One of my personal goals for 2019 is to spend less time in front of a screen. This includes phones, laptops, and televisions. Reading books on my Kindle is still allowed.
I certainly spend way less time on a device now than I did while working, but I find that I have lost time doing mindless things that could be better spent playing guitar, exercising, cooking, reading, or spending quality time with the fam.
I view this solely as a matter of preference, choosing what to do with my waking hours. So far so good.
Screen Time
I probably first started thinking about reducing screen time a few months after Jr was born – walking around as a sleep deprived zombie made it easy to get sucked into the black hole of the Internet or watching late-night television.
I remember seeing this Time magazine cover and it hiting a bit too close to home.
Photo from TIME
Better late than never, these are the changes I’ve made over the past 6 months.
Television
I read that on average kids 2-5 spend 32 hours/week in front of a TV, which is more than 10x what we watch max. It’s not a big part of our lives, so I haven’t felt any urge to reduce it.
In our original home we never had a television. We would sometimes watch a move on the laptop for date night, but it was rare. We didn’t have Netflix or cable, instead preferring to be out and about.
We now have 2 televisions as part of our furnished apartment. One of them has never been turned on, and the other is used for occasional family movie night or cartoons.
Phone
Back in the day while working, Winnie and I shared a single phone. Perhaps this was excessively frugal. Over the past several years we both started using one more and more, just because it was there.
I don’t think it would be practical to not have a phone at all… I use it regularly for maps, bus schedules, Kindle, Uber, camera, Strava, and Apple Pay. I can’t recall the last time I actually called someone, but I do use it for messaging with friends and family.
So rather than get rid of an useful tool, I’ve turned my phone into a fixed function device.
Enabled parental controls – can’t install apps or view certain websites. If it is important, I’ll get on my laptop later at home.
Removed all email. I can only do email on my laptop, and I’ve gone up to 7 days without checking it. It hasn’t really impacted anything.
Deleted all social apps – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… no mindless scrolling (I still occasionally check in with family on Facebook on my laptop.)
Deleted all blogging apps – I can’t just randomly check blog stats… random information is mental static.
Deleted all games – spend that 5 minutes waiting for the bus reading instead.
Laptop
Installed SelfControl app – can’t view blacklist websites when active, e.g. twitter.com, gocurrycracker.com, youtube, etc…
Write action plan with pen and paper, including time frame, before turning on laptop – helps to be intentional and focused
Modified habits – I used to more or less randomly do some things on the laptop before I started “working”, such as check email, peruse facebook, see how the stock market was doing… an action plan helped reduce/eliminate this
Unsubscribe and spam – I’ve eliminated a lot of email from unimportant sources. For sites that make unsubscribing difficult, I’ve just added them to the spam filter.
Turned off password autofills and use a password app – I literally don’t know any of my passwords, so I can’t accidentally login to Instagram
Noticeable Benefits
I’ve noticed quite a few tangible benefits to reduced screen time.
Time – I’ve gained at least an hour per day, often more. Plus a slew of 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there.
More reading – I made a random goal of reading 26 books in 2019. I’ve already read 8.
Healthier – I would on occasion miss workouts because I would get sucked into doing something unimportant on my laptop. That seldom happens anymore.
More efficient – Random scrolling through websites and email is minimal
Relationships – I’ve been more present with friends and family
Better sleep – if I stay up later than I intended, it is because I was reading some quality fiction
Financial – I have no desire to buy a new and improved laptop or phone. I’ll probably be content with existing devices for a year longer than I would have otherwise
Goals – Exercise, guitar, and reading goals have all become more front and center
Summary
I’m really happy spending less time in front of a screen. Taking steps to reduce or eliminate opportunities for mindless Internet browsing or viewing unnecessary information has done wonders for life.
I’m also super happy with active screen time – when I sit down with the intention of doing things and using the screen as a tool, creating, learning, doing.
So far this experiment has been a great success.
That’s a great experiment. Nice job reducing your screen time and improving your life.
