I Spent 4 Hours and 49 Minutes on My Phone Today!! Should I be worried?

October 24, 2018

Ok, don’t judge me- but I really wanted to know exactly how much time I was spending on my phone so I measured it using the Moments App (ioS 12 also has a built in feature to help you keep track as well). I was introduced to the app a while ago and I have been documenting my usage and time for the past few weeks. I thought I was going to feel bad about the amount of time I spent, but I found something even more interesting and awesome instead!

If you have an iPhone here is how your can check your usage now!

Launch Settings from your Home screen. > Tap on Battery. > Wait a moment for Battery Usage to populate. > Tap on the Show Detailed Usage button to get a breakdown of foreground and background power usage. > Tap on Last 7 Days to get a broader look at power consumption over time.

**First pic is from one day, second pic is from seven day summary**

Screenshots from Moments App:

My Results

It turns out I get plenty of sleep – averaging 7-8 hours a night – awesome right!?! It also turns out that I spend almost 5 hours a day on my phone…I thought I would have negative feelings about this, but it turns out I don’t. Let me explain. I work at home and with my time divided between Digital Chicks Media and our blog, it makes sense to me that I would be spending the equivalent of a day’s work on my phone, aka my computer on the go. With social media and engagement at the core of what I do, I guess it is not surprising, but there is a silver lining to all this information.

Black and White Sweater Dress for $35 (available in every color) another one I love is linked here | Loafers are Chanel, shop similar here | My go to red lipstick is linked here

The Silver Lining

I am living day-to-day moments for most of my day – that is time that I am spending with my family, at the gym, cooking, driving, etc. That is a nice find that somehow I can’t ignore. I actually felt good about that, is that weird? My kids get home from school around 3:30PM and go to bed around 8PM. The main thing I try hard to work on is the amount of time I spend on my phone while they are home. I want to make sure that those 8 hours of living are happening sans my phone while my family is together.

Something my husband and I try to do walk away from our devices to resist the temptation to not be present in the moment while the kids are home. While work can sometimes creep in trying to move to another room to finish out an email or call is a helpful way to recenter and be present in the time you are away from your phone.

The Takeaway

In life we have to strike a balance between the things that we do and find a place in our day to day lives for all of it. Smartphones are a necessary evil that really are not that bad, they have enhanced our lives by so much. So, next time you resent the amount of time you may be spending on your phone, find out how much time you are actually spending and let that knowledge either empower you or help you create changes you wish to see to make being in the moment more meaningful.

Your Chick,

Sonia

Chick Picks:

Lifestyle, women

#MomsOffDuty – What Does That Mean? Celebrating 100 Posts!!

September 26, 2018

This is our 100th Post!!! That is more than two years of Chick Picks, Fashion Posts, Motherhood Rants, and Party Tips and we could not have done it without you!! Thank you so much for supporting Chicks And Salsa!!

One of our most frequently used hashtags is #MomsOffDuty. It was brought to our attention that ‘life outside of motherhood’ and ‘Moms off duty’ implies that we did not have children or did not care about them. This could not be further from the truth! It just means that we are not going to beat ourselves up about taking a little ‘me time‘ every now and then.

Yes, we are moms and yes we are obsessed with our kids (as most Moms are). BUT the blog is a way for us to find an avenue outside of the realm of crafting, cooking, and career. Chicks And Salsa is a way to use creativity and media to connect with other women in a way that encourages us to develop ourselves as members of this society.

Reflections:

As women, especially those of ethnic descent, we have a tendency to place ourselves last — behind spouses, kids, career. If there is anything I have learned in these past few years, it is that putting yourself first can feel good sometimes, too. It is also important to realize that ‘mom guilt’ never goes away: we will always wish that when we try a new restaurant with friends, that our husbands were there or when we discover a new park to run at, that we could exercise and watch the kids at the same time.

Moms Off Duty—that is how we feel when we squeeze in a coffee with friends during the day or get a babysitter and vent to a friend over cocktails after school. It is all-encompassing. It is the food that we eat, the activities that we participate in, the civic work that we do, the obligations we have at work, and our responsibilities at home. It is about taking a moment to build yourself as a woman, no matter what corners that life brings your way. Stringing together the moments outside of our routines are often the ones that we remember and cherish.

Celebrating Each Other

You Do You

We challenge you to be ‘off duty’ once in a while and do something for yourself with or without someone else. Push yourself to a new limit and rediscover an old hobby. Or listen to some old tunes and dance like no one is watching. It is possible to be a great mother, an influencer, a career-builder, and an independent woman — find your way to putting yourself first and in doing that, find yourself.

