Blogmas Day 4 - Keeping Score
My screen time is atrocious. I’ve known about it for a while, but today I took a look at it and last week I averaged 8.5 hours a day; A full work day and then some. I often fall into the cycle of noticing my screen time has reached new heights, berate myself for being addicted to my phone, and then make some unattainable promise to cut the time in half every single day until I get a number that is “acceptable”. The problem with that cycle is:
1.) I last about 2 days before I jump back in and start spending even more time on my phone in an effort to catch up on all the things I felt like I missed.
2.) I never feel accomplished for having read only three newsletters or for not watching a cat video my mom sent me on TikTok.
So what’s the solution? Well for one, I’ve noticed that a lot of times I pick up and scroll when I’m bored or in between tasks during the work day. So instead of giving into the urge to pick up my phone to check my emails (for the millionth time), scroll Substack (bleh), or check my RSS reader for new stories, instead I could:
- Pick up my Kindle and read a few pages of a book I’m in the middle of.
- Jot down a quick journal entry to review how my day is going so far or what's got me distracted.
- Stand up and stretch out my back.
- Do some handwriting practice.
Small and incremental changes that help move my personal boat faster without cutting me off cold turkey from my phone. Because the truth of the matter is, I like being on my phone. I love watching YouTube videos from my favorite creators and reading newsletters and articles from some of the biggest brains on the internet and watching cat videos and day in my life vlogs from moms with really cute babies. But I know that the amount of which I consume other people’s content is indirectly hindering my own creative flow. It’s not going to get easier to find my voice if I’m constantly taking in a thousand other different voices a week.
Anyway, I’m excited to see how my screen time improves over the next couple of weeks as I keep up with writing here every day and by implementing my alternate screen activities. I’ll be sure to report back! But in the meantime, here’s three videos I watched and enjoyed today.
I’m genuinely obsessed with watching people talk about their planner systems and what works for them since lately I’ve been thinking about what works for me and what doesn’t. Today I came across new-to-me YouTuber Carlo Pavan and his simple but very functional planner system scratched an itch in my brain that had previously been unreachable. I’ll be going through his backlog of videos for more gems, but the thing that stood out the most from this video is that he’s setting up his ONE journal for everything.
There’s no question that diversity in television has come a long way. Had I been writing this in the mid 90s or early 2000s, I fear it would be way too difficult to name a major TV show that included a black actor in their main cast. But now a different, more nuanced dilemma has emerged. Creator amandamaryanna dives into essay the newly emerging “Black Unicorn” character popping up in TV series.
One of my favorite YouTuber’s Evelyn From The Internets is uploading videos everyday this month for Vlogmas and I am so pumped! I watched day 2 today where she walks us through her ritual of getting herself and her home into the holiday spirit. Be prepared to chuckle.
Alright that’s all for today! See you tomorrow!
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