replacing screen time with writing time!

replacing screen time with writing time! | A WRITING EXPERIMENT

Рет қаралды 10,057

Күн бұрын

My patrons voted and it's time to replace my screen time (aka reddit time, if we're being honest) with writing time!! Let's dive into my screen time numbers and dissect what could be improved, if anything!
0:00 A look into what my biggest distraction is...
2:54 Day 1 & winging it...
8:00 Day 2 & setting up a "work focus" mode!
13:43 Changes in stats, lessons learned over the week & why I'm not too bothered by screen time (now that I have a focus mode lolol)
☟↓ QUESTIONS FOR YOU BELOOOOOW! ↓☟
D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S :
Are you feeling brave and would you like to share your screen time stats? Bahaha.
What's your biggest "attention suck" while writing? Is it an app, snacks, your partner or kids? What do you turn to when you feel "stuck" and do you find it helps or hurts your writing?
Would you ever try replacing your screen time with writing or reading time?
Do you also just need a "brain break" at the end of the day and don't care what your screen time stats are?
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Пікірлер: 81

@AnnaRobbinsWrites Жыл бұрын

I deleted my insta app on Jan 1st and I feel so. much. better. I didn't realize how low and bad seeing everyone's perfect reels all the time was making me feel 😵‍💫

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Oooh that’s such a good realization to have!! Glad you’re feeling better, that’s a great start to the new year. :)

@hellothisismo Жыл бұрын

Fun fact: my phone crashed last August and I took it to be fixed... two days ago. So I've been phoneless since then (I did find a couple of ways to adapt so I could still access the stuff I needed). Twitter has always been my biggest attention sucker, so I've been trying to reduce how much I use it (and it's also doing wonders for my mood), but also my house can be very distracting - lots of very loud people in this family. When I'm stuck I try to move around, I do a lot of walking around my bedroom listening to music, and sometimes it helps, sometimes I get even more distracted lol I tend to think about replacing my Internet time instead of screen time, because I generally read ebooks or use screens to study/work, so I find replacing my Internet hopping around a better term. One of my goals this year is going to bed earlier and reading a bit of nonfiction before bed, so I guess that counts as my brain break? P.s.: obsessed with the shots of the girls side by side just staring at you, they are way too precious.

@Rec426 Жыл бұрын

Loving this already! I've actually taken this one step further and deleted the KZfaq app from my phone. I'm watching this on my laptop and only allowing myself 15 mins a day to watch KZfaq videos. I'm doing this cos I know I have an addiction to it and on the first night when I had deleted the app I was super anxious all night which made me realise how bad I am with the KZfaq app. I'm trying to find ways of relaxing like watching TV shows rather than using KZfaq to relax to. It's nearly the end of week 1 of the experiment and I'm still getting used to it and finding ways of being productive with all the 'spare' time I now have (because Im not on my phone as much) and I think I'm feeling good about it. I just have to see how future weeks go :')

@herothebard Жыл бұрын

I feel like Kate went from not posting videos for a month to posting several videos in the first week of January

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Lolol I definitely did!

@LuskaTheWusky Жыл бұрын

My screen time is so embarrassing… while I do a lot of “productive” things on my phone (like watching writing related videos to help me with my own project), it definitely isn’t the entire time. Hours just wasted on TikTok and KZfaq 😅 I didn’t realize iPhones could do work mode so I think I’ll definitely have to try that out! Thank you for doing these experiments and giving me all the inspiration 💜

@daydariftwalker Жыл бұрын

For me Pinterest and KZfaq are the big ones. It’s not as bad as it could have been because on Pinterest I usually look at writing tips and advice that got reposted from tumblr, and on youtube(during my self imposed challenge to write everyday until I’ve finished my book, at least) I watch mostly writing videos like this one. This might be an interesting challenge for me over the weekend. I’m in the process of trying writing challenges because they’re productive and mix things up. Still spend way too long on these two platforms tho

@daydariftwalker Жыл бұрын

(2nd comment because different topic) in terms of getting into work mode using iPhone features, I organise my ipad(which I write on) into pages based on topics like games and stuff and one of my pages is writing. When I want to write but keep getting distracted, I switch on my writing focus which hides every Home Screen page except for the writing one and the first home screen page which I use for utility. It helps a bunch cuz it’s harder to get to the distractions

@reginaduke7451 Жыл бұрын

Hurray! The power is back on and Kate uploads a video for me to watch! 😁😁😁❤️❤️❤️

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

AHHHH YAYAY! I'm so glad! I'd been keeping you and the pups in my thoughts. Glad you'll have some warmth again.

