Saturday 12th October
This week we are talking about technology. Phones, iPads, tablets, computers, TVs… the list goes on!
Without being careful, we can wake up to a phone screen as our alarm goes off, watch TV as we are having breakfast, stare at a computer screen for the whole day, unwind in the evening watching TV and then scroll Instagram in bed until we fall asleep.
Sound familiar? Screens are taking over our lives and its time we take some action to break the habit we are all in and give ourselves some well needed technology boundaries. Most of us have tried to not pick up our phones as much but all components of apps, games, TV shows, are made to be addictive and makes it difficult for us to simply just put them down.
We are going to give you some tips for how you can take action to start implementing some boundaries around technologies in your life!
How many times have you decided to open Instagram or Facebook and then 1 hour later you’re still there? These apps are designed around keeping our attention for just one more minute and another minute and another…
On iPhone you can set daily limits on each app. When your limit is up, it locks the app and you actively have to decide to unlock it. By creating a barrier where you have to surpass the notification that you have been on the app for the allotted amount of time per day.
To set these limits, go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits
Scheduling time away from the constant temptation from your phone is important. You can simply put your phone out of reach or schedule time where you only allow certain calls or notifications in the hour before bed. Setting this on your phone helps avoid the temptation to pick up your phone when it buzzes with a notification.
To set these Downtime limits, go to Settings > Screen Time > Downtime
I’ll warn you… your daily average will be a lot more than you expect. If you are on your phone on average for 3 hours a day, that adds up to over 1,000 hours for the year!
What could you be doing with that 1,000 hours instead? You can use this information to set realistic boundaries and App Limits.
To look at your daily average screen time, go to Settings > Screen Time
Social media and technologies are so addicting because of how easily accessible they are.
Having our phone, tablets and laptops at easy reach makes it easy to not be present in what we are doing. To break the patterns we have of reaching for our phones or tablets purely out of habit, we need to change how we use them:
