How much time do we spend on our devices? 👩🏽‍💻⏰

I love human data and human behavior. Every single day we make thousands of small choices that can affect so many things in our day-to-day lives. How much sleep we get, how much water we are drinking, whether or not we use a turn signal, checking our phones, which apps we use, why we use them. All of that fascinates me. In my different roles that I’m in and have been a part of, this has been a common theme. I love figuring out why we are the way we are and how the things we do can impact us. I have been itching to write this post for a long time but didn’t know how to measure it. I run little experiments or logs on myself to see what I’m doing, why am I doing it, and what I can do better. I’m analyzing my own data because I want to find better ways to live my life and I think we should all be more aware of ourselves and technology can capture that and SHOW US. The excitement is oozing from my pores, that might be coffee but ANYWAYS.

I am a freelance data and creative consultant, a content creator, an online student, and a program coordinator, and a millennial who is very addicted to my devices. I’ll be honest, it’s pretty bad but I am empowered to do better. I can’t go a day without checking my phone, my feeds, my million task lists, or my email. I spend a lot of time on my phone for work but also for pleasure. I was listening to a podcast titled, Attention Please, over the summer because my addiction to my phone got way out of hand. I’d catch myself being on my phone during dinners or hanging out with my friends because I was obsessed and it was starting to really affect those around me so I wanted to do better for myself and for those relationships. These devices offer us instant gratification and they are designed that way for a reason. App designers intentionally create apps to be more addicting. The more time you spend on these tools, the more money they make and the more information companies get about you. It’s in their best interest to keep you engaged. I think that’s why algorithms are built the way they are. From a business perspective, it makes sense but the consumers are the ones in danger because we have so many young kids and people being addicted to these devices at an early age. I’ve always believed that technology usage is a choice but honestly, tech companies don’t make it easier not to choose it since social media and content platforms are such a staple in our culture.

Being immersed in the technology world, this is so fascinating to me. Even if you’re not a techie, be aware these things are happening for a reason. I was also reading this book called Everybody Lies, which I think everyone should read techie or not. Oh my god, I LOVE THIS BOOK. Please read it, just trust me. This book basically reveals the truth behind assumptions we make on human behavior. The author, Seth Stephens, uses Google search data to prove that. What’s super interesting about is that people will lie on surveys, but when you’re alone and are only keying into a blank field, you’re very honest and that honesty reveals so much about our behaviors. I won’t spoil his findings but honestly, this book and that podcast and also my own experience inspired me to write this. Plus, I’m a total data nerd so this is up my ally.

Apple recently launched a new update that had the feature ScreenTime which monitors how much time you spend on your phone. This is what I used to track all of this data. I think this feature is a long time coming ☕ but it’s here now! What’s great is that this feature also allows you to set restrictions for yourself or your family. I think that’s great for parents who want to limit their child’s screen time but also good for anyone else who may not have enough willpower 🙋🏽‍♀️

The Experiment 👩🏽‍💻

I enabled the ScreenTime feature on my iPhone (where I spend 75% of my technology usage, if not more). I didn’t set any parameters or anything on myself. This is over a weeks time because the feature on the iPhone doesn’t have a monthly usage tracker (rude). My week is Sunday – Saturday which is what Apple says what a week is.

I just wanted to know: How much time do I spend on my device? What do I spend the most time doing? Am I using my phone mostly for work? and the last question, how can I do better?

** These numbers or stats have not been manipulated in anyway shape or form. This is merely to know more about myself and how I can stop using my phone more and just to gain more insight into my own experience.

Here’s What I Found:

I have spent 54 hours and 13 minutes this week on my device.
I have spent 12 of those hours on Youtube, 10 hours and 4 mins on Instagram, and 7 hours 33 minutes on iMessage. Let me put that into perspective. I rounded some of the figures up (iMessage to 8 hours).

Made this in Canva(not sponsored)

I… don’t even know what to say. By the way, I didn’t look at this until today (the day I wrote this). I spend a lot of time on Youtube. I use Youtube as a way to decompress but I had no idea that’s where most of my time goes to. I watch a ton of different things (clearly). I am kind of embarrassed, to be honest. Let’s just say, this whole experience humbled me for sure. The Instagram makes sense because I do help people with their social media accounts and insights so I check on their pages several times a day. I’m surprised iMessage isn’t at least number 2 but it makes sense. But this insight gives me a lot to think about. Since I’ve been in the Bay Area, I don’t know my way around and I’ve had a lot of meetings in San Fran and also just love exploring so I thought that was interesting. Waze > Google Maps > Apple Maps (don’t @ me).

