What’s the longest you can go without reading or looking at a post on Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn? Or what about Messenger, WeChat, or WhatsApp?

This past year in 2017 I tracked some of my smartphone usage with an app called Moments. I was shocked to see how much time I used or picked up my smartphone. There’s nothing wrong with using these apps or a smartphone for non-business uses.

However, it does beg the question why we use them so much or at what opportunity cost? That is, with our almost constant focus on our phones, what are we missing in terms of rest, time for reflection and re-creation? And more than that, what thoughts are we being influenced to think, sometimes to the point of addiction? If you’ve read any of the research on the use of smartphone’s for social media, people tend to get hooked on the doses of dopamine for each like or retweet they get.

If you were to take a long break from social media and our smartphones, what would you do with the extra time or how would you fill the void? My plan is to spend more time reading and meditating on Scripture, reflecting and writing in my journal, creating, developing ideas, prayer, thinking, spending time enjoying nature, working on a personal dream project, and spending quality time with loved ones by God’s grace. What will you do in 2018? Or better yet, what will you be?

“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Moses’ prayer in Psalms 90:12.