@Hamilwhovian Жыл бұрын

I was talking about this with my writers friends the other day 🤣I'm pretty good with my phone time (only 2 and a half hours per day in average), and most of that time is on a video game because social media bores me lol but on the computer... that's another story. I try to not spend all day on youtube, but it's hard... the last two weeks I managed to replace computer time for reading time after work, so that's a win 😅

@mangaluver2010 Жыл бұрын

Oh man, I learned a long time ago that Instagram reels are my downfall LOL! I will spend HOURS mindlessly scrolling through them and reading the comments. Things that I've found useful in breaking this nasty habit is the forest app. I didn't think that it would work when I downloaded it, but I just can't bring myself to kill my trees lol! Whatever works I guess! Such a fun video!

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Ahhh! Knowing what causes our downfall and takes up too much of our attention is half the battle. Glad you found that Forest worked for you!! 🌳🌷🌲🌻

@maddychurchhouse4556 Жыл бұрын

I so agree! The idea of killing a fake tree is excruciating haha. But now my sabotage brain is like 'well if you don't start GROWING the tree yet...'

@SarahCahillWrites Жыл бұрын

Your brain dislikes the extra work to get to the fun, so it doesn't bother trying. Absolutely great hack! I tend to keep my phone away from my desk if I want to focus a little bit more.

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

That's totally it! And that's so smart.

@Shelberz Жыл бұрын

That warm book light is exactly what I need 👀🤩

@wolfegaming36 Жыл бұрын

I bought an alarm clock so I could stop using my phone as an alarm and leave it across the house on my desk. It worked great for like a month until I started bringing my phone to bed again 😅 This video reminded me I should try doing that again because it was pretty nice. I keep my Kindle beside my bed, so at least if I stay up late I'm reading instead of just mindlessly scrolling. I set my phone to automatically go into "Sleep" Focus from 10pm to 6am, which helps a lot even when I do bring my phone to bed, because at least then I'm not getting notifications all night. My screen time is atrocious, because I currently am not writing full time, I make and sell stuff (I quit this year but I'm still filling orders from December) so I watch a lot of KZfaq and Nebula while I work, so I end up with like 9 hours every day because of KZfaq running in the background 😅 It's not really active screen time though! The goal is, once I'm finished with orders and start writing as if it's my full-time job, I'll keep my phone on my desk at night and read myself to sleep, and use Work Focus to avoid distractions like you did here. Also I write on an Alphasmart, so that helps a lot.

@Bartolottazee Жыл бұрын

2:58 I truely believe a writerly asmr is needed for all our writerly needs lol 😂

@dohaaymoon4096 Жыл бұрын

Finally I can see some of the old editing free style here .. feeling closer to u thank u so much

@femininechaos4931 Жыл бұрын

You’re the first person I’ve seen do this, not a writer but I’m gonna use this idea for studying.

@michellemp1626 Жыл бұрын

Loved this video! And I find all of your beverages of choice so fun to watch!!

@johndogwater Жыл бұрын

My go-to escape is usually tea. I have found that exchanging screen time for doge snuggles keeps eeeveryone happy.

@HayleyHCreates Жыл бұрын

Yessssss love getting back on that writing train! Also in love with that book lamp

@EmmaBennetAuthor Жыл бұрын

Very cool experiment. I didn’t know about the different iPhone settings.

@Heothbremel Жыл бұрын

Love this as a challenge :) I've been cutting stuff over the years (exception being youtube for noise/writing use) and it's crazy how much time gets used for other phone and screen stuff... I'm gonna give this a go to see what i can purge this time!! :)

@cressidaclarence7420 Жыл бұрын

This video helped inspire me to setup my work focus too, thanks for sharing the tip!

@jamiemonaco2753 Жыл бұрын

This is so smart!!

@rachelwritesbooks Жыл бұрын

I LOVE this! I think I’ll try this on my channel!

@exstntl Жыл бұрын

i normally put ur videos in the background on autoplay while i work and the amount of time it took me to realize this was a new video LOL i was like wait a minute! wow im early ^_^ i've recently replaced screen time with reading since i got a kindle and i've been enjoying it a lot :-) i have a love/hate relationship with writing lately because even when i'm writing it's still screen time T_T i'm easily on my computer for 12 hours a day between work, school, and writing... lord have mercy on my eyeballs T_T

@marias8007 Жыл бұрын

I need to do this!

