Hello! Welcome to Day 1 of 30 Days of Mindful Tech. Things are getting scary and wild out there. The world is in a really serious place, and a lot of us are stuck inside out homes. At your request I am starting 30 Days of Mindful Tech again. Everyday I will release a small activity and a blog post that you can work into your routine to help you stay sane and limit the amount of over stimulation you may be feeling. It is hard to try new things when you are stuck in the house. Maybe this well help you get out of your rut! If you click on the calendar section for this 30 Days, you will also find a printer friendly version of the calendar,
The first step on this journey is knowing your baseline, or how long you use your devices each day. The only purpose this serves is to show improvement. The average person spends over four hours a day on their phone. That’ s almost 17% of the day. This figure also doesn’t include time spent on the computer. Now this would not be a problem if the time was spent doing necessary or fulfilling things, like answering emails from work or Facetiming a loved one. But it turns out, a lot of that time is spent on social media, especially when we are in a crisis such as this. I would like to point out, I enjoy social media and right now we don't have a choice but to stay informed. I could even be classified as an Instagram influencer (ew). But when being on these platforms starts to eat into time you could spend getting work done, spending time with people, or sleeping is when a problem begins to arise. I would like to reiterate that I DO NOT want you to throw your phone out the window and never touch it again. That would mean you couldn’t do the rest of the program (haha) and keep you from getting critical information we all need right now. But understanding how much time you are spending in the digital world, and where you are spending that time allows you to make the changes that you want to make. Maybe you want to spend less time on Facebook and more time reading articles on AP News. Maybe you just want to stop checking Snapchat as often. Maybe your want a break from everything that is happening in the news, but you don't know how to get there. Whatever the goal, screen time tracking can provide you with information to reach it. There are plenty of ways to go about tracking how much time you spend online. Apple has a built in screen time application now. When I had my old phone, which did not have the updated software for this application, I used an app called Moment, which is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Moment uses the location function of your device to track how long you are on your device. There are tons of other options for screen time tracking, but I am only comfortable recommending the ones I have used. Now that you have a way to track your screen time, you can use your phone as normally. Go throughout the day and be natural (kind of hard after reading this article and knowing your time is being tracked, I know). And, at the end of the day, examine how long you spent on your device. And more importantly, in my opinion, examine what you spent your screen time doing. The Apple Screen Time app shows you a little break down of the apps you used that day, and so does Moment. Sometimes the results can be very shocking. When I began my digital wellness journey I was spending 4 to 5 hours a day on my phone looking at Instagram and Youtube. Now I'm obsessed with Tik Tok but that is a DIFFERENT STORY. But having that information allowed me to adjust my behavior, with some help, of course. That help came from screen time controls. Moment and Apple both allow you to set limitations for how long you use specific apps. After your day of screen time tracking, I encourage you to use these controls to make changes where you see fit for the rest of the 30 days. And please remember to be kind to yourself. Do not see this data as an avenue to be harsh on yourself, but rather as an opportunity for change. I close this article with a big thank you. Thank you for embarking on this digital wellness journey with me! I am excited to learn, grow, and have a good time with all of you. Especially in this uncertain time. Welcome, The Mindful Digital Native Resources: How Much Time Average Person Spends on Social Media https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/are-you-on-your-phone-too-much-average-person-spends-this-many-hours-on-it-every-day.html How Much Time is Spent on Social Media: https://mediakix.com/blog/how-much-time-is-spent-on-social-media-lifetime/#gs.gQ9TXx How Phone Affect Sleep: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prescriptions-life/201804/6-ways-night-time-phone-use-destroys-your-sleep How to Use Apple Screentime: https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-use-screen-time-ios-12/) Moment App Link https://inthemoment.io/
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