are certain people and types of posts that I know will set me off and I have gotten a lot better about just scrolling past those triggers.
What’s My Point?
As I continue to write this blog post, I feel like I am trying to justify my social media usage. Even when there is not a pandemic, I am sure the time I spend on social media isn’t much different. I work from home and don’t have a lot of social contact with humans. My dogs and client dogs are great listeners, but their responses don’t usually lead to a lot of back- and-forth conversation.
I have been in deep thought lately about how I want my life to look once this pandemic is over:
- How do I want to spend my time?
- What do I want to get out of my day?
- What is my definition of productive?
- What feels productive and what doesn’t?
So I am looking at the activities that currently fill my day. (I feel like my Netflix consumption will naturally cut itself off.) Social media seems to fill my day when I am physically on it and, often, I find myself thinking about something I encountered when I’m away from it.
How much time did the app tell me I spend on social media? I averaged nearly 4 hours a day. Four hours!
My goal, is to make sure I use my time wisely. I don’t want to get sucked into a vortex of nonsense and lost productivity. I want to go to bed most nights feeling like I accomplished something and checked most of the tasks off of my to do list that day.
I know people who aren’t on social media at all. They are alive and well. They still maintain meaningful contact with the world and stay abreast of current events. Their friends and family still love them and they have found ways to share important milestones.
That’s not me. I’m nosey. I need to know things. I like to know what other people are doing, what they are thinking, and what they had for dinner everyday last week. I want to know and see how their kids are growing up and mourn with them when they lose a loved one.
There has to be a happy medium between the non-social media user and my four hour a day habit. Right?
Here is what I am proposing for myself:
- I get my average down to 2 1⁄2 hours a day.
- I spend one day a week completely off of social media.
- I investigate how to change my feed – if this is even possible – so that I only see what’s important and a priority for me.
- I work on my guilt. The time I spend on social media is actually useful.
At the end of the day, what’s important is that I manage my time wisely and don’t beat myself up. I took the first step and admitted there might be a problem. And in my second step, writing this post, I discovered it’s not as serious of a problem as I initially thought. (Others might disagree.)
So, the next question I have to answer for myself is: is social media usage a “habit” or is it a form of productivity? What do you think? How much time to you spend on social media each day? How do you spend your time on social media? And, do tell – what did you have for dinner?
