The podcast delves into the pressing issue of our digital habits and the alarming amount of time we spend glued to our screens. Kristen initiates the discussion by presenting statistics that reveal the average American spends approximately 4 hours and 37 minutes daily on their smartphones—equating to over 52 days each year. This overwhelming data serves as a wake-up call, prompting listeners to reflect on their own usage patterns. Kristen emphasizes the need for a digital detox, encouraging listeners to assess their media consumption and consider the impact of mindless scrolling. As the conversation unfolds, she introduces practical strategies for reducing screen time, such as conducting a media audit to measure usage and implementing app limits on smartphones. The episode is not merely about reducing screen time; it’s about reclaiming life moments that often slip away in the digital haze.

In exploring the concept of a digital detox, Kristen provides actionable steps that listeners can take to create a calmer digital environment. She discusses the importance of setting boundaries with technology, including establishing media-free nights or a day each month dedicated to disconnecting from screens. Additionally, Kristen encourages listeners to declutter their devices by removing unused apps that contribute to digital overload. By simplifying their digital spaces, individuals can cultivate a more mindful approach to technology. The episode resonates with anyone seeking to enhance their relationship with technology, ultimately guiding them toward a more balanced lifestyle where personal and meaningful interactions take precedence over screens.

As the discussion progresses, Kristen not only highlights the adverse effects of excessive screen time but also invites listeners to envision alternative ways to use their time. She encourages self-reflection on how individuals can replace hours spent on devices with enriching activities like reading, engaging in hobbies, or spending quality time with loved ones. By sharing her personal experiences and struggles with screen addiction, Kristen creates a relatable narrative that empowers listeners to take charge of their digital lives. This episode is a call to action for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the digital world, offering both insight and inspiration to lead a more intentional life.

Takeaways:

• The average American spends over four hours a day on their smartphones, which is concerning.
• Conducting a media audit can reveal how much time you're truly spending on devices.
• Setting up your phone for success can help limit social media usage effectively.
• Implementing a digital detox strategy can lead to a more fulfilling life experience.
• Consider scheduling media-free nights to engage in more meaningful activities with loved ones.
• Utilizing focus apps can significantly reduce distractions and enhance productivity throughout your day.

digital detox, screen time management, smartphone usage statistics, media audit, reduce phone addiction, mindful phone use, tech wellness, limit social media, productivity apps, focus apps, calm digital space, healthy tech habits, time management tips, manage screen time, phone addiction solutions, digital well-being, mindful media consumption, tech reflection, holiday tech habits, unplugging from technology

Hey, and welcome back to Tackling the Tech.

This is your host, Kristen.

Today we're going to talk about what the stats tell us on how much we are, how much time we're really spending on our phones and streaming content.

And let me just give you a heads up.

It's a big number, guys.

Next, we're going to talk about how do we do a digital detox, whether that's once a week, once a quarter, or daily, you know, for an hour a day or something.

And we're going to talk about how do we do a media audit of how much time we're really spending on these things and then how do we stop mindlessly scrolling?

And yes, this is a tech show, but I'm going to talk to you about how to go in and find that information in your phone and then how you can set your phone up for success.

How can you set your phone up so that you can limit when you go on social media or when you use certain types of apps or when you're just browsing the Internet?

And so I'm going to share some things with you and tell many of us that maybe the hard love we need to hear is maybe we're on our devices too much.

And not every episode's gonna be like this, but the honest truth is we're coming into the holidays.

It's a time of reflection.

And for me, part of that reflection is I need to set my phone down and be on my computer a little less.

And if that's you, then this episode is perfect because I'm gonna give you the data and then I'm gonna show you how you can make your phone work for you instead of grabbing your phone every extra minute of time that you have.

Hey there, friends.

Welcome to Tackling the Tech, the show for all of us who don't consider ourselves tech.

Geni.

I'm your host, Kristin Fitch, a tech savvy guide with 20 years of experience.

Making techsimple and helping you master it with ease.

Each week, I'll guide you through simple tips, tools and tricks to master your.

Gadgets, apps, and even AI without all the confusing jargon.

From organizing your phone and conquering Gmail to using AI tools that save you hours.

We're here to help your tech work.

For you so you can spend more time doing what you love.

So grab your coffee, your devices, and let's tackle your tech together because you've got this.

Today, we are digging into how to create a calm digital space.

How can you do a digital detox, and why we all might need to do this.

And like I said, we're going to talk about how do we create a calmer digital life landscape, and most importantly, how do we do a digital detox?

Why do we need to.

All right, let's dive right in.

