I Wish I Had A Screen Time App For My Entire Life
Time is the most valuable thing we have in life
My lifetime has seen computing advancements that are mind boggling. I like technology as far as it can make our lives easier. I can't imagine typing on a manual typewriter like when I was in high school. Backspacing to type over my mistakes with correct-o-type, or using a gallon of whiteout on my papers. I can type away and this thing corrects my mistakes for me. Something we take for granted nowadays. Technology can be our friend. Computers have made our lives better at many turns.
It is easy to blame the problems of our society on technology. Abuses and over-stepping of tech and social media companies into lives is a separate issue. The printing presses of the past could be used for printing Bibles or printing pornographic material. The printing press is a tool. The user and his intent are another issue. We are becoming more and more aware of the invasive tactics of tech companies who profit from our lives and our personal habits and data. Numbers are showing people opting out of apps like Facebook more and more. I don't trust big tech at all, but our lives are woven together forever.
Thanks to my phone I can tell who wants to track me and who I am sharing my data with. I can opt out. Technology allowing me to be selective with who gets a piece of me. It is getting easier to protect our privacy. The last 10 years have been a crazy period where we gorged ourselves on social media, waking up to find out it destroyed our society more than it helped. People may have been spending too much time on their phones. Along came a screen time app to help me see where I am spending my time on my phone. The most alarming thing for me was the number of times I picked it up a day. Sometimes 150+ times a day.
In my defense I use my phone for work and for almost all of my computer needs daily. I use it to make appointments for my business. I use it for email, texting and shopping(necessity shopping). Messaging and talking are sometimes my biggest time usage(during the work day). During the rest of my day my time is eaten away by less than important things. It is easy to be distracted. But at least I know where my time is going. It is a good reminder to not waste my precious heartbeats on things that don't matter.
Managing my time is something I have to stay on top of. Some people need to have a financial budget to track their spending. It will show them where the biggest waste of their money is taking place. I have determined in my life, my time is the most valuable thing I have, wasting it is no longer allowed. I need to use my time wisely. That doesn't mean never having fun, or a hobby or spending time with others. All of these things make us all the richer in life. I would prefer to spend a couple hours with friends in person than watching from afar on social media. We cannot fool ourselves into thinking electronic communication is a good replacement for direct human interaction.
We are making choices everyday how we spend our time. Before the days of smart phones and internet connectivity I wasted years of my time. I am being honest with myself when I look back. It wasn't all on unnecessary frivolous pursuits, but fruitless nonetheless. It may be age that has me questioning my usage of time. I may have less of it remaining than what I have lived. I may have regrets as we all have, and hindsight is 20/20 as the saying goes. My past is full of many great memories. I am not beating myself up about it. I wish I had this screen time app along the way to remind me of where I was wasting my time.
Spending time is using a limited resource. Once we spend all of our time the account is exhausted, no refunds, no returns. We may agonize over how, when and how much of our money we spend, putting more thought into it than our time spent making that money. What is more valuable the money or your time? As long as you have time you can make money, but money cannot buy time. Employers pay you for your time, the work hours of your time are worth your compensation. Dollars buy man hours. The money you've made is always decreasing in value while your time and ability may be worth more as time goes by. Time is the most valuable thing we have in this life.
I wish I had been more conscientious of how I budgeted my time in years gone by. Technology has given me a small aide to wake me up. Like many I put importance on things I don't even care for any longer. I was unwilling to pay it forward to myself in life by using my time and efforts more wisely. I had to double back and have a couple do-overs I may have avoided. Every step made me better, every struggle made me stronger. A few regrets but I am doing fine. I know that it is not how you start this race but how you finish, and I plan on finishing strong.
Be honest and leave me a comment with the number of times you pick up your phone daily, just the pick up numbers????