Screen Time Calculator
See what your daily screen time adds up to. Enter your daily hours to get the total per week, month and year, how many years of your life it represents and what the same time could buy you instead, such as books read or miles walked.
Check your phone’s screen time report; add TV and computer leisure time if you like.
Global life expectancy is about 73; many countries are 80+.
How to use the Screen Time Calculator
- Enter your daily screen time, e.g. from your phone’s Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing report.
- Add an optional cut-back to see how much time you would win back.
- Enter your age and a planning age for the lifetime total.
- Press Calculate screen time and read the yearly and lifetime results.
- Use the comparison table to pick a realistic daily target.
Screen time formulas
- Hours per year = daily hours × 365.25
- Days per year = hours per year ÷ 24 (or ÷ 16 for waking days)
- Lifetime years = daily hours × 365.25 × years remaining ÷ 24 ÷ 365.25 = daily hours × years remaining ÷ 24
Example: 5 hours a day for the next 45 years is 5 × 45 ÷ 24 ≈ 9.4 years of round-the-clock screen time, or about 14 years of waking time.
Daily screen time in perspective
| Daily | Per year | Full days per year | Years over 50 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | 365 h | 15.2 | 2.1 |
| 2 hours | 731 h | 30.4 | 4.2 |
| 3 hours | 1,096 h | 45.7 | 6.3 |
| 4 hours | 1,461 h | 60.9 | 8.3 |
| 5 hours | 1,826 h | 76.1 | 10.4 |
| 6 hours | 2,192 h | 91.3 | 12.5 |
| 8 hours | 2,922 h | 121.8 | 16.7 |
Easy ways to cut back
- Set app limits for the two or three apps you use most.
- Turn off non-essential notifications and keep the phone out of the bedroom.
- Replace one habit, like scrolling before bed, with reading or a short walk.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate screen time per year?
Multiply your daily screen time by 365.25. Four hours a day is about 1,461 hours a year, which is about 61 full days or 91 waking days of 16 hours.
How is lifetime screen time calculated?
Yearly hours are multiplied by the years between your current age and the planning age, then divided by 24 and 365.25 to convert to years. Four hours a day for 50 years adds up to about 8.3 years of non-stop screen time.
What is a healthy amount of screen time?
There is no single limit for adults; what matters is whether screens crowd out sleep, movement and time with people. For children, the WHO advises no more than 1 hour a day of sedentary screen time for ages 2–4, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding screens other than video chatting for children under 18 months.
Where do I find my daily screen time?
On iPhone go to Settings > Screen Time; on Android open Settings > Digital Wellbeing. Both show a daily average. Add TV and leisure computer time for a fuller picture.
What does waking days mean?
A waking day assumes 16 hours awake and 8 hours asleep. It shows how much of your conscious time screens take, which is usually more meaningful than 24-hour days.
How were the alternatives calculated?
They use simple, stated assumptions: a 90,000-word novel takes about 6 hours at 250 words per minute, walking covers about 3 miles per hour, a film lasts about 2 hours and the US Foreign Service Institute estimates 600–750 class hours to learn a language closely related to English.