@4nS0Gaming Жыл бұрын

Okay, i NEED to try this!!!

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Yesssss! If you do, let me know how it goes!!

@clareagrippina6569 Жыл бұрын

I get a little torn between having my phone out of sight and the fact that I have the memory of a gold fish. If I put something over the phone like a piece of paper, I don't look as often, but then when the desire to look gets too great... I can't remember where I put the damn thing and I have to hunt through the house for it!

@chshaara Жыл бұрын

Am kind of ridiculously excited about setting up and trying out the focus modes on my phone. I had no idea this was a thing!

@Incurafy Жыл бұрын

A few years ago I deleted Facebook from my phone and removed the shortcut to it in my web browsers and it was one of the best things I ever did. I use Reddit more now than I did back then, but I usually read subs about my hobbies or work so it's less brain melting than Facebook was. I do wonder how society would look if we'd known about the problems with smart phones and social media 20 years ago and took steps to limit them.

@rootedreinvention Жыл бұрын

This is how I complete NaNoWriMo -- any spare moment I would spend on my phone , I open my WIP and force myself to get some words down.

@saralynn7308 Жыл бұрын

I got the same booklight!

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Isn't it so wonderful??? I love it! Almost kicking myself for not having one before now bahaha

@lakeshagadson357 Жыл бұрын

I wish I can either get Kate are one of the booktubers to teach my class at school or the program

@Becky-ys4xc Жыл бұрын

Ooof, my go-to crutch is also my phone but it's mindless games (think: Candy Crush, etc). About a year ago I set up a limit of two hours for phone games....and yeah, I blow past it pretty much every day. It's pretty similar, I put on trash TV or KZfaq videos and play games on my phone to zone out after a day of working, without a ton of success in replacing it. So I just try to make sure I get everything I need to do in a day done first (including day job and writing), and I'm trying though struggling to train myself to pick up a book first rather than my phone. I thiiiink I'm doing OK though, since I don't use my phone in bed and once I turn out the lights I zonk out and I never open my computer or phone overnight. One mini-hack I've had pretty good though not perfect results with: I started reading library e-books on my phone! It's still screentime but not mindless and it's what I always have in my hand anyway so I'm slightly more likely to do that than to find a paper book and focus on that instead.

@jjspurlock Жыл бұрын

I personally try to have my phone beside me for texting and calling but putting it face down but I do have a lot of trouble with getting on my phone for 1 thing and then being completely distracted by other things and the same goes with KZfaq on my laptop. 😂 I need to figure out something to maybe block websites while writing or something in the same subject as that.

@somberhoney Жыл бұрын

I literally just deleted my reddit account today because I found it was doing nothing except tanking my metal health

@themusespeakstome4467 Жыл бұрын

In the past, I thought that lower screen time on the phone was a bad thing because I pay for the service and needed to justify the cost. But I came to my senses. I tried to delete social media apps on my phone to force me to have to log in on my desktop computer at end of day. However, Instagram suddenly stopped allowing me to log in on my computer, so I had to re-download the app on my phone. It's a conspiracy to keep me addicted to social media! 😞

@thecat_iswatching Жыл бұрын

At one point I scrolled through Insta reels to take myself out of my thoughts. And yes it worked, but the cost was too high. I would sit for hours mindlessly scrolling, wanting to get a quick laugh or feel good at a punchline. When I stopped being able to finish a book because I got so bored at the slow gratification - that's when I knew it was time to change habits 😅 I only deleted the app itself, so now I'm forced to use the browser which is so clunky to use that all I do is check my friends and favourite posters, and then I close the app. Since then, I've been flying through books - it feels great.

@danapratola Жыл бұрын

I wanted to watch your whole video, but you've inspired me to get to work, so I'm opening my file and ... Bye!

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Bahaha HOORAY! Enjoy your writing!!

@harveythepooka Жыл бұрын

Whenever I have issues with my phone I just physically put it away from me. If it's across the room I'm generally too lazy to get it. And in the morning, if it's across the room I'm not going to snooze. I like to do time blocking. If it's writing time then I write. If it's play time, then I play. No judgment for either activity, but I think your brain, or at least my brain, can only focus for so long, then I need a break. But some break activities are healthier than others. I generally go cold turkey on reddit for weeks or months at a time because it's kind of a toxic place imo.

