Screens: Are we asking the right question?

A friend recently threw out a challenge to take a 24-hour rest from all screens—phones, computers, TVs. And it was enlightening to discover my most challenging aspect of screen dependency.

Photo by Thai Nguyen on Unsplash

But first, a look at my day. Upon awakening, I ran into an immediate hurdle. I have favorite music for getting ready in the mornings. But my music player is my phone. Do you know how hollow a music-less morning is?

One of us got a parking ticket two days ago. (I don’t want to mention any names because I’m not a tattletale [just ask my brothers], but his initials are D.L.) If we pay the ticket today, it’s only $12. Past today, it bounces up to $25. I can either drive downtown and try to find the correct office for traffic ticket payments, but my GPS is on my phone. Or I can pay the bill online. But my online-bill-paying-ability is … well, online.

I was working in the yard and noticed that our dwarf pear tree was beginning to show off its snowy blossoms. It was a gift from friends before they moved out of state. I turned toward the house to grab my camera to send a pic to them, but … yeah, my phone is my camera. 

I’m part of a couple of family text strings, a Life Group text string, a women’s Bible study text string, and a Walking for Wellness text string. It’s how we communicate across the miles. But not today.

Television isn’t a challenge because Dan and I seldom watch TV (well, except during football season). Most evenings I enjoy reading and playing a couple of brain-strengthening games. Not because I’m getting older and more forgetful, but because I’m … getting older and more forgetful. And of course these word games are on my phone, which means I lost a day of brain-stimulating activity.

But the most challenging aspect of no screens was not being able to write. It’s my work. I write and edit and do Google searches and rewrite and submit articles via laptop. Oh, I wrote today. But it was on a yellow tablet with pen. Which means tomorrow I’ll need to take the time to transcribe from paper to laptop. Sigh.

Making the most of our time

Honestly, the main reason for taking a break from our screens is to own how much accumulative time we spend mindlessly scrolling through social media and getting sucked into reel after reel. While I definitely could use some self-discipline in those areas, I also saw how much I use electronic gadgets to make my work easier and run the household more efficiently.

My phone is a camera, calendar, grocery list, to-do list, reminders, music-player, online banking, address book, encyclopedia, alarm clock, and a timer. Writing, editing, researching, procuring speaking engagements, arranging travel, submitting magazine articles, posting blogs—all done with the aid of a screen.

Yes, our screens suck us into mindless activity. But they’re also useful tools. Just as an electrician wouldn’t leave home without his multi-meter, pliers, wire strippers, or drills before setting out on a job, I’m not planning to toss my working tools.

But here’s the thing: if we don’t control our screen usage, it controls us.

 I like this thought from nineteenth century German theologian Johann Tittman:

Watch the time, and make it your own so as to control it … Serve not the time, but command it, and it shall do what you approve.

What if we tried to make the best use of our time while we have it? Because this valuable gift of minutes and hours and days and weeks make up our wild, precious, irreplaceable lives. And who doesn’t want to live that life well?

So maybe the question to ponder isn’t, “How much time do I spend watching screens?” but, “How am I spending my life?”