The One Thing You Always Do But is On Zero To-Do Lists
and how the average American spends 7+ hrs on a screen per day
hellaur. bonjour. good morning.
A certain feeling in the last couple of weeks has plagued me. When I wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night it’s always there. I feel it when I’m sitting in the living room in the afternoon contemplating how I should spend my next couple hours, when I finish school, work etcetera, etcetera.
I am always worried that perhaps I won’t… get there. That I’m not doing enough.
When I was younger I never had a restraint on the flow of my creativity, it was as if I was a spring that would never run dry. I remember very few times (if any) when I sat down to write and was at a loss for words; when I wanted to read a deep book and had trouble focusing because my mind was pre-occupied; or when I just wanted to be alone with a pen and paper and not feel “fomo” because I couldn’t check my notifications.
What am I missing?
As it turns out, most of my problem wasn’t something I was missing, it was what I already had.
I’m just going to say it.
I’ve found that one of the most detrimental things to my creativity, my focus, and especially the frequentness of my inspiration, is my phone.
Over and over again in the past couple of weeks, I’ve dealt with this feeling that I’m not doing enough, that I’m holding myself back from my goals. I always feel like I’m running out of time…
But why time?
Why is the excuse always “I don’t have time?” By my math (poor as it may be), we all have twenty-four hours in the day. We all have responsibilities—jobs, school, kids, etc. It’s not like those productive creators or influences we look up to just have more time or fewer responsibilities. You may argue, “They have the dream job, they have time for anything they want to do.” But the fact is, no one starts with a dream job.
Sooner or later, we must all come to terms with something very simple, but not very easy: you will always, always make time for the things you love. Your dreams will become your reality if you really care about them; you will do what it takes for the things you are passionate about because the sacrifice is worth it. In reality, unless you’re literally spending all twenty-four hours working and eating and sleeping and just don’t have time for that hobby you’ve always dreamed of doing, then okay. Fine. But it’s your choice. For most people, that’s not how it is anyway. It certainly isn’t for me.
I think this quote by the Greek philosopher Plotinus captures this idea in profound simplicity.
“We are what we look upon and desire.”
-Plotinus
The principle is the same. What you spend your time doing is who will become. The things you desire in your heart of hearts are what define who you are as a person.
“Studies show that globally, people average 6 hours 58 minutes of screen time per day. Daily screen time has increased by nearly 50 minutes per day since 2013. The average American spends 7 hours and 4 minutes looking at a screen each day.”
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/screen-time-stats
If we are what we “look upon and desire,” then we’re all a bunch of phones. Of course, phones can have hundreds of thousands of benefits and are not inherently “evil” or anything. But that’s not the point.
I’m guessing “spend more time on social media this year” was not on your New Year’s Resolution. Maybe you’ve already forgotten about that Resolution. If you have, I’m here to help you pull it out again and hopefully give you a bit of encouragement.
While those statistics may seem daunting, perhaps a little terrifying, they can be reversed.
the “nothing mentality”
Something that has struck me recently is how often I answer “nothing” when someone asks, “what have you been up to lately?” Either, A) I’m lying, or B) I didn’t think what I’ve been up to recently was worth sharing. Maybe you can relate. You’ve been sitting on your butt for the last hour in a doom scroll, wishing time would move along, having some laughs at a meme or something… But if I ask you what you’ve been up to afterward you will probably answer “nothing.”
You are always doing something, never doing nothing, so what is the something you’re always doing?
With this enlightening thought in mind, consider what you do next time you sit to do “nothing.” It has honestly changed the way my daily life goes. It’s helped me consider the important things; dwell on the beautiful things. It’s a big part of the reason I started this newsletter.
I don’t want to do “nothing” anymore—my “nothing” being whipping the phone out when I’ve got no pressing matter at hand, or there’s a moment to kill. I found that even sitting in silence in the extra ten minutes I might have on hand, or jotting down some thoughts that have been floating about (on paper ;) is about forty times more beneficial than entertaining myself on the phone. Instead of doing something I won’t remember I did—or care that I did—in a day or two, I am creating a lasting, memorable moment that I will carry throughout my day or even week or month. It’s generally in these moments that I find inspiration for my writing and painting; I especially find that the inspiration for my poetry is in these moments. There are many times (often in a single day) when a line will come to me that I can use later on. I will either tuck it somewhere in the back of my mind or run to get a journal—but they will come. I can always count on it. I believe all types of inspiration come to those who look for it.
But that leads me to another point: most of the time we waste an “extra” ten minutes on our phones, but we couldn’t afford that to start with; and that was another thing I found as I’ve put out an effort to be aware of my “nothing” time—I didn’t have so much as I originally thought!
This is where it comes full circle.
All that extra time…
Even if it’s a mere hour you subtracted from your usual 1-8 hrs on your phone today, that’s another hour you can spend doing what you really want to do. Invest that time into your hobbies, your family, your writing, art, music—whatever you’ve been dying to get around to but haven’t yet for lack of “time.”
I believe in you; and I can say from personal experience if you’re a creator or artist (or aspiring creator or artist) of some kind, that this will change the way you operate.
So, my challenge is this: love yourself enough to put your phone away. Clear your mind of the world’s opinions and ideas about who you should be, or what’s going on out there, and live in the moment. Create time for the things you really want to do today.
Hopefully, if I ask you some time, “what did you do in your extra ten minutes just now?” you will say, “Not ‘nothing!’ ”
Wishing you all a lovely morning, day, or night,
Benji :)
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Like if You Liked It :))
Amen to every single word of this article. The issue of the use of phones has been pressing down on me lately, and has made me so much more aware of every time I pick up my phone. I’ve begun trying to leave my phone at home or in my dorm when I know I won’t need it, and I’ve also decided to not check my phone for notifications unless I’m in the middle of a conversation with someone. Once you break the initial bond with your phone, it gets so much easier to stay distant from it. And I will say it has definitely helped me mentally and emotionally, and I know for a fact that it will boost my productivity even after getting into the swing of things post spring break. I just wish more people were aware of this issue!
I read this today and started using my few “extra” minutes to sit in silence. So far, they’ve brought to mind the need to pray for the things I usually complain or worry about. Thankful for this awareness!