It's About Time

I often hear “I don’t have time for that”. Time is our most precious commodity, yet many people waste huge amounts of time on mindless or counterproductive activities. I don’t buy “I don’t have time for that”; rather I would say if it’s important make time.

We’ve become professional time wasters. It’s astonishing really when you think of how much time during not only a day, but a year or lifetime is lost to staring at a screen. I get the obvious of work which often requires a lot of screen time. How often do you start a search go down a rabbit hole and 2 hours later you emerge, not really finding what you were looking for. I think we all suffer from some form of internet ADD where we start looking for one thing, then click on something else, then another thing and on and on until we’ve wasted a lot of time.

Social media is a category unto itself, think of the amount of time you actually spend (be honest here) on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. If you kept a log for a week I’m sure you’d be shocked by the time you spend.

Here are some statistics that got my attention:

· A person will look at their phone for 11 years over their life time (Moment app)

· Women spend an average of 30 days a year playing games on their phone (UK study)

· We check our phones about 47 times a day

· Teens spend up to 9 hours a day on social media

If you search you’ll likely come up with a few different statistics, but the bottom line is there’s a LOT of time that could otherwise be spent doing things that add value to you, your family/friends or the world at large. When you ad in sleep which, on average is a little less than a third of our lives, that doesn’t leave as much time as you’d think to do all you want to do in this life.

You can see why when people tell me they don’t have time to work out, cook, spend time with loved ones, volunteer, read for pleasure or whatever they enjoy doing I don’t believe it. For the most part you can find time for the things that are truly important to you if you’re mindful and disciplined.

How to get your time back? First, know how you spend your time. Just like people keep food journals to better understand what they consume, keep a time journal to see how you spend your free time and be brutally honest. Track every minute for a week. Even if you just quickly check your IG, write down the start time and finish time for every screen activity (even TV), the exception would be reading on a kindle or iPad (if you’re too tempted to check other stuff, read a real book). Once you have a grip on how much screen time you spend you can begin your digital detox.

For most, the digital detox won’t be easy. I get it. Your phone is like a little pocket fix of heroin and it won’t be easy to give up (I’m sensitive to the drug issue in our country, but from your brain’s perspective your phone is the same thing as a drug. Phone addiction is a topic unto itself). If this is going to cause anxiety start with baby steps, for instance if you normally check your social 10 times a day, start with 7 and work your way down.

Another way is to designate tech free hours such as no tech for lunch or after 8 pm. You’ll also want to turn off all your push notifications. You don’t need to check every news feed, tweet or post that comes across your screen. Let it go.

Meal times should be tech free. Talk to your family, spouse/SO, neighbor or call your mom. Read a book or magazine. Stare into space and savor some much needed quiet head space.

Put back the good. Most people will think of what they’re giving up by limiting technology. Think of what you’re gaining and keep a journal. Take a new class at your gym, connect with your friends and go out for a meal or a walk. Volunteer in your community. Pick up that book that’s been on your reading list for 6 months and read it. Write how it makes you feel to get out and experience life. What are you grateful for? What did you learn? What did you enjoy?

Next time you hear yourself saying “I don’t have time for that” think about how you spend your time. If it’s truly important to you, you’ll find the time.

“Guard your time fiercely. Be generous with it. But be intentional about it.”