We are facing a screen time epidemic. I’m not talking about the kids – though the studies about adolescent screen time are damning and worth discussing. I’m talking about us: moms, grown-ups, adult society in general. How many hours of your day is spent looking at a screen? How many hours of your year? How about of your life? Screen time is tricky- it provides short-term enjoyment, but the opportunity cost is missing out on long-term development, growth, and enjoyment in many areas of life.
Everyone’s seen the eye-catching, dramatic statistics before. We’ve all heard how the average person spends roughly 7 hours a day on a screen, drastic amounts of time on screens has been linked to depression and anxiety, and social media algorithms have been proven to stir up outrage and unrest. Apps are literally designed with increasing addiction in mind. However, knowing those facts and others doesn’t make it any easier to change your screen time habits.
I noticed last year that I felt snappier, less patient, and overall more irritable when I spent time on my phone – specifically on social media. It’s taken six-months of trial and error to get new habits in place, but it was worth the effort. These strategies probably won’t work for everyone, but if you’re feeling the urge to put down your phone and re-join real life, give them a try.
“Land-line” your phone. Set your phone to ring for phone-calls, silent for everything else – charge it in a closet or drawer & walk away. Use it like you would a landline. If you need to make a call, or ask someone a question over text, walk over, use it, & then leave it there.
Reframe your view of your phone for what it is – a tool. If it’s wasting your time, it’s not doing it’s job. Remember when phones first got a flashlight and a calculator? It was amazing. Your phone should work for you, not you for it. Reality check, if you’re spending hours upon hours on your phone, you are working for it – your eyes and attention mean advertising dollars.
Delete all addicting apps from your phone – the games, the social medias, the ones you find yourself clicking on for no reason at all. At first, this will be a shock to the system – you’ll find yourself picking up your phone and then having nothing to do on it. Don’t cave – put it back down and find something else to do.
Brainstorm a list of things you like to do in real-life. When you’re reaching for your phone, reference that list. some of mine are checking on the garden, reading, and playing a board game with the kiddos.
Try to move your stuff to analog. The recipes you always look up can be printed and put in a recipe book. Crossword or word search books can be found at the dollar tree. A oven timer can used instead of your phone’s clock. Use a real alarm clock and set your phone further away from your bed at night. Have a conversation with your partner at night eye-to-eye instead of sitting side-by-side sending reels.
Turn your settings to black and white – self explanatory. If your phone doesn’t resemble something like a casino floor, it won’t catch your eye as much. Confession: I only lasted 3 days with my phone like this – mines now in color again.
Try an app blocker. This didn’t work for me but I have friends that use them for productivity windows and love them.
Change your phone background to a reminder of the goal – getting off the phone and living. Some people like a family picture or a quote about life being short. Mine simply says “put down the phone”.
If you have one, consider using a smart watch to get some distance. You’ll still have access to the communications and tools aspect of your phone without the temptation of time-wasting fluff.
Tell your friends and loved ones what you’re doing. This is two-part, and where I messed up on my screen reduction journey. One, they’ll help keep you accountable, and two, they won’t take your sudden disappearance as disinterest. I had assumed no-one would care about my online presence as long as I kept showing up in real life, but it turns out some people really do care about likes/comments/etc. I’m just not one of them so it never occurred to me until after people were already upset.
There is so much life to be lived off of screens. Go live it.
Disclaimer/Reality Check: I have wasted many, many hours of my life online. I’m sure I will waste many, many more. The goal is improvement, not perfection. This column will be about motherhood, parenting, and homemaking for the most part. Sometimes it’ll be about why being skinny is a boring goal or what the best flavor of ice cream is (Blue Bell – any flavor), other times it might be how to turn around a bad day. Most importantly, I don’t ever want this column to make another mama think she’s not doing enough. If you’re reading this, I want you to know that you are, you’re doing great, keep it up. Sing it with me: no-one is doing it allllll!
