What Gets Measured, Gets Managed

Welcome to the 12 new readers who have joined us since last week! If you haven’t subscribed, join 2500+ smart, curious folks by subscribing here:

1) Kanso’s phone-free event series, Here & Now, will be back in NYC on August 19th. 40+ ambitious people gathering together to lock away their phones, build deeper relationships, and be fully present for the first time in a long time. If this sounds like your vibe, RSVP here.

I’m working on an essay that ties together nearly everything I’ve written over the past year. A look into where we’re headed if the three converging technosociological forces I mentioned last week continue to accelerate:

1. Compulsive screen use across all generations

2. A deepening loneliness epidemic across all industrialized nations

3. AI innovation far outpacing regulation or historical precedent

It’ll be worth the wait. But in the meantime, I want to reshare one of the more tactical pieces I wrote over a year ago, something you can put into practice right now. It addresses the one thing we still don’t have enough of when trying to make positive strides with our screen time: data.

The common misconception is that ‘reducing screen time’ is the easy end-all-be-all solution to excessive technology use. That couldn’t be farther from the truth for a handful of reasons.

But the big one is that not all screen time is created equal.

Using Google Maps for three hours as I explore a new city or spend an hour FaceTiming a relative that lives across the country is far different from hurtling myself down a 2 hour TikTok brain rot rabbit hole. Even all social media screen time isn’t created equal. I’d take 3 hours over creating over 30 minutes of consuming any day of the week.

But unfortunately, Apple’s native Screen Time app gives you damn near no accurate data to work off of (and it’s certainly not nuanced) which makes getting a clear overview of your phone usage pretty hard. It also only lets you look back on a month of ‘rolling’ data. Not even month over month.

But most critically, most of this screen time data is inflated thanks to the infamous gray bar issue that Apple has yet to address after years of people begging them to do so.

(The total screen time displayed in-app is a lot higher than your actual screen time, if you were to add up the totals of each app individually. The ‘difference’ are these gray bars that nobody knows the true meaning of.)

Anyway, here’s what they provide (with daily & weekly views) :

• A total screen time number

• Itemized screen time by app and app category

• Total notifications

• Total phone pickups

And unfortunately, because this data is locked within the ScreenTime API which Apple gives developers no choice but to build around, this is the same data that is fed into every screen time app.

(I can’t speak to Google’s Digital Wellbeing app since I don’t own an Android, but from what I’ve read it’s fairly similar.)

So, I built a solution to this problem. Yes it requires a bit of time and effort, but if you’re truly dedicated to making this change in your life (like myself and the people that I work with are), then this is the best way to get a clear view of your tech habits.

Step 1: Habit Tracker (15 min)

The habit tracker helps you get a clear picture of how much time you spend on specific apps each week and month. It’s not the prettiest spreadsheet, but you need this data to input into the Conscious Screen Time Plan (much prettier!).

Document Link: Here

1. Go into the weekly view of your Apple Screen Time app and enter the name of every app that you used over the course of the week along with the app’s corresponding total weekly screen time.

2. Do this for the past four weeks, writing each weekly total in the corresponding column. Do not duplicate apps (if you’ve used Instagram all 4 weeks, only write it once in Column A)

3. You will see your monthly totals for each individual app in Column F

Example of a filled out Habit Tracker (fake numbers)

Step 2: Conscious Screen Time Plan (10 min)

The Conscious Screen Time Plan is the best tool (to my knowledge) to give you a true audit of your screen time. It’s also a great resource to help you build a plan to improve these numbers go forward.

Document Link: Here

1) Start by entering your total daily waking hours into the first box.

2) Next, you'll see two sections: Fixed Screen Time and Variable Screen Time (read more about the difference here). Enter each app's name, monthly total (numbers from Column F on the Habit Tracker), and purpose in the right section.

Simply put, fixed screen time is for essential apps you need for life or work, like Phone, Calculator, Maps, and Slack. This usage is pretty consistent over time. Variable screen time includes everything else, like social media and gaming, where usage can vary pretty heavily over time.

Some apps might fit into both categories. If that's the case, estimate how much time you spend on each and split the totals accordingly.

3) These numbers will then populate a Current Summary section, where you’ll see your total monthly screen time broken down into fixed and variable, along with your monthly digital distraction ratio.

If you’re Digital Distraction Ratio is actually this high then please seek help lol

4) The next section will ask you a few questions to help you reflect on the data you’ve just uncovered and start thinking about potential goals.

5) Finally, the ‘Top 3 Time Consuming Apps’ section will automatically highlight your top three most time-consuming apps (from both fixed and variable categories) to help you identify areas where you can start to cut back.

6) Once you’ve filled everything out, click ‘Save as a Text File’ to download your information to keep on hand.

That’s all for this week! Looking forward to seeing you put this into practice. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me on LinkedIn/Twitter or reply to this email.

My Businesses & Social Links

If you’re looking to improve your digital wellness, here are a few places to start:

Kanso Experiences - Unforgettable phone-free social experiences for ambitious people who are tired of the feed and hungry for real relationships.

Kanso Reset45 Cohorts - A cohort-based bootcamp to reprogram your tech habits in 45 days. If you’re interested in joining, reply to this email.

Kanso 1:1 Digital Wellness Accountability Coaching - For those who need high-touch, personalized support and daily ongoing accountability.

The Digital Reset Journal - The first journal designed to help you build a healthier relationship with tech

Digital Detox Tools - A free directory of 100+ digital wellness tools to integrate into all areas of your life.

Follow me across platforms:

X/Twitter (@GinsburgRandy)

Instagram (@randy_ginsburg)

YouTube (@KansoRandy) - a lot more coming here soon

LinkedIn

You can find Kanso across Instagram and TikTok @unplugwithkanso too.

That’s all for this week. Now stop scrolling, and go do something great.

— Randy