Well, the first reason that most of us need to do this is the data isn't great.

The average person, the average American, is spending 4 hours and 37 minutes on their smartphone a day.

Okay?

And the average is people check their phone at least 58 times a day.

So each week, we're spending more than one day every week staring at our devices and scrolling aimlessly.

People, that is a huge red flag.

So out of a year, we're spending just on our phones, 52 days a year, staring at our screens instead of being in the present moment, engaging in our lives.

And I'm just as guilty of this as so many other people.

It has become a problem for me, and I've got to do a better job.

So that's why we're going to talk about this today.

All right, and then the other thing is, let's talk about Netflix culture that we now live in, right?

Everything's streaming at our fingertips.

We can watch anything we want.

And there's millions of options.

So the Average person spends 32 hours a week watching a TV series, a show or a movie that's on.

So on all the media, we're spending over 10 hours a day on media.

So on our digital devices, of our phones, our watching TV and, you know, streaming things, that is crazy town.

Okay, now, I get that this might not apply to everyone.

Maybe some of you don't own TVs, or you don't have a smartphone, you just have a basic flip phone.

Or maybe you really don't even have a phone and you don't go on social media.

Well, you are the impressive few, if that's you.

But for the rest of us who have allowed this digital device to become an extension of our hands, then we have some work to do.

All right, so we're going to talk about how can we do a digital detox, and how can we make our phones a place that we don't just grab when we are maybe a little bit bored waiting in line, or we don't just grab it from default or.

Because it's really addictive.

So how can we use our phone as a tool but not let it take over us?

All right, so here we go.

We're going to go through, I think it's about five or six things we can Do.

All right, so the first thing is.

We have to do a media audit.

Okay.

The only way we can make a change is if we know what we're currently doing.

So the media audit, we want to find out how much time we're spending on our smartphones, if we have one and if we're using it right.

So write that question down.

How much time am I spending on my smartphone?

And then write down this question.

How much time am I using other or watching other video, audio and media?

So TV series, movies.

You could or couldn't put podcasts in this or some other things.

It really just depends more you're learning or you're getting filled up or are you just watching, listening to.

What is that called?

Like, the podcasts that are about, like, killers and trying to solve crimes.

In other words, is it more entertainment that you're listening to?

Which is fine, but I would group that in the number.

In other words, if you're streaming stuff, whatever it is, if you're doing it mindlessly or you love comedy, that's fine.

But the question is, it still might go in that bucket.

All right, so first we're going to dig into how do you figure out how much time you're on your screens, how much time you're on your phones?

First, I'm going to tell you how to do it on an iPhone, and then I'll tell you how to do it on an Android like Google or Samsung.

All right, so here's what we're going to do.

You're going to go open your phone and you're going to go to your Settings settings app.

It's a great, great icon.

And then in there, you're going to go to screen time.

All right, and so in screen time, it'll tell you a daily average that you spend on your phone each day.

And of course, that might vary each day.

And I think it has a chart, so it shows you by the day.

Then you're going to go into see all.

And then it's.

Sorry, let me read this.

Website activity.

See all.

And it's app and website activity.

If you go into there, then you're actually able to see for each app how much time you're spending on those.

And.

Well, actually, I'll share the rest with you about that in a minute.

All right, so that's how you go and find out your screen time and let me find the information here.

Oh, yeah.

So if you go to see all app and website activity, if you scroll down past all your apps, there's actually a thing called pickups.

It tells you the first time of that day that you picked up your phone.

It tells you the total number of times you picked up your phone.

Guys, I'm not even going to lie to you.

There's some days where my hiccup was many more times than the number of times the average person checks their phones.

I'm just going to be honest.

I think I have a problem here.

All right, so I've got to do a better job.

And maybe you feel the same way.

Like when you look at your data, you might be a little bit horrified.

All right, the next thing is if you are on an Android, then what you want to do is you want to open your phone, you're going to go to your settings and then you're going to go to digital well being and parental controls.

And then if you go to tap more, you can manage your data.

But in there you'll see similar stats.

Obviously they're going to look different than on the iPhone, but you'll see similar stats to your daily usage.

And then I think they also share some similar stats like pickup time or number of times you used your phone.

All right, so you want to write those numbers down.

Do the daily average, but kind of look through the data because maybe you have one day that was really high, but maybe that's not your norm.

So write down both.

But if, but on, I mean, in general, whatever your average is, maybe for the week and the month is important to write down.

And then for how much time are you spending on, you know, watching video or binge watching Netflix or whatever your streaming choices.

Just try to take an average.

Now you, you probably can get that data if you're always in the same app.

