Fifteen Minutes
City life has a whirlwind-like rhythm that sets priorities and draws people in. We put our work at the center and build the rest of our lives around it. In fact, if we were to randomly stop ten people on the street, perhaps at least eight of them would admit that they are engaged in a job that they cannot identify with, that they cannot give any real meaning to. Jobs that we often do carelessly, just to earn a living... This is the fundamental source of a deep-seated dissatisfaction in our lives.
Second on the list is the time spent commuting. In a metropolis like Istanbul, if our home and workplace are not reasonably close, we consider traffic to be an unavoidable part of our daily routine. If we spend at best nine hours at work and two hours commuting each day, and feel compelled to set aside a reasonable amount of time for sleep, that leaves us with no more than 5-6 hours. We save what we want to read, what we want to do, and everyone and everything else we want to see and meet for vacations that never seem to come. Well, we've already spent at least 240 days a year this way.
But we never neglect to look at the screen during these limited and precious hours. Here, on the road, at home, in a cafe, while waiting somewhere, chatting with a neighbor... Although the advent of smartphones dates back only 15 years, we have embraced digitalization with our flesh and bones. Being online has become as essential to our lives as eating and drinking.
The Digital 2022 Global Overview Report, published regularly in partnership with We Are Social and Hootsuite.[1] According to the data, 70 million of our 85 million registered population are online. As a nation, we spend an average of 3 hours a day on social media. Despite having the world's fourth slowest internet, Turkey is the sixth most active country in the world when it comes to social media. As of the beginning of 2022, Turkey is once again the country that uses Instagram the most actively worldwide. What can we say? We've grown to love documenting our lives on Insta. Additionally, we are the seventh country in the world that plays the most video games. We are the sixth country that shops online the most. We love buying cryptocurrency. We are the country that buys the most cryptocurrency in the world, hurray! We are also among the leaders in using internet channels like Netflix. What can we say? We are a nation with high digital adaptation, that's for sure.
Even if we can't have the lives we dream of, we experience the unbearable lightness of watching what we think we have or taking on another identity in that medium on screen. This is a way of escaping reality or breaking free from the weight of daily routines. On the other hand, we remember that the hours we spend in front of the screen are not transformed into useful and meaningful pursuits, but are wasted time, as our minds nag us in the back of our minds. We do not fail to do a moral reckoning, knowing that we are squandering a significant portion of the balance in our time bank, the amount of which we do not know.
For those who equate digital adaptation with modernity, these statistics may seem encouraging, but the news is actually bad. If we put aside the feeling of emptiness that comes from wasting most of our time, we may still be the country most affected by digital deformation. The decline in our attention spans, our already pitiful position as the country with the lowest reading rates in the world, and our ranking as second to last in the world in learning new things[2]When read together with all this data, the problem becomes clearer. While we feel relieved that we are feeding our babies by stuffing food into their mouths and giving them the hypnotic effect of handing them a phone, on the other hand, our children, whose mental nourishment we have neglected by failing to teach them to ask questions, question things, read, and learn, are entering the system as new recruits.
So how do we break this vicious cycle? We shouldn't cling to romantic but unrealistic inspirations like opening a guesthouse in an Aegean town to enjoy life, or planting your vineyard and garden, immersing yourself in nature. Nor should we offer the simplest solutions like screen detox, systematic slowing down, or mindful awareness exercises. Rather, is there a way to make life more meaningful right where we are and within our current circumstances? Is there a way to have less wasted time and start doing something more meaningful?
Instead of trying to change our lives from the ground up, let's take small but steady steps that will lead to transformation. Starting with just 15 minutes a day. Yes, let's start with just 15 minutes and make a difference in our lives.
We spend an average of 3 hours a day on social media, yet we can't spare just 15 minutes. That excuse won't fly. We may not be able to change the world with 15 minutes a day, but we can add something different, educational, healing, and even soul-nourishing to our world.
We can start reading from anywhere. We can pick up a book and read for just 15 minutes a day. So what if it takes five months to finish the book? As long as we don't give up, that's all that matters.
Members of the "I understand English but I just can't speak it" club always put off their course plans until next spring. Instead of courses with an uncertain future, those issues can be resolved with just 15 minutes today. We can even start learning a new language.
We can try to learn an instrument. Even if we can only play a few melodies in the end, relying on the understanding of virtuosos who have dedicated their lives to this craft, how fortunate we are.
We can do needlework like embroidery. Even if we've never worked with knitting needles or crochet hooks before, even if we know the sweater we start this winter won't be finished by next winter... Never mind, let's just keep knitting...
If we have fifteen minutes, we can do some body movements. In fact, I can do the exercises that my doctor, whom I visited for my back pain, painstakingly showed me and even handed me the instructions for. If I am consistent enough, maybe even my posture problem will go away.
Or we can start walking. A brisk walk covers 1.5 kilometers in 15 minutes, which is close to 2,000 steps. Although this is still far from the 10,000 steps recommended by experts for health, if we continue regularly, it counts as exercise in itself.
We can knock on the doors of our elderly neighbors, whose doors hardly anyone opens, and whose doors we ourselves rarely wish to open, finding no time amid the hustle and bustle of life. Or we can look for creative ways to do something for someone in need. After all, there are so many studies that have demonstrated the link between personal happiness and doing good for others...
The options are limitless. Each of us has a choice that will bring joy, healing, and nourishment to our lives according to our own needs. There's no need to argue. Just fifteen minutes a day. But under no circumstances should you give up. The magic word here is consistency.
Emine Ebru Arslan
[1] https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2022/01/digital-2022-another-year-of-bumper-growth-2/
[2] https://news.gallup.com/interactives/248240/global-emotions.aspx
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