10 Hours a Day

What are we really doing with all that time?

Recent polls say the average American now spends up to 10 hours a day online. Not just scrolling, but working, watching, shopping, chatting, swiping, reacting, replying.

Ten. Hours. Every single day.

That’s more than 70 hours a week.
More time than we spend eating, sleeping, or talking to the people we love.
And if that doesn’t concern us, it should.

Because this isn’t just about screens.
It’s about how we’re living.
Or maybe more to the point—how we’re not.

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The Great Distraction

The devices we hold in our hands have become shields. We turn to them when we’re overwhelmed, anxious, tired, or bored.

We say we’re staying “informed,” “connected,” or “productive.”
But often, we’re just hiding.
From quiet.
From grief.
From decisions.
From each other. From ourselves.

And underneath it all, loneliness is creeping in like fog.

We're more digitally “connected” than ever… and yet a growing number of Americans report feeling disconnected, invisible, or forgotten. Especially in midlife and beyond.

What began as a convenience has become a crutch.
And the longer we lean on it, the more disconnected we become—from reality, from relationships, from ourselves.

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The Cost of Numbing Out

This kind of numbing doesn’t always look dramatic. It’s subtle. It looks like checking your phone instead of calling your sister.
It looks like another night on the couch watching reruns instead of opening the photo album you keep meaning to sort.
It looks like skipping the story you’ve been meaning to write… because TikTok or email or Amazon "just for a minute" turned into an hour.

This isn’t judgment. It’s concern.

Because when we trade real moments for screen time, we’re not just avoiding life—we’re erasing it.

We’re losing the chance to capture what matters.
To share what shaped us.
To pass on what we’ve learned.

And more than anything—we’re forgetting that we still have a voice, and a choice.

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What If We Chose Something Different?

What if we reclaimed even a sliver of those 10 hours a day?

Not with shame. Not with a dramatic digital detox.
But with a decision to use our time for something deeper.

Something that lets us preserve the wisdom we carry.
Something that reminds us we are still empowered to shape our lives—at any age, in any season.

Maybe that means recording a memory before it fades.
Maybe it means organizing the mess that’s weighing us down.
Maybe it just means looking someone in the eye and saying, “Tell me your story.”

These are small acts.
But they’re revolutionary.
Because they shift us from passively consuming… to intentionally contributing.

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We Were Meant for More Than This

We are not meant to spend our most precious resource—time—in a constant haze of notifications and noise.

We are meant to live, to listen, to leave something lasting.

So here’s my challenge to you (and to myself):

Trade 30 minutes of screen time today for something that anchors you to real life.

Tell a story.
Write a letter.
Call your daughter.
Stand outside and remember who you are without a screen in your hand.

Because our legacy won’t be built in likes or scrolls.

It will be built in what we preserve…
And in the lives we empower—starting with our own.

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If you’re not sure where to begin, start with a habit.

I created the Habits & Mindset Journal to offer simple, encouraging prompts that reconnect you to what matters—not someday, but today. (It’s totally editable, so you can truly make it your own.)

You don’t need a grand plan. Just a fresh page and a few minutes to reflect, reset, and return to yourself.

We’re not just trying to survive the digital storm.
We’re learning how to live well—and finish strong.