First of all, it’s addicting and I don’t use that word lightly. Every time you get a like or a comment or a notification you have a little dopamine hit going off in your brain which is why you keep picking it up and keep picking it up to see who liked it, how many people liked it, etc. What is dopamine you might ask? It’s a pleasure sensor that goes off in your brain, similar to when people are on drugs and that’s the thing that makes them keep doing drugs despite the risks because they are craving that pleasure sensor hit.
Secondly, have you ever looked at someone on Facebook or Instagram and thought, man their life looks perfect. They have the perfect husband, the perfect kids, the perfect house, the perfect job, the perfect body, and so on and so on. BULLSHIT! Pardon my language because I know my Mama reads this blog but sometimes you need a strong word to express just how strongly you feel about something. Sorry, Mama! I’m telling you guys, you are not seeing the whole picture! You are not seeing the pile of laundry in the corner that was cropped out of that photo. You are not seeing the credit card debt as a result of that dream vacation. You are not seeing those perfect kids being sassy and talking back. The thing is, you can’t blame people for posting the good things because that’s what we want the world to see, that’s what we want to remember. No one wants to post a picture of their sink full of dishes. Of course not! They want to post the picture of a perfectly clean kitchen with a candle burning on the counter. The problem is not that people want to post the good things. The problem is that we have convinced ourselves that because we only see the good that the bad doesn’t exist and it’s just not the case!!
The third thing is that screen time for adults is a time drain. You think you don’t have time to do an excercise video in your living room for 30 minutes? Check that handy screen time feature in your settings to see how much time a day you average on your phone and then come back and give me that excuse. I can say this because I am one of the worst!! I am telling you right now, my name is Sarah and I’m addicted to my phone. The first step is admitting you have a problem right?!? My screen time average was 3 hours and 23 minutes PER DAY last week and that was with me making a conscious effort to spend less time on social media. It’s hard for me to admit that to you but my whole point in this blog is making myself transparent and holding myself accountable so if I’m going to tell you that your screen time is a problem I’m going to be real with you and show you my flaws first. I am trying something new and I want to challenge you to try it with me. I am making a rule that I will not be on my phone at all for the first 30 minutes after I wake up other than to turn my alarm off. My hope is that this will help me break that habit of waking up and immediately looking for my phone. The next thing I want to challenge myself and you to do if you have children is to schedule time to put your phone in another room and to not touch it at all during that time. So my goal is to have my phone put away from the time that I pick Harrison up from school until the time that he goes to bed so that I can be more present and active with him. Your time frame doesn’t have to be that long but try scheduling an hour or two per day when you’re with your family to not touch your phone. I think we will all find that we have a lot more time for the things that we’ve been making excuses not to do. Try it with me!
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