Use the fresh start of a new year to analyze your tech habits and implement healthy boundaries. While technology and media use is unavoidable as a whole, there are still ways you can implement mindful practices in your home. Whether you and your family want to cut back on digital use, find ideas for creating boundaries, or spark conversation on what is and isn’t appropriate, consider this your guide from our team at Corken + Company to help your digital detox!
Questions To Ask Your Child About Tech
Is your teen using social media? Ask them these questions—without judgement—to gauge their relationship with apps.
- How do you feel after you look at your social media feeds? Happy, anxious, jealous?
- Are you using social media to connect, create, or consume?
- Why do you enjoy following x, y, and z accounts?
- Are there any accounts that you feel you should unfollow?
- How do you think the content you share on social media makes other people feel?
Set a Strong Example for Your Kids
One thing most parents will agree on: Kids watch and pick up on much of what you do. Setting a healthy example of tech use starts with you. Reflect on your own digital use by asking yourself these questions: What does the way you use social media and your free time tell your kids? And, what do your kids learn by watching your tech habits?
For many parents, the lines between work and home have become increasingly blurred. Whether you work from home or commute to an office, it’s likely that you have emails, Slack notifications, and text messages rolling in well after business hours. With such easy access to these tools, it can be hard to truly shut things off and focus on spending time with your kids.
By showing your kids that you have set time limits and a dedication to screen-free activities, they’ll learn that balance is the key. They also might be more understanding of boundaries if you show them that the same rules apply to you.
10 Habits That Create Healthier Tech Use:
- Create one central charging station in your home. This wrangles all devices into one spot at the end of screen time and (hopefully) limits temptations.
- Enforce a “no tech in bedrooms or bathrooms” rule.
- Purchase a Wi-Fi router that automatically shuts off at a set time each night. This will help your family disconnect from tech before going to bed.
- Unfollow accounts that don’t bring you joy. If your kids are on social media, encourage them to do the same.
- Enlist dedicated reading, journaling,
or storytelling times before bed. - Use an old school alarm clock rather than the clock on your phone. This way you aren’t looking at screens first thing in the morning.
- Use a paper planner and calendar rather than digital.
- Put your phone in a drawer or in another room when you’re trying to focus on a task or be more present with your kids.
- Go on family walks and leave all of your devices at home. If safety is a concern, one parent can bring a cell phone and leave it on airplane mode.
- Put all other devices (laptops, phones, tablets) away when you’re watching TV.
Ultimately: be the change you want to see.
At the end of the day, it won’t be the Instagram stories or YouTube videos that you watched that will bring joy to your life, but rather the moments shared with the people you love most. You’ll always treasure that time you and your kids had a snowball fight or the night you and your spouse talked about your wildest dreams—even if you don’t have it documented. These are precious moments we can’t get back! Let’s live more presently with our families in 2022.
Learn more about taking a digital detox at:
https://www.coloradoparent.com/tips-for-limiting-screen-time/
