7 Ways to Lower Your Screen Time
Do you spend most of the day staring at a screen?
You're not alone! Most of us do. However, for many of us screen time gets out of control quickly, and it’s hard to break the habit of mindless scrolling.
How screen time impacts mental health
Spending time on devices is a part of modern life that isn’t going away, so why should you care about your screen time?
Time spent on screens has many effects, both physical and mental. Physically, screen time can lead to things like eye strain, neck and shoulder pain, posture problems, and back pain. Mentally, excessive time on screens can:
Interrupt sleep: The blue light emitted from our devices can impact our circadian rhythm, which can negatively affect sleep. Sleep is foundational to our mental health, so when you’re not getting enough quality sleep, everything else can be impacted.
Impact self-esteem: time spent on screens can make us forget that we’re just seeing the highlight reel or what someone is selling to you. Constantly comparing yourself to others, trying to keep up with trends, or acting like life is perfect all of the time is exhausting and draining, and it can make you feel bad about yourself.
Eat up precious free time: We only get so much free time in a day, and most of us spend it on screens. Are there other things you’d like to do with your free time? Are there things that are piling up, or relationships that you’re neglecting in real life because you’re spending so much time online?
Influence anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders: Research has shown that screen time can influence mental health disorders, like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.
Impact your relationships: Communicating digitally can certainly bring people together, but it can also at times lead to misunderstandings or interpersonal friction. Sometimes, our social skills start to slide when we’ve spent too much time online and our IRL connections are impacted.
To be clear, spending time on screens doesn’t make you a bad person, and it’s okay if your screen time is higher than you’d like it to be. That’s true for the vast majority of people these days!
Sometimes, screen time can be a great distraction in moments when you need a break. Many of us have hobbies or relationships that are sustained through time on screens. If, however, you are concerned about the impact your screen time is having on your physical or mental health, there are things you can do to address it.
Most of us spend more time on screens than we’d like to. If that’s the case for you, try these tips to help lower your screen time:
Keep track of your screen time
Are you aware of exactly how much time you spend on screens a day? The idea of finding out the specific numbers might turn your stomach, but it’s important to know what you’re dealing with. You can’t lower your screen time if you’re not sure how much time you’re spending on screens in the first place.
It might be hard to calculate time spent on all of your different devices, but try to get a ballpark figure to start with. Some of the time spent on screens might be unavoidable, like when you need them for school or work. However, the time you spend on screens in your free time can be adjusted going forward.
Set up limits on your devices
Sometimes, making it a little harder to access content on your devices can help lower screen time. Most phones have settings now where you can limit how much time you want to spend on certain apps or websites.
You can set limits so that your phone will require you to bypass your screen limit to get into each app, which can make you reassess if you really need to use it or if you’re just scrolling mindlessly. There are also devices and apps that can help you lock down distractions in a way that you can’t bypass, if you’re looking for something that’s harder to get around.
Adjust your notifications
Another way to help lower your screen time is to tinker with your notification settings. Do you get a notification for everything on every app? That can be overwhelming, and make it tempting to click back in, even when you don’t really want to.
Try turning off notifications for all apps that aren’t essential. It might make you feel uneasy to potentially miss out on notifications, but you don’t really need to be available in real time for most notifications. Without your devices buzzing every 15 seconds for a notification, it can be easier to live your life off-screen.
Set a timer for mindless scrolling
Mindless scrolling can have negative impacts, yes, but it’s also okay to indulge in. To stop yourself from getting caught up in the vortex of social media or online spaces, try setting a timer to give yourself a reminder to stop scrolling after a certain period. You can always choose to ignore the timer if you want, but it can be a signal to take a break or to do something else if screen time is leaving you feeling drained.
Make your devices less tempting
How many times have you picked up your phone to do one thing, and found yourself scrolling mindlessly on socials an hour later? We’ve all done it, and part of the reason it’s so easy to get sucked in to the scroll is because our phones are designed to be addicting. However there are ways to make your phone less appealing. You can set your phone to revert to grayscale instead of color, so it’s less fun to look at, and easier to concentrate on what you’re doing.
If your screen time is a serious concern for you, you can even delete apps that take up too much of your time. Whether it’s a social media channel or even your email app, how would it feel to take it fully off of your device? There are other ways to access your accounts if you really need to see what’s going on, but giving yourself a bit of an obstacle can help you consider if you really need to access them or if it’s just out of habit or boredom.
Explore screen free hobbies
It can be hard to think of what to do when you’re not looking at a screen, but there are lots of options out there! Try making a list of things you can do when you’re not using your devices, so that you have something to choose from in the moment instead of just going back to your screen.
Are there any hobbies you’ve been meaning to try? Do you have ideas saved somewhere on social media that you’ve never explored? If you’re not sure what kind of hobbies you’d be interested in as an adult, consider what you liked to do for fun as a kid. Were you always outside playing? Maybe you could join a recreational sports team. Were you the kid who was always doing arts and crafts? Try making a collage, or making something cute for your space with air dry clay or paint. The options are endless, no matter what your interests are, it just takes some brainstorming.
Take steps to reduce the impact of screen time
There are also things you can do to help your screen time have less of an impact on your health. Try wearing blue light blocking glasses or use blue light blocking apps on your devices, especially in the evening before bedtime to help reduce the impact of blue light on your sleep schedule.
Working with a therapist can also be a helpful step in reducing your screen time. Therapy can help you get familiar with your patterns as well as your values and goals, so you can build a life that feels fulfilling to you, instead of being glued to a screen all of the time.
Are you concerned about the impact of screen time on your mental health? We can help. Our therapists at Anchor Counseling New York are accepting new clients - schedule an appointment today to get started.
