Do these words sound familiar? “I don’t have enough time in the day!” I’ve found myself saying this in an exasperated voice when everything and everyone is pulling me in a million different directions. One way to get more time in your life is by reducing time on technology. No shame here as I have found myself on the end of a scroll fest that I have never thought….. “that was the best hour of my life”. Eliminating technology is not realistic (I mean, the moonwalking bear video is pretty great), so here is an idea on how to reduce time on technology.
Create a stopping cue
A stopping cue is a signal that it is time to stop whatever you are doing. When you get to the end of a chapter in a book…stopping cue. When you finish an article in a magazine…stopping cue. Going to a movie theater in person and the credits start rolling…stopping cue.
The tricky part of online media is the stopping cues are being removed to keep you on the app, site, or media longer. Social posts are reordered or continually updated so you never reach the end of the scroll and Netflix auto-starts the next movie so you don’t even need to press play. These are intentional strategies in place to reduce the likelihood you will put the phone down or turn off the tv.
Now that you know what is being done to keep you on tech, you can take the power (and your time) back by creating your own stopping cue.
Determine how long you want to be online
This has been written about quite a bit and the tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) is that time online definitely matters, but what you are actually doing online is important too. Using your phone for a recipe as you make cupcakes with your kids isn’t the same as scrolling tiktok mindlessly for an hour. So in the world of social media, scrolling for 30 – 45 minutes a day isn’t a big deal (here’s a study that talks about it) and can be enjoyable.
Set a timer (aka stopping cue)
If you’re ready to reduce time on technology, use the timer on the clock app and set your phone (or ipad) to automatically go to the lock screen when it reaches the time you set. That is a peaceful way to prompt you to move onto something productive in your day while not having to deal with the shrill sound of a sonar beep or old-timey telephone ring. Set a passcode on your phone and this is a hassle-free way to get your phone back from your children when they reach the time limit you set (as long as they don’t know the passcode).
Use it
I tell my clients many times that it only works if you work it. Taking the small steps to reign back in our mindless time on tech will give us the space we’ve forgotten about to add hours back to our days.
Photo by Vladimir Mun
