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How to Reduce Your Screen Time When Everything is Online

How to Reduce Screen Time
Reduce Screen Time in Quarantine

Anyone else seeing their screen time go way up since quarantine?? I got an alert on my iPhone saying my screen time went up 35% and my daily average was around 4 hours!  Since Coronavirus, I think we can all agree our time spent on our phones, computers, and/or TVs has tripled more than ever.  Makes sense, since our lives have shifted from in person to remote and now our screens have become our only portals to the outside world.  Now more than ever, it is so important to learn to set boundaries for ourselves and find this screen life balance.

Being mindful about our use of screens can help us feel more in control and more self-aware.  I like to think of this analogy: just like there are different types of food, there are different types of screen time. Some make us feel better than others.  For example, relaxing and watching your favorite TV show in bed will probably feel differently from mindlessly scrolling through social media.  There is no right or wrong. It’s just finding what individually works and feels best for you.  When my graduate school classes went remote, I found that my whole day was spent on my laptop and cell phone even when I was not on zoom for my class time.  In between class I was mindlessly scrolling through social media, checking the news, and watching shows.  To keep busy is pretty easy with all of our devices, but to be productive is way different.  Separating from needed screen time and creating relaxing time is necessary for our well-being.

Helpful check ins with yourself:

  1. What will make me feel the best to start off my day?

  2. What do I need right now after my long work from home day?

  3. On a scale from 1 to 5, 1(worse) & 5(great) how am I feeling watching this TV show or scrolling through my Instagram?

  4. What have I done for myself today that brings me joy that does not include using any of my devices?

Some tips:

1)   Make a list of non-screen activities that you enjoy doing

a. Taking a walk outside

b. Doing your favorite workout video

o   Highly recommend

·   Obe Fitness

o Offers a ton of different classes, different instructors, and offers anywhere from 30 minute on demand videos to 5-minute express videos!

c. Baking and/or cooking

d. Taking a nice bath

e. Listening to a podcast

f.  Reading

o   Highly recommend

·   My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel

·   Untamed by Glennon Doyle

·   The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

·   The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

·   Before We Were Yours by Lis Wingate

·   City Of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

·   Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

·   The Skimm’s buzzy book picks

2)   Create boundaries

a. Start your day and end your day without your phone

o   10 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night have been working for me but figure out what works for you!

b. Minimize notifications + delete apps (you can always download them again)

c. Set different devices for different purposes

o   Emails only on your laptop

o   Phone and/or iPad for socializing and entertainment

d. Set a time limit on social media over your weekend

o   Set a timer on your phone and when you’ve reached it its time for your phone to go away

e. Put your phone on do not disturb when you take your screen time break

There is a lot of noise out there right now and we all need to establish our boundaries to help us maintain a healthy screen life balance! If that means taking a break without any screen time for a day or two, listen to your mind and body, and take what you need for you!

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