How deleting my social media apps made me a better dad
Twenty eight or more hours a week. That’s how many hours I spent on social media each week. Nothing important. Just meaningless content about politics, other families’ extravagant parties, vacations, and homes, products we needed to buy to be happier, and all the things I was doing wrong as a father. Twenty eight hours of time that could be spent with my family…just gone.
I would wake up and scroll. Go to the bathroom and scroll. Get a cup of coffee and scroll. Change a diaper and scroll. You get the idea. I was addicted. As if this social media content I absorbed would provide some fulfillment in my life. My kids would ask if I could read them books, there were dishes to be washed, dogs to be walked, laundry to be folded, and dozens of other tasks that could be completed. But I was too busy.
I’d love to say that I came to this decision on my own, but it took an argument with my wife one night when she admitted I wasn’t pulling my weight (as she mopped the floors at the end of the day, and I scrolled social media). I was so sure I was being productive and helpful as a stay-at-home-dad, but it was a solemn moment when I realized my wife was still doing 80% of the household chores and was still the default parent. I told her to make me a list. She frustratingly chuckled because it was ONE more thing I put on her plate. “You have eyes, right”? She asked.
She asked me what I did in the morning if I was the first up with the kids…“letting” her sleep in. I didn’t have to think long…. I would put on a movie for the little ones and laid on the couch consuming as much content as I could. She explained that when she was the first awake, she made coffee, breakfast for the kids, cleaned the kitchen, washed and folded laundry, swept and mopped, cleaned the bathroom, made a list of grocery items needed, or played with the kids. She didn’t have TIME to be on her phone. At first, I was angry at the accusations. But I knew she was right.
So, I deleted my social media apps. All of them. And my life changed almost immediately.
I slept better, woke earlier, and got up in the morning ready to tackle the day. I started taking more walks and working out, I meal prepped, took over the grocery shopping, school registration, and was just more present with my kids. I even started making the bed before my wife could get to it. For the first time, I feel fulfilled.
I still instinctively open my phone to jump on social media but that’s becoming more infrequent as I fill my time with more valuable things.
My boys’ childhoods were flashing by…right in front of me. I almost missed it.
What could you do with 28 more hours in your week?
