NAILS: LIFE SKILLS – SCREEN TIME

Screen Time

On average, a person spends about four hours checking e-mail, looking at websites, and watching videos. The average teenager sends nearly 80 text messages a day! To find out if you are managing your time well, try this exercise:

• Write down the time in the morning when you first go online, check e-mail, or send a text message.

• Do what you normally do online. Note the time you finish these activities.

• Throughout the day, try to estimate (and add to your list) how much additional time you spend on these activities.

• At the end of the day, total up the time you spent online.

Are you surprised? Time-management experts recommend that people work for the first 45 minutes or hour of the day, avoiding e-mailing, web browsing, and texting. You too can use this time to plan the day, review reading materials for school, or do other work. The first hour of the day—quiet and often free of interruptions—is often the best time to accomplish something concrete.