Like if you're always on YouTube or you're in Netflix.

I think in their account settings you probably can find some of that information out because everybody may be on different platforms or you jump between Apple or Hulu or Netflix, then we're not going to go through how to do that.

But just try to calculate in your head, out of seven nights, how many nights do you go and sit down and watch a series or shows?

Is it one night a week?

Is it seven nights a week?

And then on average, are you sitting down for two hours or do you binge watch once a weekend?

And so you do a 10 hour marathon.

But generally speaking, because a TV we have, we often go and sit somewhere.

I mean, unless you're watching it on your phone, we can probably figure out a general number that we're spending watching TV or a series or a movie each week.

So write that number down.

All right, so now that we know where we stand on how much we are using our digital devices, how much time we're spending, stay staring at media or a screen, we can start to make some changes.

And I don't know about you, but I know that my usage is showing me that over the last year, I've gotten worse about putting my phone down and leaving it down.

I'm picking it up regularly to check things that I have no business needing to check that many times in a day.

So I've just gotten in a bad habit, to be honest with you.

All right, so how do we make changes?

All right, so once we know the thing, one thing we might want to write down is how do I want to spend some of the time, replace the time that I'm currently spending on my phone or watching TV or streaming shows?

Are there other things that you'd like to be doing with your time and you just hadn't really actually thought about it?

You just like me.

Sometimes it's just a default that we'll have dinner or we'll go on a bike ride, but then when we get home, if we're not working on the project, we have this downtime.

And sometimes it's going and sitting in front of the tv, probably more than it should be right now.

And so even though sometimes I say, oh, you know, let's.

We should really just read tonight or we should do something else.

But I find it so easy just to click the button and sit in the chair.

And I don't have to do anything.

I don't have to think.

So if you find yourself in that place, the question is, how would you like to spend your time if you could pull back some of those hours and spend it on something else?

It might be reading, it might be working on project or maybe a craft, it might be going out to meet a friend once one night a week or whatever it might be.

But just write down, what would you like to spend?

So many of us say we don't have time.

We say, I don't have any time.

But if we actually start looking at how much time we're spending on our devices or watching shows, for those of us that are doing this, we realize that we actually have more time than we realize, but it's getting sucked up.

Okay, all right, so the first thing is we can limit our usage on our.

On our phones.

How do we do that?

Well, the same place I told you to go earlier, settings and Then screen time on the iPhone, you.

There are several apps that you can use.

One's called Downtime, so you can schedule time away from your screen.

Another one is called Clap Limits and you can set time limits for apps.

You can do all your social apps, or if you click in app limits and then click into social, you can actually click social and it will show you each app.

And then you can actually limit how much time you spend on any given app.

So if you're one of the Facebook scrollers or Instagram scrollers or whatever it might be, and you find that you're just going on too often or spending too much time on it, you can limit how much per day you want to be in that app.

Okay.

And in Android, it's the same place you go to on the Android, you go to Settings, Digital, well being.

And then if you tap more, manage your data, you can set up app timers and there's a bedtime mode.

Okay.

And then the next thing that you can do is in your iPhone, they have something under settings called focus and Focus.

The Focus feature is basically where you can set up personal time during work time.

You know, you can set up custom ones or bedtime or night.

And what it, what that does is it lets you say that you don't want to be distracted by any apps, but maybe these two, like calls or texts during work hours, you don't want to be disturbed or maybe you don't want to be disturbed by any apps on your phone except for if your family members call in and you can set that up that way.

And so this is just a way to keep us focused on work or focused on not being on our phone all the time.

So that's another option for you.

Okay, the next thing is can you figure out could you switch a night or nights to be screen or media free?

So if you find that five nights a week you're popping on, maybe it's news or maybe you're watching a series, so each night you watch a little bit of it.

Well, could.

What do you want to commit to?

Right.

This is all up to you.

It's your preference.

And there's no right answer here.

But if you find, you know, gosh, I didn't realize how much time I'm spending on media and on my smartphone.

If that's you, then it might be that you want to say, yeah, you know what, I would really like to do something more productive two nights a week.

I would like to limit my TV watching to the weekend or only to twice a week.

During the week and on the weekend, you know, if we're not busy.

So just determine if you can have a screen or media free night.

Okay.

And then the next thing is, I think once a month, you should set a day to say it's going to be a digital or screen free day, meaning you're not going to pick up your phone and you're not going to watch TV or anything else.

Except for, of course, if you have a call or a text.

You know, you need to know where your kids are.

You need to be able to communicate with them.

Absolutely.

Get that.

