Content Creator DJ VRYWVY Tracks Her Screen Time For A Week

In Chronically Online, Elite Daily asks people to get real about their phone habits, tracking their screen time over the course of seven days. This week, content creator DJ Vrywvy shares the apps she used the most, the time she spent scrolling, and how much posting she did while getting ready for her latest event.

When Val Garcia, aka DJVRYWVY, posted her first TikTok — deejaying alone in her bedroom — she never thought it would change the trajectory of her whole career. Her first video to go viral, an early 2021 remix of “No Perreo Sola” by Bad Bunny and “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee, helped her amass nearly 5 million likes and a following of 329,000 music lovers on the app.

“When I started deejaying, I thought it was only ever going to be in Dallas,” Garcia says. “Now, my audience has allowed me to go out of state, which to me was huge. It’s been so cool seeing how many different people listen to me all throughout the world.”

While the Dallas-based artist and event producer continues to post videos of her DJ practice and eclectic mashups of top Latin hits, she’s also expanded her scope of work into partnerships with brands like Buchanan’s Whisky and spinning at events hosted by companies like Meta.

Sometimes I might need to be laughing on TikTok more than others.

Although most of her career revolves around being always online, Garcia says having two phones (“So I can separate my work and my life”) and setting time limits on her social media apps has helped keep her offline — even if she sometimes hits the “Ignore Limit” button. “Every day is different. And sometimes I might need to be laughing on TikTok more than others,” she says.

Below, Garcia shares what she learned about herself by tracking her screen time on her personal phone, the Netflix shows she’s currently obsessed with, and her new obsession with fantasy football.

Occupation: Content creator, event producer, and DJ

Age: 25

Location: Dallas, Texas

Weekly Average (September 23-29): 6 hours, 38 minutes

Day 1: Netflix & Chill

Mondays for me are super chill days. I usually take the day to do nothing because everybody always is like, "Oh, I hate Mondays." So to me, I turned my Mondays into fun by absolutely doing nothing.

I took Monday to rest and marathon-watching the Netflix show, Nobody Wants This. I love me a rom-com. They make me feel good. The day was super chill and I got ready for the weekend because on Friday I have my gig with Facebook. I had to celebrate getting to work with Facebook, so I made my favorite Buchanan's cocktail, the spicy piña, and I celebrated by watching my rom-com.

Instagram was my second most-used app on Monday. I typically try and post every day on my stories, usually with a poll as a way to be held accountable with my audience about working out. I’ll reply to DMs or send funny memes back and forth with my sister and best friends. Sometimes my boyfriend’s sister sends me so many reels it takes me a little bit to catch up because I’m that friend who goes through and replies or reacts to every reel you send.

Most Used Apps: Messages, Instagram, TikTok.

Screen Time: 5 hours, 8 minutes.

Day 2: DJ Gym Rat

On Tuesday, I woke up having not such a good mental health day. I do this thing with time blocks, where if my morning is not going well, then I can't let it affect my afternoon because if I let it affect my whole day, it just all goes bad. So I decided to turn my day around and I went to the gym. Working out always helps me feel better. Then I did some retail therapy to feel better.

It was wild tracking my screen time — I need to get off my phone more. I noticed that my most-used app was Messages, and I was like, "Am I just a yapper?" I'm just always talking with my friends.

My church, Social Dallas, records their sermons and releases them in podcasts, so sometimes I like to go throughout the week and re-listen to them, especially when I’m not having a good mental health day. Lately, I’ve been liking that they transcribe the podcast, so instead of listening to it, I can read it. Reading it makes me sleepy, and then I’m able to go to sleep easier.

Most Used Apps: Messages, Instagram, Podcasts.

Screen Time: 7 hours, 17 minutes.

Day 3: It’s A Target day

Wednesday started on a good note because I went boxing. I love boxing — it's my stress relief. And then after I went to the pool to relax. Apparently, I was just scrolling there while I was at the pool. I was also on Spotify for a bit just because I like to find new music and take notes of what songs I have to download when I get home.

I’m really into Rauw Alejandro right now, mostly because I know he’s about to drop a new album so I’m looking forward to it. I have also had Becky G's latest album on repeat. My comfort music, especially when it starts getting into fall time is PARTYNEXTDOOR. (You can listen to a few of my playlists here.)

After the pool, I had a Target day. Every girl loves a Target day, so that was fun. I was with my best friend, she’s like my sister, so I call her daughters my nieces because we’ve known each other our whole lives. My niece bamboozled me into buying her toys. That is always what ends up happening. Afterward, we were hungry and went to Chili's, but that was a horrible idea because it messed up my stomach.

