Have you noticed how many people are on their phones all the time? Have you noticed how much time you are spending on your phone daily? Whether you know this is an issue, or you don’t think you have a problem, this challenge is for you. If you have a phone, iPad, laptop, or TV, read on to learn how to reduce your screen time through this challenge.
By Allie Temple
The Challenge:
Use under TWO hours of screen time on your phone each day for ONE week.
To access your screen time on an iPhone, go to Settings>Screen Time> Last 7 Days. The average at the top right of the screen should be under two hours by Sunday.
Why should you take part?
Well, here are a few reasons:
1.The average person spends over four hours a day on their device. Social media from top platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and Snapchat is suspected to take up half of this time frame.
2. Sleep: Your smartphone is your sleep’s worst nightmare. Studies have shown that there is a “strong and consistent association between bedtime media device use and inadequate sleep quantity, poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness” (Scutti). Using your phone at night makes resisting the urge to check headlines or text messages much more difficult. Not only that, but your melatonin levels are thrown off by the blue light from your devices… who knew. Screen time ends at 8 o’clock!
3. Boredom: This one is hard. We have such a convenient way to captivate our attention between Candy Crush and Facebook, it seems like a foreign idea to pick up a magazine while waiting at the dentist’s office, or simply take in your surroundings at a traffic light. Boredom leads to creativity, innovative thinking, problem solving, and strategizing. These perks of boredom can be regained through the One Week 2 Hour Challenge. Phone off. Boredom on. Grab a book, take a walk, or bake some cookies.
4. Social Relationships: We lose so many opportunities to interact with other people due to our phones. Because of this we lose vital skills to empathize and form meaningful relationships with others. A group of researchers in 2014 studied 51 children who spent five days without phones or laptops at an outdoors camp. Following this break from technology, these children were more able to “read facial expressions and identify the emotions of actors in videos they were shown than a control group who did not attend the camp”(DiGiulio). Make some small talk, put your phone down when you’re in a conversation, and learn about the people around you.
An Important Note
- This Reduce Your Screen Time Challenge was created to benefit you. If you choose to use other electronic devices because you are bored for more than two hours, it is your loss. That being said, doing productive work on your computer is completely fine; the text is larger and does not cause as much strain on your eyes.
Thank you for taking charge of you health,
Yours warmly, Allie Temple
Found this post helpful? Save it for later!
