Super Eco

Photo credit: riot jane, flickr

"I have no right to scream foul when it comes to how much of my time is spent in front of a screen," begins Sara Novak's Planet Green instructive on reducing your screen time. "I'm a writer, and I spend more time than I would ever like to admit with my fingertips glued to a keyboard." We're right there, tapping along—only short of the carbon footprint, we don't think that being plugged in the real problem in this equation.

A recent study from Ball State University's Center for Media Design (CMD) and Sequent Partners for the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence (CRE) found that adult Americans spend more than eight hours a day on average in front of screens, from TVs to computers, cellphones and other devices. That's a lot of time, sure—but as the study itself points out, much of that is necessary, work-related activity. The danger of being plugged in too long comes when we suffer from a work/life imbalance, bringing work to bed and to the dinner table simply because we can. That's not a problem with the media themselves; it's a problem shutting off work, with working to live instead of living to work.

Our take? Decree a separation between work and home electronics use. If you must work after hours, don't slide from work to surfing and back again. Clearly finish your work and make a clean break, and come back later for fun. Turn gadgets off when you're done; being constantly abuzz affects everyone around you. And if you work at the keyboard all day, consider that time away might actually be more refreshing. I'll be stepping away from my desk this afternoon when the school bus pulls up outside—how about you?