Since the beginning of the digital era, many people were scared of technology’s influence on our daily lives. Especially with the creation of more and more addictive smartphones. Of course, it’s not only the smartphones themselves that are being criticised, it’s also social media, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, videos games and other addictive content easily accessible on the web. But is it really true? Well, many studies on that particular subject were published saying they are, and of course, I relate enormously to that problem. Let me tell you why:

I realised, maybe just in time, that I really spent to much time on my phone (and I’m just about certain that more than 40% of the people reading this can also relate to that “obsession”) and especially too much time on social media, seeking for new content, whether it be memes, math problems or physics facts for example. I also had to know how much time I spent on my phone per day, per month, over a year. And I realised that this was enough. I figured I spent approximately 2 days and a half per week on my phone. Over a year, that would mean living less than 261 days in a year instead of the usual 365. I know what you might be thinking “Yes, but you realise we have been confined for almost 2 months and can only get that data from the last month”, but this is just a sort of excuse that may make you feel like it’s worth it to spend that much time on a incredible, yet very addictive device. Last week, I spent a total of 61h on my phone, meaning approximately 8h42 per day, somedays reaching a total of 13h!

Now, it’s too soon to say whether I will considerably reduce my screen time, and if I’m going to keep that promise to myself, but for a few days, I’m trying to reduce it as much as I can. I went from almost 9 hours to 1h36 this Friday (that was my lowest), then Thursday, Saturday and today (Sunday) were about 4 or 5 hours. In order for me to achieve this, I try to read or to work. I am not used to reading books. But know I think I understand how much they bring, what real value they have. I tend to imagine a book like a box that either has lots of information, that you can grab when opening it, or a whole world of imagination spreading in the room as if I already were in a dream. But that’s just how I got started with reading. I have other books (that I need) to read. By the way, I have never read any book written in English until now. This book is called “The Magic of Thinking Big” written by Dr.David Schwartz (it’s a motivational book, and it does work!). What’s even better is that fortunately for me, I really start to enjoy reading! (even if it’s just one book over more than a year, I have already read books for pleasure before, just to let you know that I already knew what reading a book for pleasure is 😂).

What books would you recommend me to read?

Brahms