I love, love, love this idea -- we've been feeling exactly the same way about screens in our home. It really hit home for me when our 7-year-old told us, "I want you and Mommy to get off your phones now." Going to try a day away next weekend -- and hopefully we'll run into you all sometime on the Beltline!
I'm 82; the only jobs I have are cleaning up the kitchen and doing my laundry. I can no longer drive. Yesterday I tried to boost my step score. I tripped on something on the sidewalk. I scraped a leg pretty good (I was wearing shorts.)
These constraints make screentime look like a pretty good alternative.
Loved this! My daughter is 7 so is very aware of the role that phones play in the day to day cadence of her parents’ lives. We let her pick a “screen free Day” once a month when we will put out phones away completely, she won’t watch TV, and it’s always great.
Also, excellent work weaving together Inside into this story.
I watched it last week and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
This text fitted me so perfectly that it almost felt as I had written it myself. Totally understand the feeling of being addicted, distracted, and pulled by the internet. Will try the day-off for sure! :)
I feel like I could have written lots of this post! Ever since my 3-year-old asked for a phone, I've been trying (and sometimes failing) to limit my phone time that happens in front of him. I also loved that Sabbath podcast and thought about trying a digital one on the weekend...and then I never implemented it. ha. Glad to know I'm not the only parent struggling with these things!
I love the ref to Bo Burnham’s song because I literally just listened to it 3 times and wasted time on the internet for 20 minutes. TicTok is the worst for that. Your article is the only thing on the internet that makes me a better person today. Ok off to find UFO videos, ciao!
I totally get this. I have been working through a program called "unwinding anxiety" which focuses on mindfulness. That lead me to a program on Tara Brach's website, a 40 day intro to mindfulness and Jon Kabat-Zin's masterclass on mindfulness. now I am practicing mindfulness - which is all about sitting for a period of time and as your mind wanders off gently bringing it back to the here and now. What you're talking about is exactly what mindfulness is for ultimately, to learn how to bring our attention back to the moment or task at hand instead of wandering off. I can highly recommend any of these, they are really helping. Even when I journal I am starting to find that I wander off less and stick with what's here and now more.
The struggle is real. We have trouble putting our phones down and we have way too many toys for the kids. I also will do similar things where I’ll sit down to fix some code on a website I manage, but instead I’ll surf around and scroll through the socials.
I love, love, love this idea -- we've been feeling exactly the same way about screens in our home. It really hit home for me when our 7-year-old told us, "I want you and Mommy to get off your phones now." Going to try a day away next weekend -- and hopefully we'll run into you all sometime on the Beltline!
I'm 82; the only jobs I have are cleaning up the kitchen and doing my laundry. I can no longer drive. Yesterday I tried to boost my step score. I tripped on something on the sidewalk. I scraped a leg pretty good (I was wearing shorts.)
These constraints make screentime look like a pretty good alternative.
Loved this! My daughter is 7 so is very aware of the role that phones play in the day to day cadence of her parents’ lives. We let her pick a “screen free Day” once a month when we will put out phones away completely, she won’t watch TV, and it’s always great.
Also, excellent work weaving together Inside into this story.
I watched it last week and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
This text fitted me so perfectly that it almost felt as I had written it myself. Totally understand the feeling of being addicted, distracted, and pulled by the internet. Will try the day-off for sure! :)
I feel like I could have written lots of this post! Ever since my 3-year-old asked for a phone, I've been trying (and sometimes failing) to limit my phone time that happens in front of him. I also loved that Sabbath podcast and thought about trying a digital one on the weekend...and then I never implemented it. ha. Glad to know I'm not the only parent struggling with these things!
I love the ref to Bo Burnham’s song because I literally just listened to it 3 times and wasted time on the internet for 20 minutes. TicTok is the worst for that. Your article is the only thing on the internet that makes me a better person today. Ok off to find UFO videos, ciao!
I totally get this. I have been working through a program called "unwinding anxiety" which focuses on mindfulness. That lead me to a program on Tara Brach's website, a 40 day intro to mindfulness and Jon Kabat-Zin's masterclass on mindfulness. now I am practicing mindfulness - which is all about sitting for a period of time and as your mind wanders off gently bringing it back to the here and now. What you're talking about is exactly what mindfulness is for ultimately, to learn how to bring our attention back to the moment or task at hand instead of wandering off. I can highly recommend any of these, they are really helping. Even when I journal I am starting to find that I wander off less and stick with what's here and now more.
The struggle is real. We have trouble putting our phones down and we have way too many toys for the kids. I also will do similar things where I’ll sit down to fix some code on a website I manage, but instead I’ll surf around and scroll through the socials.
Bells ringing all over the shop, totally distracted by my iphone. A day off sounds ideal.