Reclaim Your Life: The Surprising Time You're Losing to Your Phone

tpty lungs We've all felt it: that moment when you look up from your phone and realize a significant chunk of time has vanished. Whether it's a deep-dive into social media, endless shocking news alerts, online shopping, or just mindless scrolling, our phones have become a constant companion. This isn't a surprise, and I believe we can all feel how connected and addicted we are to our phones and tracking devices. But have you ever stopped to consider what that constant connectivity truly costs you?

I recently heard a statistic that made me put my phone down and take a hard look at my own habits. The average American spends 4 to 5 hours a day on their phone.

Let's take a closer look at those numbers:

4 hours per day adds up to over 1,460 hours a year—the equivalent of 61 full days.
5 hours per day amounts to 1,825 hours a year, or 76 full days.

That's over two full months of our lives each year dedicated to screen time.

What Could You Do with Two Extra Months?

Imagine reclaiming that time for yourself. What could you do that would improve your life with 76, or even 61, extra days a year?

Rest or take quiet time to truly recharge.
Volunteer for a cause you care about or get involved in your community.
Spend more quality, undistracted time with your family and friends.
Improve your physical health by learning a new healthy recipe, take time to prepare a healthy meal, join a pickleball or hiking club, lift weights, or work on improving your sleep.
Learn to paint, cook, or garden.
Start and finish a home project.
Spend more time outdoors without your devices.
Engage in your local, state or national government. Learn how to get involved in addressing the issues that matter to you and your community.
Start a side hustle to earn more income or learn a new trade to change careers.
Read a new book, for pleasure or for learning, every week of the year.
Invest in a relationship with a neighbor or community member who could use some extra support.
Try a new practice to better handle stress like journaling, meditation, mindfulness, stretching or yoga.Take an improv or theater class.
Explore a new language or practice a musical instrument.
Give yourself time to day dream or just be.
Adopt a pet or help a friend or neighbor with theirs.
Take dance lessons solo, with friends or your partner.
Explore the area or region you live in or research and plan a trip.

This isn't about shaming our digital habits, these devices have been designed to do the very thing they are doing, having us chase dopamine "pleasure" chemicals released in our brain. Yet, the more we use them, the less pleasure we actually are getting from these activities. The true reward and pleasure in life is found in meaningful activities, working through challenges, and true human connection. At any point, we can claim our power back. I hope these statistics serve as a wake-up call to the immense amount of time we are potentially, forfeiting to a screen. Our phones and tracking devices are powerful tools and amazing ways to stay connected with our world and also help us to learn and up level our health, but they can also be powerful distractions, impacting our mental and physical health, and quietly stealing our most valuable resource: our time.

Reclaim Your Time: A Few Simple Steps

The solution isn’t to throw your phone or tracking device in a river. It’s to use them with more intention. Here are a few small steps you can take to start reclaiming some of that time back:

Reconnect to What Matters to You: Recommit to making the things that truly matter to you a priority again in your daily and yearly schedule. Block off time to do the things that will support your well being, purpose, and overall quality of life.
Embrace Analog: Rediscover the simple joy of offline activities. Read a physical book, journal your thoughts and emotions, use a paper planner, write out your to do lists, send letters or regular mail, make eye contact with people, talk to the person in line at the store, walk outside or exercise wtihout your phone or tracking device, sleep without tracking it.
Be Mindful: Before picking up your phone, pause and ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" Is it for a specific task, or just a habit? Before wearing your health tracker, ask yourself, "What is the purpose I am using this for? Find time and activities to live device-free.
Turn Off Notifications: Notifications can cause anxiety and poor focus. Silence alerts for non-essential apps. This simple action can drastically reduce the number of times you pick up your phone or look at your watch each day.
Tune Into Your Internal Cues: When you wake up, check in to see how you feel to best track your sleep. After you decide how you feel, then check your sleep score. Learn from using both approaches. Then avoid wearing your device every night, every workout, or all day, to further develop your internal tracking to avoid dependency on digital information.
Protect Your Peace: Notice how news, alerts or tracking data impact your mood and health and choose wisely what you allow to come into your mental and physical space. These alerts and feedback can often create anxiety or anger, start to notice your responses and adjust.
Designate "No-Phone" Zones: Make your dinner table, your bedroom, or even your morning coffee time a phone and device-free space.
Give Your Phone a Home: Designate a place, drawer, location for your devices vs. wearing them all the time.

Your time in this life is precious and will go by so quickly. Don't let it slip away one scroll at a time. By becoming more mindful of our digital habits, we can take back those two months and invest them in the things that truly bring us energy, connection, and joy. Our families, communities and world also need more of our engagement and support, investing your time back into the causes that resonate for you can have a powerful impact on you and your world.