So maybe you're not going to fully turn it off, especially if you don't have a, you know, another phone, like a home phone that most people don't know.

But other than that, you just need to set your phone down and leave your TV off and give yourself a break.

A little bit of a detox, if you will.

So that's a great goal for all of us, is to regularly, at least one day a month, try to put the devices down, leave the TVs off or the iPads and things and get outside, meet a friend for lunch, go on a bike ride, sit out back, work on a new project, start gardening, something.

Okay?

So that is just a goal you can set for yourself.

All right.

And then the next thing is a lot of us just have tons of apps on our phone that we might not use anymore, or we use it once a year, but it just clutters up our phone with all this stuff, all this content, all these icons.

And to be honest with you, it can be a bit overwhelming because if we're going on our phone so many times and there's 250 apps, it's just visually a little bit too much for me, you know, and so the way we create a calm digital space is we audit all our apps.

So take, you know, 30 minutes or an hour, or take 15 minutes a day for a couple days in a row and go through and just delete all the apps that you don't use or that were installed as default or that you only use once a year.

For instance, if you fly, but not regularly, then you might have downloaded the airline app.

But I don't know about you.

I might only fly on Delta once a year.

Well, I don't necessarily need that app on my phone, or I could put it in a folder so I don't have to see it all the time.

So just do a little audit of all your apps on your phone, remove the ones you don't need or don't want on there.

It's as simple as that.

So, for instance, I have regularly deleted my Facebook app off my phone because I didn't want to go on there regularly.

I didn't want to spend a lot of time on Facebook.

So if I had something to post, I would just go through the browser or through my computer.

Now I have downloaded it again recently because I had some photos to upload and when I tried to do it through the browser on my phone, they were all sideways.

So it was frustrating and I couldn't really fix it.

So I did have to redownload it.

But for instance, I've never downloaded Facebook messenger onto my phone because I didn't want it on my phone.

I do have it, you know, it's on my computer when I log into Facebook.

But just remove the clutter, take a little time and just get rid of all the weight on that phone.

Because much like in our actual physical spaces, having too much on our phones, it literally is.

Visually, it weighs us down.

It's overwhelming to look at.

I mean, I need to do this myself.

It's on my list because I see all these apps that I never go to and some of them were just installed for me and I don't need them or some, like I said, I don't need any more.

And so.

And if you don't want to delete things, maybe you only have the.

The bare minimum.

You can always put more stuff in folders that you don't access regularly.

Because if you do that and you can't find it, you just do this, a search at the top of your apps and you can find the app easily that way.

Okay.

The other thing that's a super easy strategy that you can do is that you can put your phone in another room when you're working or you're trying to just stay present.

You don't want to be grabbing for it.

So in that case, if I'm sitting in my home office working, instead of having it on my desk, if I put it in my kitchen, I could still hear it if it rings, but I do not.

It's not within hands reach, right arm's distance of me.

Because the closer our phone is or the tv, the easier it is for us to turn it on way too often.

So that's another strategy that you can apply.

If you're at work, leave your phone in your bag or put it on the desk across from you or just as far in your cubby if you work in a cubicle as you can.

So you can't reach it without having to stand up and get it.

And so just small tactics like that, they are both a mental shift because it's not just a foot away from our hand, but also it's just a signal to you into your brain, like, I don't want to touch this.

I'm going to put it further away.

All right.

Now, another thing that I recommend is I, and this is a personal preference and also depending on who you're responsible for.

But my kids are older.

I have my text messages set so that they don't ping every time somebody text messages me.

You know, I have friends that theirs ping all day long.

But for me, that is not calming, and it's very stressful.

I'm very auditory sounds.

If it's too much or it's constant or too loud, that can overwhelm me.

And so I know for me, I don't want to hear text messages pinging all day long or any other apps.

So no apps on my phone make sound.

Unless someone's calling me on the phone.

That's the only app that rings.

The rest I've silenced.

And you can, of course, do that through settings, too, different for each iPhone or Android.

But an iPhone, you would just go to sounds and haptics and then notifications.

But in both of those, you can control what things you hear.

And this might not seem like a big deal, but to have a calmer digital space, look at what if you use your alarm and your timers, what sound is it?

Because some of the sounds are actually, to me, very stressful.

And that might be you, too.

And so there's some calmer sound you can put on when your alarm goes off.

If you're using your iPhone, is an alarm or timer that are just a little bit lower.

They're not as intense, and they're just calmer.

They're more subtle.

And so for you, that might be something to consider is changing the sound of your alarms or timers.

Okay.

Okay.

