The advent of the digital revolution in the past decade or so has changed our modern lifestyle to a great extent and what could be better in symbolizing this digital revolution than the “screens”, be it of laptop, videogames, smartphones or televisions. To take the benefits of these digital adventures we homo sapiens have to spend considerable time gazing the screens. Now spending the productive time on screens is in a way beneficial but one should be aware when the cons of the screen outweighs its pros.

Before moving to the title question, we must know how much time is being spent gawking the screens. Now according to a study published by BMJ Open Medical Journal, on an average kids aged 8-10 years spend 5-8 hours per day in front of screens , adolescents spend the most 9-11 hours per day on screens ,while for adults this screen time is 8-11 hours per day. Now weather this time spent is too much or is in control is more of a subjective discussion and depends on various variables but still there are numerous symptoms that can warn you that you’re overdoing it such as:

• Unable to achieve State of Flow
• Less sleeping time
• Increasing Health Issues
• Behavioral problem

Now how much of screen time is sufficient will vary greatly in terms of:

• Characteristics of the person- Age of the one spending time on screen, his requirements, his interests, his behavior etc. For example, an adult person doing his official work will spend fewer hours than a child or adolescent playing videogame.

• Medium of screen used- Whether it’s the Smartphone or the big screened laptops or the video games or televisions, the amount of time spent will fluctuate between the mediums used.

• Time of the day- Whether you’re driving and managing screen time or you are at home at sofa and using your smartphone . The screen time you spend will surely vary.

• Nature of context- For example browsing the internet for news or playing games online in a community or playing online games alone will surely make a difference in the amount of screen time you’re consuming. This takes us to the next variable

• Creating v/s consuming-We use this internet and digital space in two ways either by creating content (blogs, websites, games, channels, software and what not) or by consuming whatever we are in need of and that may be information, tools, videos etc. In both the cases your gazing time at the screen will differ.

So there’s no definitive answer to how much screen time is too much. Wait actually the answer can be “it depends and varies”. Adults have to see that they are not compromising on their health and other basic patterns of life while uplifting their screen time.

For children the National institute for child health and human development has suggested that children be allowed for 1-2hours of screen time per day. Now this is based on surveys and data collected over a period and the results are not hard and fast but are indicative. It is up to our senses and abilities to be cautious of overdoing it with the screen time and not making this requirement a behavioral habit.