To be disgusted with my screen time usage

[Moggymorn]

Upgraded my phone and hadn't noticed the screen time section before. Just had a notification that my daily average is 10 HOURS. I'm absolutely disgusted! I'm at home on mat leave with a little baby but I don't know if that makes it better or worse.

We do have to play white noise for him a lot on YouTube and leave my phone unlocked so that will be a fair bit of it.. but still! I'm horrified!

What limits do you set yourself on screen time if you use that feature? I can't go on like this! Over 200 pick ups a day!

I'm at home on mat leave with a little baby but I don't know if that makes it better or worse.

stop using your phone for everything, starts using a computer instead.
Go out with the baby a lot more too

just that will drastically reduce the usage!

Did you post this thread from your phone?

I sympathise. I don't have children but I am addicted to my phone. I don't even have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Just endless scrolling on MN etc. I feel very anxious when I'm away from it. I got a dumb phone but I need to access email and Google maps for work. Putting it on a different floor of the house helps a bit. I wish I had more answers.

Disable SM apps and use online banking from your computer.

Oh god the white noise thing

Last time I went for a pub meal, there was a couple playing white noise to their baby

Anyway, I find it funny that you’ve posted about it here!

And taking email off my phone really helped.

Sorry, I should add, white noise is SO ANNOYING and it was like they thought no one could hear it!

Does it matter if the time is on a PC or a phone?

My screen time is quite scary. BUT I do use my phone for pretty much everything I do (although, as it happens I am on a pc right now). I also tend to use Kindle via my phone, which is by far the largest chunk of my screen time.

I think the important thing to think about is - the time you were on your phone - was it time well spent? Would your life be better if you were doing something different?

I’m bad too but I’ve set myself some limits like go out for a walk every day,
spend an hour focused on the kids
If I’m watching tv then the phone is left somewhere else
Read for half an hour a day
Then there’s time that I’m doing housework and cooking but I have an audiobook or podcast on
I’ve switched all my notifications off
I think I’m a bit more balanced now but my average is still between 4-5 hours.
But that also includes stuff like banking, looking at recipes, researching things I want to buy or booking stuff and whatsapping friends and family.

My iPhone reports a huge amount of screen time, but it doesn’t bother me. Just because the screen is on, it doesn’t mean I’m actually just sitting staring at it. I might reply to a message go and do some stuff then an hour later send another message & it’ll report an hours screen time🤷🏻‍♀️

Don't give yourself a hard time, often your trapped under a sleeping/feeding baby and as idylic it sounds to stare blissfully at them, this can lose its novelty after several hours. Also you're probably googling everything from what to dress them in during cold weather to how often should you feed them. I remember it well. Trust me, when they become toddlers you won't have time to look at your phone at all, except maybe during nap time!

Does it matter if the time is on a PC or a phone?

well, if you have to sit down and actually think about what you are doing instead of mindlessly look constantly at your phone, yes it does!
Some people are unable to put a baby in the buggy, take baby for a couple of hours walk, grab a coffee without looking at their phone at some point!

And the number of lazy parents glued to their phone in soft plays instead of supervising their kids! Yes a computer would make a huge difference.

The list goes on

I've deleted and deactivated fb for this reason!

I was averaging 3 to 4 hours a day and I thought that was bad. My average this week has been just under 2 hours a day which I would still like to reduce further. I have a 3 story house so I put my phone in my bedroom which is on the top floor so it's more effort to go and look at it 😂

I'm really glad now most iPhones show usage, it has certainly been an eye opener for me.

Irony is I'm posting this on my phone 😂😂

And when I go out at the weekend with dh and the kids I leave my phone at home.

I need an iPhone because I do a lot of work stuff on it and I'm self employed so my diary is on there and my invoice app and I record all my expenditures and income on it.

But Ideally I'd like to just use it for my work and dedicate no more than an hour a day on it and get a dumb phone so people can still contact me if necessary. But I won't be wasting my life on apps like fb etc

I've just activated my screen time on my phone... so that I can see what mines is like. I'd say I'm on my phone a lot, but I'm not sure how many hours a day it will work out to be

I have deleted safari from my phone so I have to browse on a computer (like I am now). And have limited whatsapp to 20 mins a day. I don't know my screentime passcode to override this (a friend knows it). So basically my phone is only used for navigation, podcasts and the odd message. I feel so much better after making these changes.

Have a look at the breakdown it might make you feel better. Mine is mostly news browsing. It's not 10 hours though! If you're sitting on the sofa feeding a lot that could explain it.

I feel like I’m on my phone a LOT (too much!) and I tend to average just over four hours a day. That’s still way too high for my liking!

Yes posting this from my phone we don't have a computer or laptop. Definitely going to try and make more of an effort to cut down.. gah!!!

Gosh that is high. I work from my phone a LOT and average 6 hours a day

About 4 hours a day is YouTube, which we only use for white noise. Not sure how I feel about that either but atleast it's not me staring at the screen

I am the same OP I spend hours on my phone, after my recent upgrafe I also had the digital wellbeing app in my settings and it's been a real eye opener. My time is usually spent on YouTube/snapchat/internet just checking shite. I'm glad you posted this, I know am not alone and need to do something about it. It's not healthy.

Wow that’s crazy! I was horrified by mine when on mat leave which was 4.5 hours including white noise! Set yourself a limit, I have mine set at 2 hours now.

Honestly ai use my phone so much more now I'm on mat leave than before. But my baby will only sleep on me during the day so that's a good 4-5 hours I am trapped under a sleeping baby. But I do try and get off social media and read more ebooks.

However I have a very strict no looking at phones when the baby is awake policy, unless to answer a phone call. I don't even reply to texts. People know I'm with baby and to call if they need it! We do occasionally put nursery rhymes on Spotify and sing to baby though but the phone screen is off then!

I've got a cute little app called forest that you give it a time and if you don't look at your phone in that time it grows a tree. I'm seeing if I can grow a certain number by Christmas and if I do will buy myself something nice