I think I’m doing pretty well with screen time. My eyes used to get super fatigue and I couldn’t focus on the screen by the end of the day. I spent way too much time on the computer at work. Nowadays, I spend a lot less time on the computer and my eyes feel much better. Of course, retiring early helped a ton there.
I lost hours of time daily with email while working. That alone is worth quitting.
Very cool. And I love that you don’t go into some diatribe about how horrible all of these devices and apps are. You just made some modifications in your life and that’s that.
Yeah no reason for a “get off my lawn” grumpy old man rant. Screens can be great tools.
I hear ya. After spending years in Shanghai, I actually mentally/emotionally broke my connection with TV and movies (even though one could buy a full DVD’s worth of TV and movies for about $1.50 in China). So now back in the US, I don’t have cable, Netflix or other video streaming, and only watched one movie in 2 years (Crazy Rich Asians). I think podcasts are much more interesting anyway!
I think a lot of it is habit. I like that our default forms of entertainment aren’t television or movies. Winnie and I were trying to figure out how it is possible for young kids to watch 32 hours of television per week and it is mind boggling.
My goal this year is to reduce an hour of screen time daily. I think a few of these will take me there.
It’s worked for me. Good luck!
Great post Jeremy!
As nomadic travelers, every time we move to a new place, one of the first thing we do is to find a place to charge our electronic devices (phones, tablets…) that is as far as possible from our bed. This hack a life changer for us as we were not tempted anymore to check our devices before going to bed as well as when we wake up in the morning.
We are now considering taking on a “no electronic device day” once we week to detox further. Have you consider it too?
Finding a charging spot farthest from your bed is a genius idea. I’m going to try it.
I suppose I do this too – my charger is in my office.
I don’t generally go for things like no spend day / no device day, preferring to design life such that it encourages good habits. I use my devices daily for beneficial things.
I think that one benefit to retiring early will be deleting my email from my phone. Not a possibility as a litigator at the moment. But it sounds so amazing!
There was really no way to unplug from email while working for me either. Nights, weekends, vacations…
I was going to leave a comment on this most recent blog posting but your first two sentences convinced me to take a walk instead of finding out what it said in its entirety. Maybe I’ll read a couple more sentences tomorrow and be better equipped to comment.
Thou hast chosen wisely
This is so important (especially with little ones) We have a screen addict at home, and whenever we take it away it left a screaming match (my 3-year-old son not me!) We decided that we would no longer allow screens at all. Total cold turkey. The only exception is when traveling on planes (we aren’t that stupid!)
It has definitely made a much happier household here!
Completely agree with this. There is a apt saying for this – “out of sight out of mind” – digital distractions are like a disease. Meditation has helped me spend tech-free time and I am now hooked.
I really like your approach. It’s amazing how much time is freed up when we stop the mindless scrolling. Taking email off my phone would be a huge improvement for me, as this is my biggest problem.
I felt so much happier when I reduced screen time as a resolution this year. The email one was key. I don’t miss email one bit and I check it once a week or less.
I think changing behavior on a regular basis is always worthwhile, whether it’s less screen time or some other behavior that’s usually by default. I am not constantly on my phone or on social, so it’s never been screen time for me. But I try to rotate what I read and my daily routines b/c things get stale. Even when things work at one point, they can also become stale. Or after not doing it for a bit, I come back to it and appreciate it even more. For example, I’ve switched up when and how much I meditate. I come back to it, but trying different things helps it stay fresh.
Thanks for the practical tools to discipline oneself
I’m curious – how did you come up with the number 26 for books to read in 2019? I have to admit my 2019 goal is to get through my To Be Read shelf (currently 23 books). ALL of our books dumped in the recent earthquake and this is a safety measure.
I just went with a biweekly book schedule, but I’m on book 15 right now.
This seems like a change a lot of us would benefit from. I’ve been able to cut back quite a bit on my phone time, but those TV shows still get me! Good luck and keep up the good habits!