Remember the days when we were told to go outside and get some fresh air or the parents controlled how much time we could spend watching TV?
As an adult, I no longer have someone to tell me to go outside or to do “something useful”.
When I was a university student, I hardly even knew about TV. The Internet was just developing so that streaming was not a possibility and downloading was difficult to do. Therefore, I did not have to struggle with screen time.
Then, my years in Japan limited my time because most programs were in Japanese, which I was not yet capable of following and unless I rented videos there was no opportunity to see things in English. Streaming was still not really possible and downloading took days. 😫
It was only really when I came to the UAE that I discovered the real beauty of streaming and downloading. In fact, I did not bother to buy a TV when I first arrived because I was watching everything on my computer. Besides that there was not much available in English on the mainstream channels.
Now, within just a few years the mainstream TV service has upped its English options and streaming is as normal as walking. Therefore, even as I type this post, I am streaming a US TV show. 🤓
The problem is that now instead of going out to soak up sun or get exercise outside, we sit inside watching shows that may or may not be useful for our brains. 😜
Thus, I am recalling those days of my father telling me to get fresh air and do something useful.
Already, I have returned a limit to my FB time – once in the morning and once before bed. No other times unless it is through Messenger to chat with friends – when I just use the Messenger app without having to check the FB pages. I think that it might also be time to limit my screen time for TV to just two hours a day so that I can focus on other activities more.
The real struggle will be in figuring out what is considered a healthy balance on the computer since my blog writing, business writing and general writing 🖋 is all done either on the iPad📱, laptop💻, iPhone or desktop🖥. I am also volunteering to redo a local organization’s website, so need more time on the computer time to do that…. Therefore, I need to consider this a bit more.
In any case, I do feel as if there is a bit of screen time overload in our lives these days.
~T 😀
