How to Turn Screen Time into Side Income
Many individuals are unaware of what screen time is. Well, it is the number of hours you spend looking at the phone, laptops, and TV screens. But do you know these hours spent on the phone
and laptops scrolling through social media, watching videos, or browsing random
sites can practically count as a part-time job to earn some money? The good
news is, it can be done. Turning your screen time into side income is a real
opportunity that you may not know of. Let us get into it as I tell you how.
1. First of All, You Must Realize the Value of Your Time Online
Most people underestimate how valuable their online habits
are. The fact is, you may not even realize it. I am not immune to this at all.
I have experienced this and am still experiencing it. As you are online scrolling and watching numerous and uncountable videos, brands are also paying attention
to your attention. If you can shift from just being a consumer, being online, scrolling
through everything and also become a creator or consumer, I bet you, you will open the door to income opportunities for yourself.
For instance, instead of browsing Instagram, Facebook, and
TikTok, consider small business pages for local shops. The same time that you
spend scrolling through your phone could now be spent paying for some of your bills.
2. Get Paid to Share What You Know.
For me personally, I find it shocking and surprising how
watching TikTok videos, Facebook videos, or YouTube Videos steals my time away. It
happens so fast that you do not even realize that you have been watching
such videos for two to three hours. This still happens to many of us, but is
it not more beneficial if the time being wasted on the screen can be used for
some benefit by sharing your knowledge?
By sharing your knowledge, you are sharing what you know.
Platforms like Medium, Quora Spaces, or even personal blogs can help you earn
some extra income, especially when you share helpful content. Also, if you are
the type who likes researching or writing, then you can start building an
audience around the topics you already love.
Once your content on your blog looks original, helpful and informative,
you can get your blog monetized using Google AdSense. To tell you the truth, on the
ground, many people still think they need a good camera before starting to
create content. That is not it, all you would need is content that people can
trust (trustworthy) and solves a problem.
3. Make Use of Micro Earning Apps and Tasks.
When I started looking for ways to make money online in 2019,
I came across a lot of articles and posts that talked about apps used to make
money online. I started this but stopped along the line due to schedules and a lack of technical know-how. I know that if I were consistent, this would have helped
me a lot.
So, if you are the kind of person who is not a fan of writing,
then I suggest this as the right catch. You can try surveying sites and testing
apps or work on micro-task platforms such as Swagbucks, TryMyUI, and
UserTesting. There are also Remotasks and ClickWorker, which offer you small
gigs you can do during your free time.
4. Build a Personal Brand Online
About a week ago, someone brought me this document to
print out for him, and that was when I realized that Facebook truly pays people
for creating and uploading content as reels. To satisfy my curiosity, I asked
him if he had ever received payment from Facebook, and it was amazing the withdrawal
history he showed me.
Going on further to browse his Facebook page, I realized he
was just sharing his daily life encounters and that was it. So, the question
is, why can’t you do the same? The internet is well known by content creators to
reward trust and consistency. Whether you’re on TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook
or YouTube, just let your focus be on authenticity and form your own brand. People
follow those who are relatable and knowledgeable. Once you’ve built
credibility, brands naturally reach out for collaborations, sponsorships, or
reviews.
Even to make your work less stressful, sharing your own journey, like how you learned some new skills, or how you were able to save some money, or your side hustles, you are able to inspire others, and they will love your
online presence and follow your brand.
5. Invest Your Screen-Time in Learning High-Demand Skills.
You will find it unbelievable and untrue if I tell you that YouTube can serve as your university or classroom where you can learn a lot of
skills. For some of us who experienced this while in the university, YouTube
was our next classroom where we came to understand in detail what we were
taught in class.
So instead of wasting your time browsing through videos all
day long, why not use the same time instead of learning skills in high demand from the internet for some good time income in the near future. here are thousands of online
tutorials teaching graphic design, copywriting, social media management, or
freelancing.
Do not rush yourself to learn everything; you wouldn’t
understand. The best thing to do is to be patient and learn these skills gradually.
Before you know it, your skills will be earning you more income than you would
imagine.
Final Thoughts
Note that the time you waste on your screen shouldn’t always be wasted. The same tools you used for entertaining yourself can be used to
your own benefit as well. Whether through content creation, online services,
micro-tasks, or skill learning, the internet is your most suitable side-hustle
partner.
