Why do we spend hours online but say we have no time?

Have you ever said, “I am too busy” while spending hours on your phone on the day?

I know I have said that before. The truth is, most of us do not actually have time we all get the same twenty four hours every day. The difference is where our attention goes when we are using our phone or computer.

We open our phone to reply to one message. Before we know it we are watching videos reading comments checking notifications and scrolling through online content we never planned to see.What was supposed to take five minutes quietly turns into one hour or even more.

The strange part is that we rarely notice it happening when we are online. At the end of the day we tell ourselves we did not have time to read that book learn a skill, exercise or even call someone we care about.

Somehow we had time to keep refreshing the same apps over and over again on our phone. Technology is not the problem in fact it is one of the tools we have to learn new things and connect with people.

It helps us learn, work, connect and create opportunities that were not possible before we had technology. The real challenge is how easily technology captures our attention when we are using our phone or computer.

Many apps are designed to keep us engaged for long as possible when we are online. The more time we spend scrolling through our phone the time we spend asking ourselves if this is how we actually wanted to spend our day.

Sometimes we confuse being active on our phone with being productive and getting things done. Scrolling through our phone is not the same as learning something,Watching videos is not the same as creating something, Being online is not always the same, as being connected with people we care about.

Maybe we do not need hours in the day maybe we just need to become more aware of where our hours are going when we are using our phone or computer.

Because time is not something we usually lose all at once we lose it one scroll, one notification and one ” five more minutes” at a time when we are online.

So here is a question I would love to ask you:

If your phone showed where every minute of your day went would you be proud of how you spent your time on your phone?