Lastly, thank you for all the love that you have shown us these past few years, hopefully we have more to offer as we learn more about all of you!!

With so much love, your chicks,

Rina and Sonia

Shout out to Neema, one of our contributors and Mom-extraordinaire, see her posts here.

Chick Picks:

Lifestyle

The Importance of Digital Media Marketing- Meet Digital Chicks Media

August 22, 2018

From blogging, I have learned, that social media can be a very powerful tool. This tool creatively allows you to share your brand, thoughts, and ideas on platforms that is driven by like minded people. “Finding Your Tribe” often trends on the minds and hearts of people on the World Wide Web. The importance of that tribe cannot be understated.

For any service or product driven company, finding an audience through social media can increase your visibility which can translate into customers and sales. Social media marketing is about finding your 1,000 true fans and targeting them with proper messaging and a carefully crafted brand.

As part of our evolution as blogger s, we have started Digital Chicks Media, a social media management company. Digital Chicks Media can help your business by handling all the creativity and time required to juggle content creation, engagement, and activity on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

What Forbes is Saying:

“Social media isn’t something you can “turn on” and expect to start seeing an increase in revenue or conversions. It takes time and effort to build a successful social media presence; you need to have a thorough understanding of your target market, you need to carefully craft your messaging and time your posts adeptly, and on top of that, you need to be active consistently, engaging with your audience, sometimes for months or years, before you see a return on the investment.” ~Forbes

It’s true that juggling a business and all of the social media requirements to meet today’s needs can be overwhelming. Let the chicks of Digital Chicks Media run your social media so that you can run your business.

If you are interested in how we can help you get more active socially, please get in touch with us! Email Rina Puri at [email protected]

Your Chick,

Rina Puri

Shop My Favorite Camera and Camera Accessories.

Lifestyle

6 Reasons Why You Will Love Vero – True Social Media

February 27, 2018

Honestly, thank you to the makers of Vero! This new app touts that it is the social media solution of the future and after hours of tinkering, here is what I have learned and think I will love:

Its a One Stop Shop!

Yup, its fully integrated. No more “click link in bio” – now images themselves are hyperlinked (bye bye “swipe up” feature). On Vero you can store your reviews on places, books, movies, etc. and integrate that into your actual story. Better yet, your posts that tell the story don’t automatically delete after 24 hours — Vero actually archives your memories into easy to access categories. This creates a comprehensive representation of who you are, the things you like and what you like to do.

No More Identity Separation

As a blogger/small business owner, I have personal Instagram page and a blog Instagram page. Now, with Vero, you can categorize your followers and share things accordingly. The categories are Follower, Acquaintance, Close Friend, and Friend. This is a MAJOR plus for me — for personal posts I can just share those with my family and close friends. For my blog posts I can share with everyone! But it can all be on one comprehensive and very personalized and authentic feed.

Some Familiar Features

You can still search for relevant hashtags and people similar to the way you would on Instagram. This is comforting when switching to a new platform. Hashtags are very useful for categorizing people, trends, and events as well as for searching for relevant posts.

App Aesthetic is Awesome

Instagram now seems very sterile with its white backdrop and locked-in features. Vero has a darker backdrop that makes pictures pop. The backdrops also adjust according to the image and is lighter for lighter images and darker for darker images. Smart framing for the photos helps enhance the viewing — isn’t that everything you want on a photo-based sharing platform?!

No Ads

Yup, you read that right, no more spillage from Facebook with sponsored ads and seeing posts you didn’t ask to see. This app will eventually require a paid membership (annual fee) but to see what I want to see, I think that is fair.

Post Are in Chronological Order

After Instagram changed its algorithm and started giving preference to more popular and engaged posts. On Vero you see things as they happen when they happen, IN ORDER!

So far, I am very impressed with Vero. Currently I use Facebook, Facebook Stories, Instagram, Instagram Stories, Trip Advisor, Email, and my blog to reach out to my followers. But with Vero I think I can merge a lot of these under one roof. Integrating my social media presence optimizes the way I present my brand — and helps manage my time. The more you share the more complete your story is.

So, what are you waiting for? Make the switch and download Vero App.

These opinions are my own and this post has been written purely out of the exhaustion I experience managing my brand across a variety of platforms. I see potential here, so I wrote this post. Time will tell if the Facebook juggernaut is just too big, but for now, I am willing to try something new.

Cheers,

Rina