I was getting ready for my weekly call with my accountability partner. And I found that I really hadn’t hit any of my goals…again. I couldn’t understand what the matter was. I had been on my computer rather than watching tv or playing on my Switch. Then I looked at the usage tracking programs I have had in the background for years and received a large wakeup call.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t been on the devices. It was what I was doing on the devices that was the problem. Without the usage tracking programs, I never would have gotten a clear look at what that way.
Humans Are Error-Prone
There are few humans who can estimate how long things take accurately. There are fewer humans who can recall in detail exactly what they did over the past day.
If you were to ask me, I would tell you that I did my job, exercised, wrote and then relaxed. (Excuse my while I laugh at myself). Using my tracking programs, I found that I did my job, exercised for half of a sitcom, read the news and Bored Panda, and then sat in front of the television while I played games on my tablet and/or phone.
I Spent How Many Hours?
When I looked at the statistics, it showed I had been on my computer, supposedly writing, but in reality clicking through Google News and Bored Panda….for….wait for it…eight hours in a single week.
I purposefully made a decision to stop reading and listening to the news 15 years ago, because it was affecting my mental well-being. And it has served me well. When stuff happens, people will tell me. Or I will overhear something in a public place.
My friends have all been telling me many things over the past month, and it was driving me to start reading the news again.
This was not good for my mental state, and I started to get cranky and unreasonable and think seriously of moving somewhere there are no people.
Bored Panda, well that’s just a cute site, right? At least that’s what my daughter said. But I wasn’t choosing to look just at the pet adoption pictures. I was reading all the stories of people being jerks and getting their comeuppance. Or people not being jerks and getting gaslit.
Again, not good for my mental state.
No Progress On The Big A** Blanket
I have been knitting a big blanket since last May. It’s made in 12-inch squares. But it’s knitted, and it requires a large amount of squares. I’m not making much progress, even though I knit when I watch television.
I knew it wasn’t that I wasn’t watching television. I wasn’t knitting during that time. So what, exactly was I doing? I’m not one to just sit and watch without something else.
Usage tracking to the rescue. I found that even though I have time limits on all of the games on my phone and tablet, I was running every single one of them to their limits each day. That is what I was doing instead of knitting.
I won’t tell you how many hours I have been on my phone. It’s embarrassing.
Usage Tracking For The Win
By taking a look at the usage tracking, I could see that I needed to tighten things down. So I set up Leechblock on my computer, and I can’t access news or Bored Panda there anymore. I tightened down all of the limits on my games so that I can spend 20 minutes on any one of several before they are all cut off. And I also cut off news and Bored Panda on my phone/tablet.
This week, with the limits in place, has been much calmer.
What Are My Usage Trackers?
I use two trackers to see what I am doing on my devices:
RescueTime
RescueTime* is a lightweight program that lives on my computer and tracks what I do. I don’t have to do anything special; it just logs websites and applications that I use.
I have been a RescueTime* user for years. It runs on Windows, Mac, iOS as well as Firefox and Chrome browsers. Premium users can see all of their detailed history and track trends over time.
It’s a great program that has done more to keep me building better electronic habits than anything else.
iOS Screen Time
The built-in screen time app for iOS not only tracks what I am doing on the computer, but allows me to take steps to limit it.
I had already limited my most-played games to 15 minutes per day. But given that there are 5 of them, this is over an hour each day.
During my once-over on this, I consolidated all the games into one time, blocked news and Bored Panda, and reduced the limit on Instagram.
The thing with Screen Time, though, is you can enter a password and get by it. I have gotten around this by generating the pin in my password manager, and then not looking at it. If I have to use it to adjust something, I force myself to change it in the password manager.
Conclusion
Usage tracking tools have been eye-opening for me. They’ve revealed patterns I wasn’t consciously aware of and helped me make intentional changes to my digital habits. While I’m certainly not perfect, having concrete data has allowed me to make informed decisions about how I spend my time online.
If you find yourself wondering where your time goes or why you’re not making progress on important projects, I highly recommend setting up some form of usage tracking. The results might surprise you—they certainly surprised me—but they’ll give you the information you need to make meaningful changes.
Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is simply become aware of our habits.
