Tool
Screen-time calculator
Daily screen hours feel small. Multiplied across a life they are not. This calculator does one multiplication honestly and shows its work.
Not sure? iPhone: Settings → Screen Time. Android: Settings → Digital Wellbeing. Add TV and computer time on top.
At this pace, from your age onward
The same hours, spent differently, are
Swap even one daily hour and you reclaim over the years you have left.
The math, in the open
We assume a lifespan of 81 years and 16.5 waking hours per day. Years-on-screens = remaining years × (daily screen hours ÷ 24). The "instead" numbers assume a book takes 8 hours to read, a conversational level of a language takes 480 hours, and a marathon training block takes 300 hours. Change the assumptions and the flavor changes; the scale doesn't.
Where you probably stand
| Group | Typical daily screen time | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global internet users (16–64) | 6 h 40 m | DataReportal, Digital 2024/2025 reports |
| US teenagers (entertainment only) | 8 h 39 m | Common Sense Media census, 2021 |
| US tweens 8–12 (entertainment) | 5 h 33 m | Common Sense Media census, 2021 |
Next: take the phone habit test, or start with the two-minute grayscale change.