How to reduce that screen time?

We are high schoolers, and we are the Gen-Zs. Teenagers nowadays tend to be associated with the phone - and that is very true, right, since I’m pretty sure that each of you right here must have a phone, or at least a personal electronic device. The phone serves a lot of purposes: it is the place where you can do work, get some research done, but most importantly, to interact with your friends and relax with things like Tiktok and Instagram reels. However, as these things can easily be addicting, chances are, even if you realize it or not, you may be using your phone too much in a day. Whereas it is recommended that we spend no more than 2 hours per day on a screen (either it is your phone, your laptop, or the TV), please check your phone right now! It is actually very likely that you have exceeded this time, and when looking at your average screen time per day, it can get up to around 4, 5 hours, or even more! I know that to be able to use your phone is very important (entertainment is something that everyone should be able to have, and plus, you want to communicate with your peers, right?), but if you are relying too much on it, it can get very harmful - and the consequences can be observed almost directly. If you are using your phone too much, you may not have enough time to do your homework, and you may not be able to finish your homework. Furthermore, without caring for your eyes, your eyesight can deteriorate quite fast! Because of these very detrimental consequences that the overuse of your phone can get to you, it is crucial that we limit our screen time - but the question here is: “How?” That’s why in today’s post, I would like to share some tips that I find very helpful in working towards reducing your screen time!

The first thing, and probably the most important tip here, is to recognize the need to reduce your screen time. Remember, even if you know a lot of tips and that you’ve learned from a lot of people, but then you are not determined to do it, then every effort will only be thrown away. At the end of the day, it is up to you who makes the decision to either change or not, so if you are actually serious with reducing your screen time, you need to be determined to do it - because honestly, it can get very challenging to stick to your initial plan.

Next is to prioritize what you need to get done first. Initially, it can get pretty challenging to, for example, reduce your screen time from 5 hours per day to only around 2 hours per day. But let’s not make this progress too fast - it can take some time to adapt, right? Instead of reducing your screen time straight away, start with doing things that you need to get done first. Do you need to prepare for an exam? Great, do that first! Are you planning on an extracurricular activity that you want to pursue? Do that first also! The tip here isn’t for you to force yourself into reducing screen time, but rather, to comprehend the benefits of making this decision. So let’s say that when you have finished all the things you need to get done either from school or at home (like chores), you only have a few hours left in the day to use your phone. But then, you start to realize one thing: “Oh, so although I don’t get to use your phone much, I am able to do a lot of things, and my day is actually very productive!” Habits, in my personal experience, come from the internal realization of its importance (which leads to the decision of turning it into a habit), so when you start to realize the importance of taking time to do more meaningful stuff, naturally you will want to reduce your screen time!

The third thing is to delete apps that are wasting the most of your time. Typically, they will fall into two categories: games and social media! I know that you are going to respond to this by saying that “Bach! I can’t delete that game because I am on a very high level, and I have worked so hard to get to this place!” Excuses, excuses, excuses! To tell the truth, I do know that some apps are certainly going to be important (like Facebook where you will interact with your friends as well as reading different news), but for others, they are just a waste of your time! Okay, delete a game - what will happen to your life? Personally, I used to like this one game, and when I decided to delete it, I was very sad because I have worked for several years to get to that level. But then, after I deleted it for a while, I realized that it actually didn’t feel that bad! In order for you to make these decisions, you really have to be realistic with yourself: what is more important in your life?