T echnology has come a long way. In many ways improving our daily lives and makes life easier. Having all the information this world has to offer in our hands wherever we go has definitely made us more educated than before. However, with all this information coming so easily, it distracts our creative minds and we become dependent on our appliances. Not to mention, it's terrible for your physical and mental health to be in front of a screen for too long, so here's how to minimize screen time.
Believe it or not, the main reason many of the youth have sleeping problems these days is because of screen time before bed. First of all, blue light is very bad for your eyes, and especially at night, it could cause a strain on the eyes. The blue light also makes it harder for you to fall asleep, so try to keep your phones away from your bed. Make sure you don't use your phone at least 30 minutes before going to sleep.
Instead, read a book or perhaps just practice your nightly affirmations. This will help you sleep faster and more peacefully. Now, lots of people use their phones as an alarm clock, which means your phone will be the first thing you see and hear when you wake up. Instead, buy an alarm clock and put your phone in another room for the night.
For every day of the week, set a time limit for how long you can use your phone outside of work-related things or emergencies. For example, on weekdays, allow yourself only 2 hours of leisure screen time and only 4 hours for the weekends. If you follow these time limits strictly, you will find yourself to be more productive than when you started.
You’ll find that you have much more time than you thought so you should spend it on things that matter and things that will make you better. Find a hobby or start a new project, you’ll see them be much more rewarding than browsing the internet. Now, if you find it hard to limit yourself on your own, most smartphones offer the option to sleep after an amount of usage. So, when your daily quota of phone usage finishes, your phone will automatically shut down until the next morning.
Whenever you go out whether it be for groceries, a camping trip or a party, leave your phone behind. Now, I don't mean leave it at home, of course, you might have an emergency but perhaps put it on silent or just leave it in your car. Live in the moment instead of taking pictures of everything. Having it in just your memory makes it all a more valuable moment.
Even on a normal day, try keeping your phone in a desk drawer and only use it when you need to. I’ve noticed that nothing is more distracting to a productive moment than your phone sitting beside you, tempting you and as soon as you pick it up, hours have passed. So, make sure that whenever you’ve sat down to do something productive, that you keep your phone out of your reach and also out of your sight.
Now technology has come so far that we can talk to people through text messages even miles away but instead of texting all the time, try setting up a call or video calling since this way you can do many things while still comfortably speaking with your friend. This also creates a deeper connection between you and the person you're talking to as it's not just a relationship over a series of texts, you can see each other's emotions and hear each other's laughter. If possible you should never decline just meeting up instead of speaking on the phone. A good outing with a friend is good for one's mental health.
Hope our guide on how to minimize screen time benefits you. Now technology has in many ways improved our lives and made things easier and safer for us, however, we can’t ignore the negative effects and need to educate and better ourselves in order to live a healthier and more fulfilling life.
