I must begin this essay by paraphrasing wise men who once said, “Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with disturbing noise.” and “… the truth will set you free.”

Better yet, let me quote them directly!

Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. – Solomon

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. – Jesus

Less is More, I want more of that.

I long for a quiet life filled with meaningful things. I am cultivating a simple life filled with more than enough of what matters, a life satisfied with less. Right?

Yet, I just opened the settings on my smartphone to check my screen time (you should do that right now). I was shocked that I spent over five hours on my smartphone daily this week.

I can only assume this is the average time spent using my smartphone every day for the last several years! This means I am spending more awake time on my smartphone learning about the latest (bad) news and (unrealistic) trends of strangers than I am engaging with people in real life … because we all know that the other several hours of awake time is not always spent focused on my loved ones (sadly).

Five hours of awake time were wasted every day.

• Hours were spent ignoring the presence of my children, husband, and neighbors.
• Moments of the everchanging sky were left unnoticed.
• Five hours of hands-on experiences and opportunities were missed.
• Too much lost time that I can never regain.

How have I allowed this to be true?

Less is More, I want more of that.

After realizing this truth, I am determined to change this habit. Without the distraction of my smartphone, I believe I will change the course of my life and that of my family.

I want to remember …

• the excitement in my child’s eyes when they describe a bird in the backyard
• the way my husband’s hardworking hands tell the story of his life
• the warmth of my child’s body pressed close to mine as I read a book to them
• the way the sun rises and sets each day in a multitude of colors, giving me a foretaste of glory divine
• the way my elderly neighbor waves every chance she gets
• how I hear the sounds of nature sing in the early mornings
• farm walks with my husband
• hugs from my dad
• smiles from strangers at the grocery store
• and the peace I feel living in those moments.

I do believe I will always remember the day I discovered the truth about my screen time. The day I chose to give less of my life to my smartphone so that I became free to live as I was always meant to – simply full.

Less is More, I want more of that.

I am committing to less time on my smartphone. Using my laptop to log on to the internet will help me limit my time online. I will use that time to write articles for this website and newsletters for my email list.

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I also hope I will find time to work on writing more books and creating other content that blesses you. Maybe I will share the newest blog posts on my Facebook page directly from my website and pictures/thoughts on Instagram from my PC. And, I will continue using tools that allow me to schedule and post to Facebook ahead of time so that articles from the archives are shared again.

Please leave a comment and tell me how you feel about your smartphone use. Could you benefit from a digital detox?

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