Blog Post Focus
This blog post focuses on the idea of screen time. As residents in the modern age we generally are facing screens much of our day. We are facing screens whenever we look up or input patient information, which generally makes up a large amount of the workday. Then, outside of work we probably are watching something on our phones or computers or televisions. As residents, we have a lot of screen time. I’ll start with my experience.
My Screen Time as a Resident
As a resident I felt that I was always checking my smart phone or on my laptop if I weren’t with a patient. At any point it seemed a message could come my way or email and if I missed it then it would potentially make my day more difficult. Most of the time it was probably just a bit of a paranoid checking, but every once in a while, I would check my phone and see a message that wasn’t brought to my attention by my phone buzzing or ringing.
If I weren’t checking for messages I may have been looking up something online for patient care, or trying to plan something for later in the day. With the sheer ease and number of functions on a smart phone I seemed to constantly check and be on it.
If Not a Phone, a Computer
If I weren’t on my phone I felt I was on my computer. It is how I used Anki flashcards. If I had time for anything, my laptop was easier to use than my phone. So, it was a super useful device, but also something I sorta just checked out of habit for any emails that I worried would have some sort of urgency and importance to.
At Home
Then, outside of work it was easy to continue just checking my phone or using my computer for pretty much everything. Videos online or planning or just passing time. Looking up something. Planning trips. It seemed like anything was a reason to use my phone or computer.
Limiting My Screen Time
This sense of always being on my computer or phone and looking at screens made me want to limit my screen time. I had been practicing mindfulness and decided to limit my screen time past 10pm. Later on I even enabled the screen time functions on my computer and phone. Then, I started using Opal to limit some of my less-productive but, more-distracting apps.
I am making this blog so of course I shall be using screen time throughout the week, but I still want to limit it. I was interested in seeing how much screen time I was using on average and how I could cap it. I suspected a main driver of screen time outside of work would be time on YouTube. So, using Opal to set time limits for YouTube (and other time-sinks) really cut down time on the apps. My daily phone usage is down roughly 50% since installing Opal.
Are You Also Constantly Looking at Screens?
As a resident you may also feel you constantly are looking at your phone for messages. When you are not working you may just feel the need to pass time and feel you spend more time on your phone or computer than you want. Maybe you feel like you utilize social media too much.
We Are Tied to Electronic Devices
Our jobs in the modern era do tie us to our electronic devices. So, limiting screen time can be hard. If we aren’t seeing patients we may be charting. If we aren’t seeing patients or charting electronically, we may be compulsorily checking our phones or exercising some freedom by checking social media. We can cut out non-patient-related electronic use or cut back on that, but probably would be hard-pressed to further limit electronic time.
Outside of the hospital though we can exert much more control.
Screen Time Outside the Hospital
Depending on your electronic device you may have a screen time function or can download an application. You can see how much time you actually use on your personal devices each day. It can give you details as to how you use your screen time. Maybe you don’t use as much screen time as you worried and can relax with this information. Or, maybe it will confirm your worries that you spend too much time on electronic screens.
Gathering Data and Taking Action
With your screentime information you can decide if you want to limit your screen time and how to go about it. Perhaps it is too much social media. You could set a limit on total time you can devote to it each day through the application or another, such as Opal. Maybe you think you spend too much time on adult websites. You can directly restrict certain websites and adult content with many of the screen time applications or others, such as Opal.
Perhaps you just feel that you have ingrained the habit of always checking your screen and want to break these habits. In this case, you can make some conscious decisions to go a long way. Consciously deciding to change behavior and coupling it with action can be a powerful impetus to driving new, desired habits.
Actions to Limit Screen Time
You can deliberately put your phone away at certain times of day. At bedtime you can put your phone at the opposite side of the room while it charges so you don’t just reach over and start scrolling. If you are worried about missing an important message, turn the ring on as loud as it can go. Put your phone down when going to the bathroom so you have at least some time without electronics, whether listening to music in the shower or playing videos brushing your teeth, or whatever.
You can deliberately decide on no electronics in certain situations. If you are out with friends dedicate that time to being without your phone or computer. The same with family. The same with dates.
Final Thoughts on Screen Time and Residency
Smart phones and computers are not bad, but they are so useful and convenient that screen time with them can add up significantly. Turning on screen time functions on electronic devices or downloading screen time apps can give us a lot of information on how we use our screen time. Then, we can decide if we need to or want to limit our screen time. We can practice mindfulness and set times or locations where we won’t use our phones or computers.
Screen time may not be an issue for you. However, if you feel it is an issue, get information about your actual usage and then make plans to decrease your screen time.
Final Note: if using Macbook Screen time it appears that a gray bar indicates idle time, but for some reason is still included in total screen time measured, so it seems this should be ignored when calculating total screen time.
Resources
*I am not an affiliate market partner at this time. I simply found the following application to be helpful and am sharing it.
Opal application for smartphones. Helpful and easy to sync to computer screen time collection and then to limit certain apps or websites. It adds an extra barrier to access the application (such as YouTube), which can make the difference between opening it and putting away the phone and doing something else; however, it can still be overridden if needed. As stated above, my daily phone usage is down roughly 50% since installing Opal.