Finding Balance: Practical Screen time Strategies for a Healthier Digital Life

Written By Annie Belott, M.Ed
 
 

Social media platforms. Email accounts. Online gaming. Streaming services. The list of online applications and programs that are accessible at our fingertips seems to continue to grow each and every day!

Managing the current digital landscape can be an overwhelming feat as a parent, and also as the individual using technology. Establishing healthy habits & boundaries for you and your family’s screentime is an essential step, and will ultimately help find the balance between engaging in the benefits of technology and the risks of overuse.

So, let’s charge up our batteries and dive headfirst into the iOs pool with a few tangible screentime strategies to preserve healthy technology use in your home.

Physical tech-free zones

Designate certain areas of the home as a no-go for technology
Examples: In bedrooms, at the dining room table or in the homework area

Time-based screen-free periods

Determine specific times during the day when screens are off-limits
Examples: At dinnertime, 1 hour before bedtime, 1 hour before school

Daily Limits

Establish specific, daily screen time limits to help balance your family’s digital use with their other activities & responsibilities – consistency is key!
Example: Set a 3 hour daily screentime limit to begin after nightly homework & household chores have been completed

Alternative tech-free activities

As a family unit, create an alternative “activity menu” for each family member to list non-screen ideas for them to choose from during tech-free times
Examples: crafts, playdate with a neighbor, taking the dog for a walk, going to a playground

Stay the course

Putting in parameters with technology will certainly incite some pushback. Avoid making exceptions to the newly established rules for the first few weeks and allow everyone time to settle into the new technology routine at home – you will thank your future self!

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Creating screen time arrangements in your home as a collaborative process involving all of your family members will encourage a sense of shared responsibility and accountability for the agreed upon rules. Every family's technology rules will look different – set your family up for the most success using the screen time strategies that will work best for them.

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Annie Belott, M.Ed

With over nine years of experience working in academia, including university settings, Annie has worked with various student populations including individuals with disabilities, first-generation students, and student-athletes. She focuses on strategies to improve upon time management, procrastination, test anxiety, self-testing, learning styles, etc.

From 2016 to 2020, Annie worked as a Learning Skills Specialist at Georgetown University. Here she oversaw the implementation of academic support services to all students on campus, specifically individual consultations with students seeking assistance with their study habits, tutoring for foreign languages, and study skills workshops/webinars.

Annie has worked for Life Solved since the Fall of 2017 and recently transitioned to a full-time position with the company. She continues to work with students from middle school through the collegiate level to improve upon their organizational systems, test-taking and self-testing strategies, and help students create effective study schedules to make workloads manageable.

Annie has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Salisbury University and a Master’s degree in Multicultural Special Education from the University of Texas at Austin.

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