According to a recent study by u&u. Recruitment Partners this is the amount of screen time consumed by Gen X, Y and Z each week:
- Gen Z: 17.5+ hours
- Gen Y: 14 hours
- Gen X: 3.75 hours
Looks a bit low to me, but nevertheless, does excessive screen time contribute to burn out and mental health issues for you or your staff?
Hold on. Yesterday, my screen time was 4h 13m. That’s 20 + hours per week.
Here’s my phone usage for yesterday:
- WhatsApp: 1h 35m
- Calls: 49m
- LinkedIn: 46m
- Mail: 25m
- The Times 19m
- BBC Sport 9m
- YouTube: 6m
- Calendar: 2m
- Health App: 1m
- Dropbox: 1m
4h13m of screen time doesn’t stress me out. It makes my life easier. Maybe I’m lucky. I still work extremely hard, but I don’t feel stressed. Is that because I’m not wasting time on frivolous social media? Is it because I get some balance through exercise?
I go to the gym every day; I play football once a week and I play golf. I also put my phone down when having dinner and I (more or less) put it away after 8 pm. Or is it because I achieve my daily goals and I have no loose ends to worry about at the end of most days?
My phone helps with that. Massively.
Does your phone control you? Or can you become its master?
This is a personal view, but I don’t think about work/life balance. I think of work/life integration. Working efficiently allows me to excel, meet targets, and surpass my own expectations, efficiency which is achieved by integrating work into my personal life. Be on it on the train, on the road to work or anywhere in between I can always think find time to find and message new clients.
My phone makes me more efficient. It’s a tool that makes my life easier and it de-stresses me because it helps me achieve my daily goals. It also makes me laugh out loud. Well, WhatsApp messages from my mates do that. And, as they say, laughter is good for the soul.
I appreciate this is a sensitive issue, but that’s my personal experience. I hope it helps.
