Entrepreneurial Vital Signs: Screen Time is the Enemy

Before you read another word, take a sec to go check your screen time.

Make a mental note of your daily average, and if possible, track where that time is actually going.

Mine? 6 hours and 39 minutes a day.

That’s 3 hours on productivity and finance, 3 hours on social media, and 32 minutes on entertainment.

I’m gonna be real. I’m embarrassed. Why, because as entrepreneurs, we love to say we “don’t have time.” But clearly, we do. We’re just handing it over without thinking.

Now I get why these apps are free. They can be because we’re paying with our time.

We scroll first thing in the morning. We scroll to avoid stuff. We scroll to reward ourselves. But what if we redirected even a fraction of that time?

● Maybe 30 minutes to fitness

● How about 30 minutes to prayer or meditation

● Or, an hour to reading, journaling, building, healing...

Here’s what I did. I made one small move. I deleted the apps. Not permanently, because I’m still human, and want to stay tapped in, but whenever I need to lock in...I do it. Now sometimes, when I reach for them out of habit... they’re gone. It feels dumb in the moment, but that’s the point. (Shoutout to the book Atomic Habits: “Make it Invisible.”)

A few tips if you’re ready to reclaim your time:

● Replace the habit, don’t just remove it

● Set app timers or lock screens

● Swap “scroll breaks” for “mindful moments”

● Track how you feel after one day with less screen time

We say we’re building empires, but our screen time says otherwise.

Let’s do better for our health, our minds, and our missions.

Reclaim your time. Reinvest your energy. Build intentionally.

Kewaan Drayton