Let’s keep going… ScreenTime breaks it up into Categories which is nice.

Again, social networking is not surprising to me AT ALL. You can drill down further into what apps they consider to be social networking. My top 3 are Instagram, Messages, and Twitter. It also shows you when you spent time on your devices the most. Mine was Friday, Monday, Tuesday. Note: I am writing this around 1 pm PST so Saturday’s data isn’t completely accurate.

Another interesting feature is the Notifications. ScreenTime shows you how many notifications you get. As you can see, I get mostly iMessages and Emails. I do get a lot of Canvas notifications. I get around 200 notifications a day. I don’t know if that’s a lot in comparison to others but it’s just interesting to me to get an actual figure. In this notification section, you can change how notifications appear on your phone which is a smart feature. Kudos to whoever designed these dashboards. Very user-friendly and informative. Huge fan. Looks a lot similar to Instagram Insights, although I wish IG was more in-depth but whatever. After seeing this, I do want to push more email messages but I respond to those mostly on my laptop. I wonder if Screentime is available on the Macs. Now, THAT would be very interesting.

Now I have this insight. What’s next?

I definitely need to cut back on watching Youtube. I am going to implement the limit feature it has and I don’t like taking my laptop with me when I am trying to sleep. I usually get my laptop from my bag in the mornings to work but not at bedtime.
I could set a time limit on Instagram it just makes it a little dicey since clients do rely on me to check their insights and their accounts.
I spend 2+ Days on my phone every week which is not good so I want to reframe from that. Now that I know where most of my time is being spent, I can make adjustments accordingly.
I want to find more time to be away from my device and cut it off completely. The emails, Youtube videos, or texts can wait so I should spend more time away from my devices in general.

This information was actually really beneficial to me. This is another way we can all use our data to improve our lives. Behavior data is really interesting and this tiny experiment you can try on yourself. If you do, please please let me know so we can share thoughts.

Thank you all so much for listening. I had the best time writing this post, I’ve been itching to write this for a long time and I am so happy I was able to do it. If you want more data posts like this, I’d love to keep finding ways. THIS WAS SO FUN I LOVE WRITING STUFF LIKE THIS.

What does your ScreenTime look like?

What I’ve Learned From The Last 6 Months

The first 6 months and your next 6 months will not be the same. We are now in July which means we are in the second half of 2018 so you will face a new series of challenges, blessings, and obstacles that will look different. You choose to have that difference be a “good different” or “a bad different”. Only you have the power to do that. One of the best feelings is when you realize how much power you have in your own life to do the things you want to do.

I usually do a “What I’ve Learned From: [Month]” but considering now that we are halfway through the year I wanted to take the time to reflect on the first half of 2018. I hope you all can learn from some of the things I have learned these past few months.

I knew 2018 was going to be a hard year but I’ve grown so much because of it. Last year had nothing on the growth I’ve had in the past 6 months alone. Not all of that growth has been good. There have been dark times and a lot of nights where I kept asking “Why?”. I know this year was hard for a lot of people and I’m in awe how some people can handle the things life throws at them. I’m truly inspired by that. I love seeing the good in people come out in times of adversity. I saw that within myself too.

I told myself that 2018 was going to be a selfish year for me. I’m turning 21 in a couple of weeks and I also launched my brand + platform on January 17 of this year. 1/17/2018. I’ve seen myself grow throughout my platform in so many ways and I think my platform is a really good representation of where my headspace is at. It hasn’t been in the most positive places and due to some traumatic experiences, I found myself desperately needing myself more and more. I couldn’t rely on anyone else to save me. I was in a really toxic place. I struggled with an eating disorder which had severe impacts on my overall health. I wasn’t healthy at the time but I have come a long way since. My relationship with food is steadily improving because I stopped punishing myself for things that had nothing to do with me to begin with.

Learning how to take care of myself

I’ve learned what taking care of yourself looks like and how valuable peace, energy, and light is in my life. I spend a lot of my time focusing on my own peace and protecting that because I’ve seen myself in a place where I wasn’t doing that. I wasn’t giving myself the love and energy I was giving other people. I think it’s easy to look outwards for happiness, love, and validation but when I catch myself doing that I always ask myself “Am I providing that for myself first?”. That behavior is something I’ve practiced over time.