So the next thing that I wanted to talk about before we wrap up, there's actually these apps like Focus apps, and you can install them on or use them on your computer, and then some you can use on your computer and your mobile.

Of course, you'd have to download the app to do that on the phone.

But what's amazing about them is let's say that you are somebody that finds you're not being as productive as you want or you're being distracted.

These apps help you set either a productivity timer so that you want to work for 25 minutes straight without taking a break or on the same project.

You can set the timer to any limit.

And then other ones of them block you from going to, for instance, social media sites.

Much like I told you, you can do it on your, on your iPhone, but you can also block it on your computer so that you don't go to social media sites maybe between 9am and 5, you know, or maybe you don't want to do a light late night scroll, you know, on your phone or your computer.

So maybe you don't want to go on those apps after 8pm okay.

Or maybe you don't want to go.

On it from 5 to 8pm because that's family time.

There's apps and there's a lot of them that you can, you can do a search for productivity or focus apps, but I'm just going to share a few with you.

So one is called Leech Block and it's L, E E C H B L O C K Leech Block.

And it's best for blocking distractions on all mainstream browsers.

And so this would be one you'd use on your computer.

The good news is it's free and you can set time limp time limits or fixed time periods for blocking sites that you don't want to access because you want to focus on other things.

So that's a good one to check out if it's for your computer.

And then another one is called I think Forest.

Get to it real quick.

Here we go.

Okay.

Yep, Forest, just like it sounds.

F O, R, F O R E S T.

And it's basically helps promote mindful work habits and helps you concentrate.

And it looks like it's available on your phones, but also I think, let me see if it's also for your computer.

Okay.

So it looks like it's free as well for the basic version.

And it has a pomodoro timer that basically lets you focus for, let's say 25 minutes at a time or whatever you set it to.

And then it builds a little forest like it gives you another tree the more focused sessions that you have.

So it's a little bit of a visual incentive.

There's other apps.

Some of them are free and some of them are paid.

Let's see, one is called Cold Turkey Blocker and it asks what you want to block, websites, website exceptions or applications.

And it blocks an unlimited number of apps and websites and then you can block schedules or you can take breaks in your schedule.

So anyways, there's all these other apps and so if you're not familiar with that, I just wanted to let you know this is also an option where you can put these types of focus apps on your computer and then some.

Will you do it on your computer and your phone?

So across kind of all your digital devices.

The last one I'll mention, but it is a paid one.

Let's see.

Sorry.

It is called Freedom.

And so it's best for managing screen time on your PC and mobile.

So if you're somebody that across both of your devices, you want to manage your time and what you spend your time on or what it lets you do, it's pretty amazing what it lets you do.

And it's called Freedom 2.

And I think it's.

If you pay for the year, it's 333amonth and it has a 4.8 out of 5 ratings.

But basically, like I said, it lets you block unlimited websites and apps.

There's noise, ambient noise for focusing.

You can have a locked mode, but then it literally lets you have powerful distraction blocking focus while you're working or maybe just in the evenings.

You don't want to go on, you know, the sites and get sucked into the social media scrolling nightmare.

So anyways, that's another option.

But I would just encourage you if you're somebody that finds yourself, you know, when you're running around town, when you're at home, maybe even when you're at work, because maybe you have downtime at work or you just find yourself needing a break from sitting at your computer.

You find your hand going to your smart device or you're definitely a Netflix binger.

Not saying we shouldn't do some of that.

We just want to be intentional about how much time we're spending with our devices when we could be living life to our fullest.

We could be having time to, you know, be quiet, to have solitude, to find time for prayer, to find meaningful moments with the people we love, or doing activities that just bring us joy and light us up, or going out and helping other people.

So our lives could be so rich.

But I think many of us get stuck in our, you know, our routines.

And then our routines become something where we're doing these.

We have these habits that we don't even realize.

The habits creep and creep and become hours a day.

You know, some of us might be spending six hours touching our iPhone today.

And I'm not saying all that time is bad.

You might be listening to an informative podcast, listening to music, checking your email.

So absolutely, I'm not saying that all the time spent spent on your digital devices is bad.

What I'm saying is we have to be aware of how much time we're on them and what we're spending our time doing with those tools or with that media or entertainment.

So that's really the goal.

It's not to say we're going to get to zero.

It's to say are we using this as a tool or has it become a habit and a crutch for us in our lives and it actually sucking good days and hours out of our living.

All right, until next time.

I hope you have a great week.

Thanks again for listening to Tackling the Tech.

If you have a suggestion for a.

Tech topic you'd like us to cover.

Or you have a specific question, head over to kristinfitch.com tech and let me know.

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