This week I was thinking — man, I spend a lot of time in front of screens. Then today, I see this on my computer screen: A new study says Americans spend more than 8 hours a day in front of screens. TV’s, computer monitors, cellphones, Blackberries, Ipods, portable DVD’s… Here are my seven warning signs that you’re spending too much time in front of a screen:
- You’re having a romantic candlelight dinner, and you ask the other person if they wouldn’t mind changing their resolution, “just so I can see you better, dear.”
- Someone pops up out of nowhere on the street. You try to click them away.
- You’re jogging through the forest, and you swear the squirrels are Twittering about you.
- Your mother-in-law starts rambling, and you push an imaginary Tivo button to try and skip past it.
- You scroll down the menu and ask the waiter, “but what comes after the jump?”
- You use GPS to get from the bathroom to the kitchen.
- You open up your laptop and there’s only a black screen that reads: “I’m sorry, but I’ve gone blind from you staring at me.”
On that note, I say it’s time to go to the park and look at the pretty flowers.
But before I do that, a note about the Marketplace After the Bell podcast. Minimal screen time! Once you download it, all you have to do is listen. In about 15 minutes, I tell you the story of the week in business and the economy. You can get this week’s story right here.
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