The battle
for your time
Your time is the most valuable thing you'll ever own. Nobody can buy more of it. Nobody can give you any back.
So here's a question worth sitting with: of all the free time you've got left, how much of it is heading straight into a screen?
Let's find out. It takes about 30 seconds.
First, two quick things
No sign-up, no names. Just you and the numbers.
The average 12-15-year-old spends 4–6 hours on their smartphone each day, according to a University of Birmingham SMART Schools Study in 2025.
Here's the time you've got
How do you like to use your free time?
Tick whatever sounds like you. There are no wrong answers — pick as many as you like.
Choose a few to see where this goes.
Where will your free time go?
Every glowing dot is one month of free time you've got left to live. Now watch how much a screen eats.
Free time lost
How we worked this out
This is a model based on Dino Ambrosi's TED talk The Battle for Your Time. It's meant to make a big idea feel real, not to predict your actual life.
We assume a life of 90 years, then take off the time most of us spend on the unavoidable stuff. Whatever's left is your free time:
| Sleep | ~33% |
| School / work | ~15% |
| Eating & cooking | ~4% |
| Errands & travel | ~6% |
| Bathroom time | ~3% |
| Free time left | ~38.5% |
That free time works out at roughly 9 waking hours a day. We take the screen time you entered and see how much of those free hours it uses up over the years you've got left. That's where the numbers come from.
Why does this matter?
Imagine yourself as a 90 year old looking back. What do you think you'll remember?
You'll remember building dens, making friends, days out with the people you love, family holidays, laughing until your stomach hurt, camping under the stars, getting muddy, splashing in the sea and the people who made you feel happy.
But hours spent scrolling or playing the same game over and over will fade into the background. It becomes like white noise. You won't remember the hundredth TikTok you watched, or another evening spent endlessly scrolling or gaming.
The best memories are made when you're fully living, not just looking at a screen.
Spend it collecting memories. Not likes.
How to claim back your free time
🚫 Don't let Big Tech win
The tech companies have built their platforms to make you addicted and steal your time. Turn off the features that do this. Notifications, streaks and endless scroll are all just ways to hook you. Set time limits on apps.
⏸️ Take breaks
Plan time without your smartphone. Learn to live without being always on. Start with short periods, then try longer. Use the time to do something you've been really wanting to do but never got around to. And never take your phone to bed.
🤝 Do it together
Share this with your friends and talk about it. If you all try to do more in real life together, it's a lot easier. You help each other take the pressure off being always on.
from Smartphone Free Childhood ⚡