Time to put this stopwatch-counter to use
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It's a stopwatch-counter, costing a mere £3.99 ($5 US) – some folks will pay that on their favourite latte – and it looks like a good productivity and wellbeing investment. Yes, I could use the one built into my mobile phone but that would put temptation in my way for reasons that will become clear.
The aim is to refocus on activities that matter. (A glance at the stopwatch tells me we're at the six-minute mark in writing this post).
It will help rein in excessive use of social media and television watching by making me aware of how much time I'm engaged (or wasting) with them. And it will show how long it takes to complete a task, encouraging me to stay within the time allocated, possibly even bettering it.
For some people, social media might provide a vital means of staying in touch but for many of us, along with TV, it takes us away from what counts. And research shows that excessive consumption affects our cognitive abilities.
The extraordinary amount of time used this way has been well documented. Some online reports claim that we spend on average, up to two hours and thirty minutes on social media alone. That's a lot of time.
Some careers ago, I was a journalist on a busy evening newspaper, so news is still in my blood and explains why, until now, I have checked online the local, national, and international news with almost clockwork regularity morning, noon, and evening.
Events that affect society are important but, for some while, it's bothered me that this overconsumption of news with its ominous overtones is, perhaps, not getting my day off to an optimal start psychologically and productively. This combined with social media check-ins, has taken up time that might have been better spent.
Ironically, it was a social media post about a kitchen timer that got me wondering if a humble stopwatch might be a productivity gamechanger. (I've now been writing for 22 minutes).
Let's look at the downsides of devoting too much time to social media and TV watching.
We know that the various types of media encourage us to compare ourselves to others and pressure us to present a perfect life. This can affect self-esteem and engender feelings of inadequacy. Research by University of Oxford revealed that social media's power to influence life satisfaction negatively was particularly evident among teenagers. Accessing too much social media is connected to increased anxiety and depression rates, and even suicidal ideation among this age group.
Meanwhile, studies show that excessive TV can impact our mental and physical wellbeing. Sedentary activity can lead to cardiovascular and obesity issues as well as Type Two diabetes. And how often do we snack while watching TV with our minds oblivious to the fact that we're eating, thereby, ignoring the signals that we might be full, leading to overeating?
It has also been reported that too much TV viewing can increase feelings of loneliness and exacerbate anxiety and depression. Furthermore, it appears that people who view TV for five or more hours have a higher risk of developing dementia.
Add to this the risk of sleep disruption and behavioural issues in children and it becomes clear that we might need to develop habits that serve our mental and physical well-being better such as exercise, hobbies, and pastimes, as well as interacting with others.
A stopwatch is commonly used in sport which often serves as a metaphor for success given its emphasis on consistency and discipline, continuous improvement, goal setting, resilience and perseverance, and teamwork. Which makes it an appropriate tool for devoting attention to those activities that best serve me.
And even when I break off briefly from what I'm doing, the sight of those milliseconds racing by on the stopwatch display quickly gets me back on track.
Here's to a new year and a new use of time. I'll update on progress.
'Right, mate, that's 1hr and 31 minutes, the stopwatch kindly informs me.' A smidge over the allocated time.
December 31, 2024