One of the most common responses I get from people who want to start businesses is they do not have time to get everything done because they are too busy. If this is you, this article should help if one of your primary challenges is aimless scrolling on social media and other apps.

<<If this isn’t your issue, I encourage you to figure out where your time is actually going by reading Finding time to start your business when you don’t have the time. >>

You can find out exactly how much time you’re spending on social media apps–and other apps– on your phone right now.

Your phone actually already measures how much time you’re spending on it, both generally and on specific apps. Buckle your seat belt because this might get painful!

If you have an Apple phone, go to Settings > Battery. Two graphs will pop up, and if you keep scrolling you’ll see a list of the apps with their battery percentages for the past 24 hours or past 7 days. You can sort the apps by battery usage or activity. You’ll see how much screen time you’re giving to each app.

Here’s my (iPhone) screentime from the past 24 hours of this writing:

You’ll see that I used Twitter a lot for the past 24 hours…one of my goals for my business was to grow my Twitter following this year so I’m spending a fair amount of time on the app making that happen.

Android has a similar featured called “Digital Wellbeing.” It looks like this:

What does your screen time look like? Is this time being used wisely to help you start and grow your business?

If nothing else, I recommend that you carve out two hours per day from email/social media and spend those hours focused on your vision and plan for your business each day, at least during the week.

This means taking two hours away from scrolling through the apps that you use the most for unproductive activities. It’s gonna hurt, I know.

Both iOS and Android phones allow you to set limits on certain apps that start automatically. If you gotta do it, DO IT.

Of course, there are activities and time online that are well spent. If you’re watching videos about starting a business, consuming blog posts or podcast episodes, or having conversations with others in your industry on Twitter, those are good uses of your time. They help move the needle forward as you build your own knowledge base.

For example, I’m on social media way more than I have been in the past because I set a goal to grow my following and online presence on four platforms.

Aimless scrolling, on the other hand, is dangerous. It can be therapeutic for a little while, but it could also be taking you away from the vision and dreams you have for your life and business.

PLEASE WATCH this video from Mel Robbins on the attention economy and where and how we focus our attention. It is powerful stuff.

As she points out, your attention is worth a lot of money, and someone is making money off of your attention each minute and hour you spend online. I’d go a step further and say that you are also LOSING money if you’re ignoring your future business and instead scrolling for hours through social media without a purpose.

If you can commit to this, try it for two weeks. Take those two hours and do something related to your business idea–this may mean reading books, watching relevant YouTube videos, doing other exercises you can find here, or listening to business podcasts. See how you’re feeling and if you’ve mad progress.

Once you do this, I’d love to hear from you in the comments:

• Did you actually take away two hours of aimless scrolling? Was it hard to do?
• What did you do with those two hours each day?
• Was it helpful? Did you feel like you were moving the needle on your business idea?

Please provide as much information as you can! I’d love to help you strategize on the best conferences for your own goals. And, I know the other folks reading this can learn from your experiences. We are in this thing together.

I always say that I’m on a mission to build a nation of good people with dynamic personal brands and successful businesses. We can learn from each other on this journey, particularly when we have accountability partners. This is why I am building a whole nation of them.

You can connect to the the private community I’ve created to provide support and encouragement along the journey–online and via app. Check us out at programs.shontavia.com or via the Mighty Networks App.

Download the Mighty Network app by clicking here. Once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find content there that I may not share elsewhere.

Thank you so much for joining me on this roller coaster of an experience. I am eternally grateful that I get to do this work with wonderful people each day.

Let’s make it happen,