Presented and Accounted For
I'm coming to you live from Distraction Headquarters in sunny but still chilly Wisconsin.
I'm on Day 3 of this Media Fast and find it hilarious how I still grab for my phone a babillion (that's a real word my son made up when he was little) times a day and find creative and "productive" things to do on it instead of scrolling.
Clean my inboxes - check
Finally responded to some of the emails in said inbox that I forgot about - check
Unsubscribed to stuff I don't want in said inbox - check
Subscribed to other stuff I did want in said inbox - check
Deleted unwanted apps - check
Once I looked up with my humped-over posture after completing all of these critical decluttering projects that triumphantly beat out the top spot of priority of other things I should have been doing (not), I realized over an hour had passed.
Put it down, Erica. Put it down.
I know I am not alone on this phone addiction thing; the more people I talk with, the more they agree that it's an issue for them, too.
I came across this infographic from PC Magazine, which shares results from a 2023 survey stating that we check our phones an average of 144 times daily.
If I look back at life, pre-smart phones, I can say with confidence that I probably wasn't doing any one thing 144 times a day.
The other stats are pretty accurate, especially the one that states that more than half of us feel addicted to our phones.
Also, note the T-Mobile phone advertising at the top of the page.
That cracked me up.
Well, the good thing is these statistics tell me that I'm not alone.
The other good news is that awareness is the beginning of change.
And with change comes bits of pain and discomfort.
And then comes healing and new beginnings.
All I know is this - I don't want to be humped over, staring at my phone while life passes me by (Speaking of, I really need to start doing some of those neck exercises for posture and hump prevention).
I want to experience life in the real world and be present in the present moment.
I don't want to be in a constant state of distraction wasting time scrolling, wishing, worrying, comparing, or despairing.
I want to be aware and present with myself, God, and those I love.
My time is being accounted for and when I do a time study at the end of all of this, I’d hate to see a huge chunk of my pie chart saying “Scrolled on phone for 36% of life.”
That would be such a bummer.
So, with that, I'm gonna bounce and try to, at the very least, get my phone-reaching number down to double digits.
The irony that you are probably reading this on your phone is not lost on me, by the way.
Sorry about that!
2 Timothy 1:7
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.