Intentionally evaluate your screen time by asking if it makes you feel productive, good, or connected to others, and prioritize those uses to boost well-being.
Use a mental trigger to check your feelings in the moment (‘How am I feeling right now?’) and choose activities that feel nourishing, productive, or helpful over those causing anxiety or sadness.
Categorize your screen time into ‘food groups’ (e.g., nutritious vs. junk food) to make conscious choices that nourish you, similar to how you approach eating.
Establish a ‘phone bedtime’ (e.g., 7:30 PM) where you shut off and put away your phone, engaging only in physical, screen-free activities like reading or yoga to significantly improve sleep.
Avoid checking the news after a certain time each night, especially before bed, to improve sleep and reduce anxiety about information you can’t act on.
Create a list of enjoyable non-screen activities in advance to easily choose alternatives when the urge for mindless screen use arises, especially during stress.
Deliberately take breaks from screens, such as going for a walk without your phone, to be present and relieve the subconscious pressure to respond and be available.
Dedicate an entire evening to turning off all personal screens and engaging with those you are physically with, or participate in shared screen activities like watching a movie together.
Create physical distance from devices, such as a charging station outside the bedroom, to prevent instinctive use before bed and avoid negative spirals.
Experiment with temporarily deleting specific apps (e.g., Twitter, news apps) from your phone to reduce ease of access to potentially problematic, anxiety-inducing content.
Be conscious of the content you expose yourself to online, opting for calm content over anxiety-inducing platforms to protect your mental state and prevent transmission of stress to others.
Establish clear boundaries in all areas of life (work, personal time, news, screens) to combat the blending of roles and reduce feelings of being overwhelmed.
Create rituals to mark the beginning and end of your workday, providing clear transitions between work and personal life.
Establish rituals for screen interaction, such as using different devices for different purposes (e.g., desktop for news/email, phone for calls) to create clear boundaries and improve efficiency.
Use your phone’s ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature with a VIP contact list to allow important calls while maintaining physical boundaries from your device and avoiding constant interruptions.
Nurture your physical body with off-screen activities like taking a bath, recognizing that physical well-being is crucial beyond mental engagement.
Categorize your screen time into ‘Consumption,’ ‘Creation,’ and ‘Connection’ to understand and balance your digital activities effectively.
Be intentional about children’s screen time, questioning its usefulness, positive impact, and opportunity cost, rather than defaulting to screens.
Have conversations with children (over five) about screen use, involving them in creating off-screen activity lists and schedules to give them a sense of control and reduce tension.
Engage children in creative, off-screen activities like ‘worm hunts’ to provide alternatives to screen time, especially for younger kids.
For children’s learning, define desired outcomes or skills first, then creatively find ways (on or off-screen) to achieve them, rather than defaulting to online lectures.
For children’s screen time, be mindful of how rules and usage make both you and your children feel; adjust if it causes judgment or overwhelm.
When confused or fearful, remember that looking for answers in evidence-based science is always the best way to go.