Getting off the grid and getting that bread in one go? It’s possible — for three months, anyway.
That’s how long HowNow, a UK-based intelligent learning platform, is running its Study Contractors program. For the unique curriculum, HowNow hopes to recruit three people who are willing to switch their Instagram time with learning a new skill off of their website. Make it through the three-month program and you get paid €500 (about P33,600) for each month.
But why Instagram, you ask? That’s because according to a recent social media study by the same platform, we now spend about an hour a day on the photo-sharing app, making it the biggest black hole of our time every day.
We collected 1,000 adults’ screen time data, which revealed that the average adult now spends 58 minutes a day on Instagram, 49 minutes on Facebook, and 34 minutes on Twitter,” HowNow writes on its page. “We decided to highlight what can be achieved with these precious minutes, when they’re applied to something more productive than scrolling and double-tapping.”
“Instead of scrolling, the successful candidates will dedicate that time to their new chosen skill, in an attempt to find out what can be learned when social media use is reduced or replaced,” the learning platform added.
Chosen candidates have the liberty to work remotely and to choose which skill they want to learn, as long as it’s something new to them, and it’s available on the platform.
It doesn’t even need to be technical or industry-relevant — whether it’s a new language, a musical instrument, or a creative hobby, as long as you haven’t touched on it before and you spend at least an hour a day learning it, then you’re good.
To monitor your progress (and to make sure you’re not flaking!), HowNow will require each candidate to submit weekly reports to their line manager. At the end of the third month, the candidates will showcase their new skills, after which education consultants will determine whether using 58 minutes a day to learn and not scroll through Instagram has been a productive pursuit.
So, if you’re at least 18 years old, are “ambitious and eager to learn,” and consider yourself a “self-starter,” then consider ditching the social media squares by applying here.
