The Rise of Screen Time

Reflections on digital minimalism and sources of draining negativity.

I recently looked at my screen time and genuinely thought, Woah! That can't be true! That’s an ungodly amount of time to scroll away. Look, I'm a grad student and I work two jobs. Feel free to wonder with me on this one because I can’t explain how i manage to spend all those hours on my phone and get anything else done as well. It’s no wonder that I often feel overwhelmed. I’m certain that a lot of people have the same reaction every time their weekly screen report pops up. The typical trend is that the biggest chunk of this time is attributed to socials. The realisation that I might be ‘scrolling my life away’ is very unsettling so much so that I deleted the apps for a while in an attempt to re-examine my attachment to social media. My reasoning was simple: that is valuable time that could be spent resting, developing another high value skill, diving deeper into the things I’m curious about or doing more of whatever it is that was moving my spirit at the time. This is an excerpt from one of my journal entries during a social media detox:

‘Today is slow. It’s not a complaint. Just an observation. It’s day three of my social media detox and it feels like the days are longer. There seems to be more space in my mind…’

Screens have become such a necessary component of our life. We are surrounded by all kinds of displays all the time—laptops, televisions, mobile phones, tablets, smart watches. Screens have opened up new avenues for learning and connection. While there are many other advantages to these gadgets, there is an issue that is becoming a recurring theme and area of concern : screen time. Prolonged exposure has been linked to a range of issues, including eye strain, disrupted sleep patterns, obesity, and mental health disorders like anxiety and depression. In Cal Nwepot’s book Digital Minimalism he writes:

“…our culture’s relationship with these tools is complicated by the fact that they mix harm with benefits…This reality creates a jumbled emotional landscape where you can simultaneously cherish your ability to discover inspiring new photos on instagram while fretting about this app’s ability to invade the evening hours you used to spend talking with friends or reading.”

We underscore the consequnces of the unconscious addictive habits that have us reaching for a phone the moment we wake up or any time we feel the slightest sense of boredom. Social media in particular leaves us almost willing victims. I mean do I really need to review a status which I posted myself that many times? Do I really need to mentally re-craft what story other people are telling themselves about me? Continuously seeing carefully crafted profiles of people’s happiest moments might leave you with feelings of inadequacy especially when you’ve been feeling low, lonely and isolated. The random information overload starts to make everything else feel like work, even resting.

“…there is always an incomplete understanding when you are engaging on social media because it has been created to be an extension of capitalism. The designers of the platforms want us there all day scrolling, spending money, and absorbing messages in a fast paced disconnected manner.” - Tricia Hersey, Rest is Resistance

After the momentary dopamine hit from the pop up notifications and the uncontrollable urge to open the apps, you are back to mindlessly scrolling like zombie, freely offering the algorithm with more data to get you even more hooked. Not to mention that this data is sold to third parties. Here is an interesting thought experiment and reflective exercise: What do I get back from all the hours I accumulate in my screen time?

Why are we, as a culture becoming so afraid of boredom and solitude? These things have capacity to be generative. We allow to spread ourselves thin digitally and substitute the meaningful relational acts for example making a phone call to have an actual conversation or hanging out with friends for likes and heart emoji comments. There is nothing wrong with showing your friends support on social media, but maybe consider showing up for them in other meaningful ways too. Also, why are we are so quick to accept opinions of people we do not know while ignoring our closest relationships? Try not to let strangers trigger your ego. They do not have enough information about you to have an educated opinion.

The short format content is re-programming our attention spans which seem to be getting smaller every day. I’m convinced that attention is essential to living mindfully. If your default is the monkey mind, continuously jumping from one thing to the next, then you might not engage in any meaningful examination that might lead to constructive insight.

I’ve put together some notes I found useful. They are just ways you can start to use to nudge yourself in the direction of less screen time and more time for things that you value. Engaging in digital minimalism frees up more time for you to engage with the world differently. With more openness, with more mindfulness and better perspective. Less is more when it comes to screen time. It reminds me of the quote:

“Minimalism is not about having less. It's about making room for the things that truly matter.”

• Prioritise Quality Over Quantity: Choose stuff that is educational, creative, or spiritually enriching, rather than passive consumption of content. Curate a feed that feeds you. Consider scheduling time to create things you think might make a difference.

• Take Breaks: Frequent breaks from screens during long periods of use especially while at work. Take days off your socials. That is another good place to start.

• Embrace Boredom: Boredom is a motivation state and letting your mind wonder has the capacity to inspire creativity.

“Perhaps the greatest difficulty in maintaining a high and consistent sense of purpose is the level of commitment that is required over time and the sacrifices that go with this. You have to handle many moments of… boredom…and endless temptations in our culture of more immediate pleasures.” - Robert Green, The Daily Laws

• Get Physical: Engaging in physical activity or engaging in out door hobbies can provide much-needed respite from digital devices.

Acknowledging that something is an issue is always a good place to start. Re-evaluating the kind of relationship you are choosing to have with your gadgets is a worthwhile persuit. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to trigger a change in habit. Creating an enabling environment goes a long way. This can look like reducing the number of apps on your phone, doing social media detoxes or keeping the phone away while at work or at social events.