Most Used Apps: Messages, Instagram, Spotify.

Screen Time: 6 hours, 16 minutes.

Day 4: Road Tripping

Thursday, I was very proud of myself. It looks like my screen time was very high, but that's just because of Waze.

I woke up early and I worked out. Then I got in the car and drove to Austin. When I got to Austin, I had to do a soundcheck at the Facebook event because they were setting up for the next day. I honestly love it when there's a soundcheck a day before an actual event because it makes the day of the event so much less chaotic. So that was really nice, but it was super hot and I’d be deejaying outside for the event, so I was in soundcheck thinking about how I’d survive the heat tomorrow.

Then I took a long nap because I was tired from driving and working out. Thursday felt like two days in one. When I woke up, I ate and went over my music for the next day. I made a folder of songs I knew for sure I wanted to play and downloaded new music while watching The Circle.

Most Used Apps: Waze, Messages, Instagram.

Screen Time: 9 hours, 32 minutes.

Day 5: Spinning All Day Long

I woke up for hair and makeup. I had to be there at the event at noon. I deejayed from 12:00 to 12:30, then a band went on after me, and then I played again starting at 2:30. It was supposed to go from 2:30 to 4:30, but it was too hot outside, so I finished early. It was a really immersive experience where they had all these fun things going on. They had a spot where you could customize your own cowboy hat, some photo ops, and pastries that were little conchas. They were super cute.

On the patio where I was, they had paletas. It was really cool how they incorporated Hispanic Heritage Month. I love that because it allowed me to curate my set. I did my bilingual mixes. I got to play Bad Bunny and J Balvin, but also Jack Harlow and Drake, and go back and forth. And it was really cool to see just how receptive the audience was and that they were enjoying both of them.

Messages was the most-used app again today. My boyfriend, two of my closest best friends, my sister, and my mom are the people I’m texting every single day. I like to stay in contact with the people closest to me. You know that meme that’s like: “The convos with my friend never say hi or bye because it’s forever ongoing?” I feel like that’s how my conversations are with the people closest to me.

Most Used Apps: Messages, Instagram, TikTok.

Screen Time: 5 hours, 38 minutes.

Day 6: To Buc-ee’s Or Not To Buc-ee’s?

Saturday felt like such a drag because I had to wake up and drive back to Dallas from Austin. I listened to The Circle on the ride home. The drive from Austin to Dallas is two hours and 30 minutes, but if you stop at Bu-cee's, it adds a long time. It’s this huge gas station chain all over Texas, and the mascot is this beaver. Everybody loves this beaver, he’s so famous. They have food (I usually grab chamoy peach rings and Sun Chips), drinks (I recently became obsessed with Buc-ee’s iced coffee), literally everything. I always stop at one.

I also ended up grabbing this really cool foldable blanket that I felt would be perfect for my truck. I love laying on my truck bed or sometimes having truck picnics on the truck bed.

When I got home, I went to my sister's house and I saw my nieces again. It was a really chill. Saturday. I was trying not to be on my phone, but it said that my screen time was up because of Waze and Netflix.

Most Used Apps: Waze, Messages, Instagram, Netflix.

Screen Time: 6 hours, 21 minutes.

Day 7: It’s Game Time!

Sunday, I woke up, went to church, and then went to brunch. Sundays are also my football days now that my boyfriend has recruited me to become a football fan. I was checking my Fantasy all day, which my boyfriend talked me into. My sister’s in a league with all her girlfriends, so it’s really fun because we’re literally all girls who don’t know what we’re doing — but we kind of know what we’re doing because our boyfriends help us cheat the system. All the players are like my little Sims, and whenever they make points, I make points. So that's fun.

I’m pretty sure I won this week. I'm super excited because my percentage was low, but some players got me a lot of points, so that was good. Then my boyfriend and I went to watch the Cowboys game at one of our favorite restaurants. But the game got delayed, so we ended up getting our food, and going back home to watch the game.

Most Used Apps: Instagram, Messages, TikTok, Fantasy.

Screen Time: 6 hours, 21 minutes.

Final Thoughts: Tracking My Screen Time Was Eye-Opening

Overall, Garcia says this experience was “eye-opening” for her. “It made me realize I need to stop being on my phone so much,” she says. “I’m definitely a bit more mindful about my screen time.” Her goal since the experiment is to reduce her screen time and be more present in her day-to-day life.