@JimmieHammel Жыл бұрын

KZfaq is my go to thing. 🤣

@somedeepmystery Жыл бұрын

My crutch is absolutely youtube. But it is also where I go for writing sprints and focus music so I don't want to block it!

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Same same same! It’s the best and worst bahahah.

@agingerwrites Жыл бұрын

Unrelated to this video: I am so curious about your thoughts on The Artist's Way as I'm doing it right now and I'm just curious lol. My digital crutch has turned into coloring on my ipad. I don;t even wanna know how much time I spent on it lol

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

I owe you an email so I'll definitely let you know bahahaha. I feel like coloring should count as a different category, personally! That's therapeutic bahah.

@cassie_hart Жыл бұрын

I think my crutch is watching youtube videos... LOL

@herothebard Жыл бұрын

So I checked out my screen time and found out I can put a goal on how much I want to be on my phone. I apparently had a total of 4.5 hours of that 59 minutes on chrome because I needed to look up my student loans and figure out how to apply for my course load. Then 48 minutes on Instagram, but most of that was replying to messages, an additional 48 on Skip the dish because I couldn’t decide what I wanted, and finally 18 on email. Though surprisingly they didn’t mark the 3 hours on audible (which I assume because my phone screen itself is off even if my book is on)

@manvellvn Жыл бұрын

Missing your Twitch streams a lot, Kate! When are you coming back? 😄

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

ME TOO. I'm getting in the swing of these new goals/habits and will hopefully be playing around with coming back next week! Hopefully I'll ramp up to more "regular" streaming by February or so. :) I'LL SEE YOU SOON

@manvellvn Жыл бұрын

can’t wait!!!

@AuthorZaraHoffman Жыл бұрын

Woo! I should do this.

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Yesssss, test it out! It was a fun little experiment, even if I only took away some little habits from it. :) The work mode feature has been a gamechanger though!!

@AuthorZaraHoffman Жыл бұрын

@@KateCavanaugh iPhones have Focus mode and that plus the Forest App’s Deep Focus (with the new Allow Lists) are great. I just have trouble remembering to use them 😅 I do remember my Sleep Focus and Forest every night though.

@AuthorZaraHoffman Жыл бұрын

When did you switch from Android?!

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

@@AuthorZaraHoffman Ooooh, I wanna say at least 6 or so months now? Maybe a couple more!

@AuthorZaraHoffman Жыл бұрын

@@KateCavanaugh I must have not been paying attention to your phone in vlogs 😅

@katozrippla1497 Жыл бұрын

I have 2.5 hours of screen time on TikTok so... Guess I'm doing this challenge too.

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Ooooh YES, good luck!! Let me know how it goes for you!!

@ngtskynebula 3 ай бұрын

If I ever did this, I'd have to write for 9 to 11 hrs 👍👍👍 Yeah, not happening. Ever!

@A_Bookish_Obsession Жыл бұрын

I've been wanting to do something like this but because I was sick it would just be me doing 24hrs straight of writing or reading 😂

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

Bahahaha, the real hack! Hope you're feeling better now. :)

@Bearded.Crafter Жыл бұрын

Oh you watch Love Island UK don't you.... Guess that means all the time saving is out from the 16th when it's back!

@rainlathrop5243 Жыл бұрын

Tik Tok has starting showing in the app your screen time and I hate them for that… It’s so embarrassing. My mom told me she found her screen time the other day and it was like 2hrs total a day and she feels like that’s too much and I told her ‘it could be so much wose’

@lakeshagadson357 Жыл бұрын

you can type pretty quickly

@MVMackenzie Жыл бұрын

I average 2 hrs of social media a day, with about 8 hrs-what?!!-of screen time per day! Mind blown! 🤯

@marias8007 Жыл бұрын

I'm thinking of scheduling reading time, like an hour of two a day, and writing time, instead of ... um ... youtube

@nildam.bonilla5849 Жыл бұрын

Why is naming stuff... and characters 😅 so hard!?!?

@KateCavanaugh Жыл бұрын

IT IS SO HARD. If you figure out the secret, let me know!

@nildam.bonilla5849 Жыл бұрын

@@KateCavanaugh also trying to figure out how much time passes is hard! I'm stuck in my plotting because I just realized I need to know how long would a ride from a place to another take, how long would it realistically take for a rider, plus how long for a carriage (more so if it carries ladies) would take which also mean I need to decide where towns are placed and how is the terrain😱😭