A lot of the self-love and me taking care of myself was new to me so I didn’t what it looked like. I had to make the conscious choice to take care of myself every single day.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned this year, so far, is you have to take care of yourself before you do anything. I wasn’t a good friend, a good partner, a good energy to those I cared about because I didn’t know how to properly take care of myself mentally, physically, and emotionally. It really affected a lot of my relationships around me and my health too.

You don’t really ever get taught to do that. I don’t we teach how to take care of yourself in a way that’s deeper than the surface level things like face masks, relaxing, etc. We focus so much on being stable financially and in our careers but never take a step back to look at the person who has to go through this. In order to go through anything, you have to be okay with yourself first. Before I hated to be alone and now I value my independence so much more because I know that only I can offer that peace of mind in life.

The Newness

The first 6 months of this year have been some of my darkest days and a lot of new transitions. I’m learning that your early 20s are some of the hardest times because you are in between being a real adult and still being a teenager. There are so many firsts that happen to a lot of us during this time that can be overwhelming. Your first move, your first real job, your first big heartbreak, the first bill you have to start paying. Whatever it is, it’s new for us. But the new isn’t impossible, it’s just unfamiliar which can be scary. It was for me. I’ve learned that once things become more of a practice they do become a lot easier. It takes time but it’s a valuable time of learning.

Moving to a new city by myself was a lot more lonely than I ever anticipated. I am also in a new role in a completely different company. I’ve been sharing my internship help guide for all of you to benefit from it and go through this together.

What I’ve done to help myself with the newness is to take a step back, look at it for what it is, and be grateful for it all. I think about how lucky I am to have these opportunities to do what I am empowered to do. Even when I am overwhelmed, I thank God for everything because I know that He is shaping me to be the woman I am supposed to be. So of course, it’s going to be a little difficult.

Relationships

Let’s get a little personal… If you have been reading my content for awhile, you know that one of the last relationships I was in wasn’t very healthy. I fell into an awful mental cycle that I have since pulled myself out of. I wasn’t taking care of myself.

There are things that I still battle daily to overcome it but you can’t rush the healing process. I am also a very forgiving person so despite what’s happened I chose to forgive and move past what happened. I didn’t want to carry any animosity with me because it would have bled into other aspects of my life. I do still love this person and will continue to have love for this person despite how much it affected me.

With other relationships, I’ve realized that sometimes taking the time to work on yourself before you can even commit to anyone else. It’s a working progress and something I try to be mindful of every single day. This goes back to being honest with yourself in order to find peace in what you do and who you want to do it with. Take accountability when you mess up, if you want something just go do it, and don’t take any of the growing process for granted.

I’ve also given myself the permission to take time away from certain circumstances. I need to keep everything and everyone at an arm’s length before I welcome them back into my circle or space. Everyone you meet comes with their own energy, their own conditioning, and I think it’s perfectly okay to say “Hey, I don’t want to have this in my life right now while I learn to figure some things out on my own”. You need to communicate that to those around you if you need the space to process the chaos in your world. I think it’s perfectly healthy to do that. The people around you will want to help and support you but somethings you need to digest at your own pace. They may not understand but if you need to do it for yourself, they’ll have to accept it.

My Brand Baby

I love talking about this because this is a place where I can really be myself. My brand, my platform, my social media is really important to me. Some people may think it’s superficial or may not be sustainable however I feel like I am being called to share my stories with you all. The whole development of building a brand is so much more than people think. You are your own boss so you have to keep yourself accountable and motivated to do whatever it is. Whether it be creating social media templates or reaching out to brands, you have to stay on it. I get to create things that reflect me in a way that engages people. I don’t need 1000 followers who don’t engage with my content. I’d much rather have a few who are really listening to offer feedback and show support. I love hearing from you guys and talking to you all.

I’d like to think that my brand has been successful in the past 6 months since it’s conception. I started it because I wanted to express myself to people who felt like no one was listening to them. I get to be myself: authentically and organically. ALSO, it’s a creative outlet for me. There is so much that goes into social media behind just posting. Now, there is a new social media industry that wasn’t there before. There are so many jobs that got created because bloggers and influencers took a leap of faith to share their thoughts with the world. This industry may seem competitive but I don’t really believe in that word. I think there is so much out there already that people can connect to and just because you connect with one person doesn’t mean you don’t connect with other people. It’s created a community of creators who want to support one another. I know there are some snakes out there but so far, I’ve met some of the most incredible girl bosses because of my platform.

