digital wellbeing
Screen time
The hours per day spent on device screens — the metric that started a thousand detoxes, averaging 4-5 hours on phones alone.
Screen time is the tally of hours spent on your devices — the metric built into both iOS and Android, and for many people the uncomfortable number that starts the whole journey: phone averages of 4–5 hours daily are typical.
Software limits on screen time mostly fail — the person setting the limit and the person overriding it at 11pm are not the same person. The metric's real value is diagnostic: multiply your daily average by 365 and by your remaining decades, and the case for structural change (rather than another app limit) tends to make itself.
Related Terms
View all →Digital detox
A deliberate reset of your relationship with screens — done well, environment redesign rather than temporary abstinence.
Grayscale mode
Turning the phone screen monochrome to drain the feeds' visual reward — a free, measurable first step toward calm.
Nomophobia
Anxiety at being separated from your phone — "no-mobile phobia" — one of the clearest signs the relationship needs renegotiating.