Sarah Jacobson 
Are you drowning in your screen time deeper and deeper with every passing day?
That’s the story of every other man in this virtual world.
It is no surprise that, on average, people spend about 7 hours every day sitting in front of a screen. However, with the arrival of the global pandemic, the world has dramatically changed regarding working from home.
Many of us have fallen victim to the drastic effects of technology. We spend our productive leisure scrolling through social media, playing video games, and watching web series.
Excessive use of screens can impact your physiological, mental, and emotional health. It destroys your social being and is often proven to be the major cause of depression. In addition, it may impair your creativity and concentration ability if your screen time exceeds healthy limits.
When we start our day on mobiles and end up on desktop screens, it may seem like getting blood out of a stone to build our control over our harsh screen habits.
Here in this article, I’ve brought up five practical steps you must follow to reduce screen time and preserve your wellbeing.
Track Your Screen Time And Set Limits
I used to wonder why time passes so quickly to me when I am having my mobile phone in my hands. I broke out of my illusion when I started tracking my screen time. We often spend hours on screens without even realizing it.
There are plenty of applications available that help you track individual app usage and your overall screen time. These applications turn out to be essential tools to restrain yourself from drowning in screen time.
Even smartphones are introducing features for your digital wellbeing that help you monitor your screen time at daily, weekly and monthly intervals.
Another effective feature of these apps helps you set a strict time limit to hold you on from excessive usage of either social networking or mobile gaming. These applications shut down automatically once you have crossed the defined time limit.
Use Technology To Reduce The Use Of Time
We are colorful beings who often find ourselves lost in the colors of nature. We are eminently attracted by the bright colorful screens. And when the screen loses its colors, we lose our interest. Turn ON grayscale mode on your screens to prevent yourself from being distracted by brightening lights emerging from your mobile screen.
Your favorite tune ringing every five minutes is another distracting factor that destroys your attention and focus. Notifications themselves insist that you block them.
Remote work and online jobs have aroused a new trend that has made screens an inevitable part of our jobs. Consequently, you should find tools and software that help you speed up your tasks and manage your screen time. For instance, using tools to generate pay stubs or software to track the performance of your employees can reduce your excessive efforts and screen time.
Spend More Time With Family
Where adults are struggling to reduce their screen time, children are developing destructive screen habits at the same time.
According to research, children around the age of 8-18 spend a whopping 7.5 hours in front of a screen for entertainment. In children, such harsh screen habits are usually triggered by parents overusing screens and not paying enough attention to them.
Act as a role model for your children in maintaining work-life balance and managing your family and screen time. Devote some of your screen time to your children’s playtime. It improves their cognitive, emotional, and social health. Schedule a family time far off to devices. Have an off-screen meal with your family at least once a day. Make the bedrooms screen-free zones.
Delete Distracting Apps
To break the plunging screen habits, you need to spend a few minutes on the screen. Don’t let distracting apps occupy your phone. Make some time to uninstall these apps that are nothing but a hindrance to your productivity and creativity.
It was my first step to build my control over my screen time to uninstall the networking apps and mobile games that engulf the gobs of my productive hours. It may sound difficult at first to delete all apps that tempt you into mindless usage, but it is the most effective practical way to make a big reduction in your screen time. If you are unable to uninstall them, at least, set a strict limit for their usage.
Pick An Off-Screen Hobby
Leisure time or weekends can often be a boredom-filled time. Now that we all have devices at hand, getting busy on them is the first and last option left behind, either for free browsing, sliding wandering through social media, or playing video games.
To combat this, you should pick an offscreen hobby that fills you and keeps you off technology. You can do this by writing, reading, sketching, painting, crafting, gardening, or whatever keeps you occupied and away from technology.
Conclusion
Technology has brought us to an age where we are having meetups with friends on screens. From being a source of information to the cause of income, from shopping to banking, almost all the aspects of our lives are now switched to a virtual mode.
Be revived from screens, enjoy real-time life and grab memories. Screens will always be there for you but your precious time, energy, and loved ones might not be.
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