This year I’ve made a point of focusing on living a more simple life at home. A life that’s less busy, and helps to provide respite from stress, anxiety, and malaise at home. And, if I’m being completely honest, one area I’ve failed to exercise simplified reata, I’ve realized one area I’d like to work on is the amount of time I spend online: I’d like to spend less time looking at screens.
While I know that staring at a computer screen for hours on end isn’t good for my mood or eyesight, in many ways its an occupational hazard. As a social influencer I spend a lot of time online. On social media channels, my blog, Etsy shops, and other side hustles. So its easier said than done to simply lower the screen on my laptop and see what’s going on in the world around me.
I also love writing on my blog and checking out the posts of my community on social media, but all things in moderation, right? Which is why I’ve been more intentional this year about limiting my time online, there’s still room for improvement.
Keep in mind, I don’t have all the answers. But I do want to share some of the techniques I’m using to unplug little by little at home. So if you’re looking for better, more intentional screen time at home, here are a few suggestions to get you started:
No screens before 9 am:
One of the biggest ways I’ve revolutionized my screen time at home this year has been by not opening a screen until after 9 am each morning. This allows me to get my family ready for school, my husband off to work, my pets walked and fed, and allow myself time to delve into a workout, shower, medication, and time with the word each day.
This also allows me to set the mood for my day ahead and not allow the discord of social media to alter my projections and aspirations for the day ahead.
No screen time between 1-2 pm each day:
I try to make a point of unplugging from social media for one hour each afternoon. This allows me to make sure I’ve eaten, to check on my pets, to prep dinner, and to take some time for myself. Which during the hot, humid summers here in Mississippi, often consists of reading a book from my local library. I call this time, gray matter building sessions.
I do not check or answer emails after 7 pm:
By 7 pm each evening I’m spent. I need time to unwind. Time after my family is put to bed and pets are put in their crates to spend relaxing with my husband, catching up on his day, enjoying some one-on-one time together. I’m also a chronic insomniac. So I need several hours before bed without blue lights to help my mind settle down.
I also engage in a nighttime regime that starts at 7 pm that consists of sipping on sleepytime tea, diffusing lavender essential oil, and taking a melatonin supplement before bed. Products that often leave me blissfully drowsy and not in the proper mood nor mindset for answering emails each evening.
Ending my workday at 4 pm:
As a WAHM, your workday and family routine often meshes in a less than positive way. Which is why I have created the healthy boundary for myself at home that is centered around the idea that my workday ends at 4 pm promptly each afternoon.
This allows me time to unwind from my work schedule, to prepare for my family to come home, to give myself the gift of self-care, and most importantly, it forces me to properly engage in time blocking and time management each day. This helps me focus on goal setting each day!
Less Mobile Phone Screen Time:
When I first decided I wanted to reduce my mobile phone screen time, I realized I didn’t actually have any idea how often I used my iPhone or what I was spending the most time looking at. To decipher this mystery, I use different apps to help curb my visiting certain sites online during peak work hours. Apps that track usage and number of minutes I spend on social media. Which has helped me to evaluate and corrective approach my social media procrastinations are online.
Then, before getting on my phone to browse, I ask myself if my work-relation media goals are met and what time it is, before engaging in mindless screentime at home. I also set times on my phone for free time online. This allows me to stay within healthy parameters online when it comes to screen time throughout my day.
With that said, those are five ways I’m helping to have better screen time at home this season. Tips that may help you curb and curate better screen time for yourself at home too! Now I want to ask, how do you reduce screen time? Are there any apps you recommend? I’d love to hear about your tips and techniques below!
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