It’s something that I have worked a lot on and put a lot of energy into so I protect it like it’s my own. You all will see a new face of my brand very soon and I am so excited. I get to evolve with Is Anyone Really Listening? Again, this speaks back to the self-power.

Spotify’s Latest App Integration With Instagram

You know when a new album drops and you tap through Instagram Stories of everybody posting the same screenshot of the same song?

Well.. things just got a whole lot easier.

Instagram’s latest app integration can allow you to go into Spotify and directly share the song you’re listening to right to your Instagram stories. It takes the extra step of screenshotting and encourages you to share artists directly from Spotify.

How to use it

Go into Spotify to your favorite song. I have been loving Bazzi’s new album lately.
Tap the three circles underneath the music image
Tap share and Instagram stories
and boom! All your followers can see what music you’re feeling

I consider app integrations as company collaborations. They are both implementing a feature that allows you to use both of their platforms to help one another or make an experience easier.

I never thought I’d be excited about something like this but it just makes me curious to see how Instagram will integrate with other applications. On a business profile side, I want to see what insight/analytics integrations they can offer accounts or personal brands to grow their platforms. On a personal account side, maybe there will more filters or fun graphics to put into stories.

Motivation Monday: Finding Your Support System

I am so happy to introduce a new section on my blog for my friends, fellow bloggers, or influencers to showcase their craft on my platform. When I first launched in January I wanted to focus my attention to creating a space that everyone felt heard as well as collaborating with other people that I look up to. I firmly believe that collaboration is so much better competition.

Kenya Smith is one of the first people I thought of when I was thinking about starting this. She is one of the most inspirational and motivational people I know and I am so happy to feature her on my page!

For more information on her and what she does please follow her on social media!

Happy Monday!!!

-T.

Written By: Kenya Smith
https://www.instagram.com/girlwiththeplaybook/

“Characteristics of a Support System:

– Stick through hard times

– Being motivational

– Help in any way shape or form

– Honesty/Transparency

Surprisingly, a lot of people in the world go through life without any kind of support system. To help them through school, finding their career or passion, getting through emotional situations, people without a support system go through these situations alone. I could never imagine going through the things I’ve been through in this life without my supportive groups. Because like my great-grandmother always said, ” It takes a village to raise a child”. And with every new thing I encounter in my life, I am put back into child form just to maneuver my way through.

So for my people that have a strong support system, treasure them all because God has placed them in your life for a reason. And for the others reading this that feel alone, open yourself up. Ask the Lord for guidance to find the surrounding circle that’s best for you. And remain patient, because you don’t want just anyone within your support collective. Allow people in, that have similar outlooks on your goals, or are just willing to invest their time and energy into your advancement.

For those who feel like they can do it all alone. And have someone trying to come in and help. Let that person in just once, and see the blessings that come into your life. All I know is Jesus was God’s right hand, Oprah makes life decisions based on the honesty of her best friend Gail, and Mary Kate is not said with Ashley Olsen. I’m sure that things can be done individually but with multiple heads together greatness happens.

You can change the world by yourself, but its way more fun to have the people who helped you to the top surrounding you when you reach that goal. Support systems are needed.”

Thank you for listening and thank you to Kenya for being apart of this!

Social Media: The New Marketplace

Check me out on Charlotte Consulting Group where I am a data analyst, content creator, and technology consultant. Stay on top of the LATEST tech news at charlotteconsultinggroup.com

Let’s face it, online shopping is the way most people shop. Most people also love to use social media as a way to learn more about smaller brands that aren’t as popular. We like to follow brands on social media that we shop from, connect with, or even newer ones that we may be interested in. As a smaller business, don’t let this scare you. This is your chance to shine!

If you already use social media to market your company, you can do the same by treating social media as another marketplace. A picture is worth a thousand words and your customers shop with their eyes. You can display pictures of your latest products and services to attract new customers to your site. Have fun and be creative! People are looking to see your unique products.

Keep in mind that your customers will typically shop similar to their friends or followers. By promoting your products on social media you are able to tap into the people behind the followers as well. By treating your social media platform as an online store, your customers have faster access to you and your merchandise. Not to mention, your customers can access you faster! You can speak directly towards customers who have service complaints, need updates on their orders, or are curious about your array of products.

Most social media platforms have tools you can use to promote your company within their platform. You can use paid advertising to get to reach a broader customer base too. If your product stands out it could go viral which means big returns on that investment. Try commenting back on your pictures or commenting on other brands that are related to yours.

Tag: instagram