The "% of waking life" metric in Roots shows how much of your active day you're spending on your phone - but it calculates this in real-time throughout the day, which can sometimes look confusing.
How it works
The percentage compares your current screen time to how long you've been awake so far today - not your full expected waking hours.
Example:
You wake up at 8am
By 9am, you've been awake 1 hour and used your phone for 15 minutes
Roots shows 25% of your waking life (15 minutes ÷ 60 minutes = 25%)
Later at 11pm (after being awake 15 hours), that same 15 minutes would show as ~1.6%
Why it works this way
This real-time approach helps you stay aware of your phone usage patterns throughout the day. If you're on your phone heavily in the morning, you'll see a higher percentage early on - which can be a useful nudge to be more mindful.
As your day progresses, the percentage adjusts to reflect your total waking time so far.
What to expect
Early in the day: Percentages may appear higher relative to screen time
End of day: Percentages reflect your full day's screen time vs total waking hours
The calculation updates continuously as you use your phone throughout the day
Still seeing unexpected numbers?
If the percentage still doesn't seem right by the end of your day, we'd love to hear from you. It helps us make this metric more accurate and intuitive. You can reach out by tapping the bubble below.