💬 I checked my screen time and Instagram was open 47 times a day

My phone sent me a weekly report last Sunday. Instagram, opened 47 times a day on average. 47. I didn't believe it. I thought the number was wrong. I checked it again and it said the same thing. That's about 3 times an hour, every hour I'm awake. I don't even post anything. I just look. I counted it up. 2 and a half hours a day, 900 hours a year. More than any hobby I've had. The worst part is I don't notice it happening. I pick up the phone for something else, a time or a message. And my thumb just goes to the app. Like it's got its own plan and I'm not part of it. Last week I was in the lift in my building in Riyadh and I opened it. The lift ride is 40 seconds. I scrolled for 40 seconds in a lift. I hadn't even decided to. I tried deleting the app. Lasted 1 day. I reinstalled it because my cousin sent me a reel. My cousin sends me about 12 reels a day. None of them are important. I watch every one. Now I've moved it to the last page of my phone, in a folder called Later. It helps a little bit. Went from 47 to about 31 a day. It's something, at least. What's yours? An app you use way more than you'd ever admit out loud? I'd say it's most people's, if they checked. Mine is just more embarrassing than I expected. My wife says hers is WhatsApp status. She watches every one of them, even from people she hates. I told her we should both delete everything for a week. She said, you go first.

For me it's cricket clips on Shorts. 1 over of highlights from 2011, then 3 hours later it's 90s Sharjah matches. The worst bit is I learn things. Last night I found out some bowler took 8 wickets in a Test. So I feel like I've done something useful. Then I look at the clock and it's 2 am. Work the next day was not good. Nobody told me to stop, because nobody knew.

Mine is the YouTube autoplay. 10 minute cooking video, and 4 hours later I'm watching a man restore a tractor. Nothing to do with cooking, nothing to do with me. I don't even own a tractor. My roommate once looked over and asked what it was. I said, I'm not sure. He said, same. I've turned autoplay off 3 times. It turns itself back on, I'm convinced.

Reddit for me. I open it to check 1 question and come back to my room an hour later. Last Sunday I went in to check if a refurbished phone was worth buying. Ended up reading about lighthouse keepers. I have no interest in lighthouses. I read all 300 comments. I still didn't buy the phone, and I still don't know what a keeper does.

Probably YouTube. I usually open it thinking I'll watch one quick video, then somehow end up watching completely unrelated videos for an hour. What makes it worse is that I often discover something interesting, so it doesn't even feel like wasted time while I'm doing it. Then I look at the clock and wonder where the last two hours disappeared.