It’s likely that you’re reading this on your phone or while juggling multiple tasks. According to recent studies, Americans spend an astonishing 10 hours and 39 minutes each day glued to screens—this doesn’t even consider the time spent on texting or taking photos. To highlight the toll of this, nearly half of mothers with children report getting less than seven hours of sleep each night, feeling fatigued for at least half the month. Adults aged 15 and older average 2.73 hours of television watching, yet only dedicate a mere 0.29 hours to personal reading and an equivalent amount to simply relaxing and thinking. That totals under 36 minutes of genuine downtime compared to over 10 hours of screen engagement.
We find ourselves constantly connected, spending around five hours a day on our devices. A striking 46% of people check their smartphones before even getting out of bed, and this figure jumps to 66% among millennials. Around 30% check their emails and the same percentage check social media as soon as they wake up. At work, 60% of millennials can’t resist the urge to check their phones, with 83% keeping their devices on throughout the day. Our phones have become tools for capturing memories, binge-watching shows, and maintaining our social connections.
The sheer volume of these statistics can be overwhelming. Research indicates that our creativity suffers when we are perpetually busy. The more time we spend connected—whether waiting in line, watching our kids play, or sitting in a doctor’s office—the more we diminish our creative potential.
As noted by The Big Think, creativity often requires a reset, necessitating time for idleness, meditation, or simply gazing into space. This means we need to unplug during those moments we usually fill with screen time—like waiting in line at the grocery store or while on a family outing. We require time to do nothing and embrace boredom.
While I often find myself staring off into space while loading the dishwasher, I’m usually preoccupied with my mental checklist of tasks still left to do. Finding time to simply relax seems impossible amid endless chores and responsibilities. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a noted theorist on creativity, argues that creative individuals tend to trust their intuition, identifying patterns in chaos and connecting disparate pieces of knowledge. As busy mothers, we often have little time for intuition, consumed by the daily demands of parenting. By the end of the day, when the uncompleted tasks linger, we tend to reach for our phones, seeking distraction rather than engagement.
As journalist Michael Harris aptly puts it, “We may need to engineer scarcity in our communications and interactions,” or risk our lives becoming a cacophony of noise, drowning out the valuable moments. Perhaps, as Aaron Burr advises in Hamilton, we should speak less—especially to our friends on social media. This doesn’t mean we need to eliminate technology, but rather use it more judiciously. My life is filled with the sounds of children, chores, and the chaos of daily life. While I often use screen time to unwind, maybe we could afford to lessen our dependency on it.
Creative breakthroughs might not manifest as grand masterpieces, but they can lead to personal insights and improved parenting strategies. Finding ways to manage sibling squabbles, identifying triggers for stress, or developing engaging activities for our children could emerge from periods of mental clarity.
If we could put our phones down and allow ourselves unencumbered moments of contemplation, we might discover that we can be better parents. This is not about criticizing other parents for their phone use; we all rely on it at times. However, recognizing when we truly need it—and when we don’t—might just be the key to finding balance.
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Summary
In our fast-paced, technology-driven lives, moms face immense pressures that can diminish their creativity and overall well-being. By acknowledging the need for downtime and intentionally reducing screen time, we can enhance our parenting and personal fulfillment. Embracing moments of stillness may lead to valuable insights and improved family dynamics.