📗 Understand
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6 févr. 2025
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6 min read
Getting the most out of your screen time while keeping time for everything else. Let’s break down this phrase 🦐
But first, let’s give credit where credit is due. Digital technology has revolutionized the way we spend our time. It’s an incredible tool on many levels. No need to list them all.
Overall, everything in our daily lives has become easier. Everything has been made more accessible, simple, and convenient. The promise is appealing. Yes, but.
While there is indeed a necessary and unavoidable amount of screen time, the sky has darkened for those who lose control over it:
In 2022, the French used their smartphones for an average of 3.9 hours a day, compared to 2.7 hours in 2019. This represents a 45% increase over three years.
We check our phones an average of 221 times a day (every 6 minutes).
Concentration capacity has decreased by 35% in twenty years.
53% of the French suffer from “information fatigue.”
The flip side.
Olivier Babeau, president of the Sapiens Institute, summarizes it like this:
“Technology is an extraordinary servant but a bad master.”
Learning to extract value from technology without losing control. This is a skill to acquire and develop today.
It’s to democratize this skill that I am writing this article. So that Homo Sapiens does not become Homo Distractus.
So let’s break down the phrase. Getting the most out of your screen time while keeping time for everything else.
Getting The Most out of Your Screen Time…
Screen time is a factor in the equation of digital well-being, but it may not be the most important one.
Once we all agree that we shouldn’t throw all our screens out the window, we need to reflect on the value of the time spent on them.
There is a clear difference between:
Two hours on your computer doing deep work on a crucial topic you’ve procrastinated on for weeks.
Two hours on your phone mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, forgetting everything you saw the moment you stop.
Several dualities exist regarding the time spent on our digital tools:
Intentional screen time vs. passive screen time
Useful screen time vs. useless screen time
For the math enthusiasts, we must of course aim for maximizing intentionality and utility. In other words, optimizing screen time, meaning according to Larousse: “to give it the best conditions for use, functioning, and performance.”
Nir Eyal, in Indistractable, illustrates it this way:
⬆ Traction: all actions that bring you closer to what you truly want.
⬇ Distraction: all actions that take you away from what you truly want.
Everything that is a distraction from the moment it diverts you from your intentions. We must then distinguish between screen time whose content:
Lifts you up ➡️ deep work, genuine connections, learning.
Pulls you down ➡️ passive scrolling, multitasking, procrastination.
The same goes for feelings. After each use, you should ask yourself what your screen time brought you.
Are they:
👍 Positive feelings: satisfaction, mental clarity?
👎 Negative feelings: anxiety, stress, fogginess?
Technology powerfully and frequently incites distraction. Reflecting on your digital usage in terms of perceived value is often a good first step to learning how to thrive in the era of hyper-connectivity.
…and Keeping Time for Everything Else.
Maximizing the value extracted from screen time also means freeing up time for what matters beyond screens.
It’s about not neglecting important things for yourself, which are sometimes hindered by unreasonable use of digital technology.
It’s essential to value offline time and set boundaries when it’s not the right place or time: with your family at a restaurant, in your room just before falling asleep, or while trying to concentrate intensely.
By being more intentional with your screen-free moments, you free up more time for things that can benefit your mental health in both the short and long term.
That’s why with this blog, I don’t want to just talk about screen time; I also want to highlight activities and small offline habits that can help navigate the digital landscape better: recharging your batteries and rethinking your relationship with off moments.
What do you think?
