I and screens are 5&6. If I’m not staring at my phone, then I’m staring at my laptop. And if I’m not staring at my laptop, you can bet that I’m staring at the TV. If I’m not doing either of these, I’m probably asleep. That’s a rough estimate of how my day goes on a regular.
We live in a world where we can’t survive without staring at screens. As everything is now online, we have more and more reasons to use our phones and other gadgets. Even things that didn’t use to have screens now have them, and phones can now do so many things that they couldn’t.
So yeah, my screen time is through the roof because I’m always working. I’m always on the go. There is always something I have to do. The only time I don’t really engage my screens is either when I’m sleeping or when I’m in class studying.
At this point, I don’t think there’s anything I can do to reduce it. Everything I do is online and I can’t do them all without either my phone or my laptop. And for me to always stay at the top of my game, I need to always be ready to whip out my screen within a moment’s notice. I try my best to reduce it, but every day is always different from the other. And based on the job at hand, my screen time varies.
So, if I can’t reduce my screen time, what then do I do? I try to control the effect it has on me. Staring at the screen for long periods of time is dangerous for the eyes, so I protect my eyes with my glasses. That helps a lot because it gets rid of the UV rays and I can work for longer. Also, I make use of the dark theme features. This is something that is now found in just about every app and website there is. No matter the platform, they’ll have a dark version, this is always softer on the eyes and reduces the intensity of the light hitting the face.
Also, I have jobs relegated to different devices. My major writings are done on my laptop. I don’t write with my phone anymore. I make posts and write for clients on my laptop. Then, any other Hive work I want to do is done on my phone, from engagement and others. And then, I don’t watch movies on my phone or laptop anymore. If it’s not on TV, then I’m not watching it.
This has helped to discipline me because watching on my phone made me really lazy. I can lie on my bed all day and watch episode after episode, even though I have work to do. When I get tired, all I’ll have to do is change position and I’ll be fine. But with TV, it’s different. I can’t stay too long in one spot watching TV. I either get bored, uncomfortable, or sleepy. Either way, I find it easier to control myself when it’s with TV. Besides, it’s a safe distance from my face, which makes it a safer option than the phone or laptop.
And then, one final thing I also do to help make my screen time safer is my lighting. When working, especially at night, I try to work in a well-lit environment. Working in the dark is bad for the eyes and it even gives me a headache. But when there’s light on around, not just from my phone or laptop, everything becomes easier.
So, that’s all there is to know about my screen time. I’ve tried to regulate it, but as I said before, it varies and nothing remains concrete for long. Eventually, it’d change. That’s why I found ways to work with it for my own good and that’s what I’ve been doing. That’s what I’ll keep doing simply because it has been working for me. As things go on, if better options come, I’ll be sure to employ them as well.
But, let’s watch and see.
