Your Family’s Holiday Tech Detox
Bailey Smith, M.Ed.
The holidays are almost here! The kids are off from school, the adults have vacation time, and we are all basking in all our unstructured free time. We have time to hang out with friends, work on craft projects, try new recipes, or organize a pick-up basketball game. Yet every January after the holidays, I often hear from clients that they ended up stuck on screens during their break and feel like they did nothing at all.
This year let’s help our families break the cycle of getting stuck scrolling by trying out some tips for a technology detox.
- Have screen-free hours set during the day. Whether you want to try screen-free time from 6-8 for family dinners, or you’d prefer no screens until after lunch, scheduling screen-free time forces us all to find something else to do with our time.
- Resist the urge to fill in the “but there’s nothing to do!” blank for your children and see where their creativity (or their boredom!) take them. As with any other habit change, you should expect some discomfort initially. It takes consistency to see real change!
- Practice family screen time together. Having a family movie night or playing your teen’s new video game together removes the isolation factor of screens and can help better regulate screen time.
- Make it a family contest, kids versus parents. Whichever team can stay off their devices the longest gets to choose dinner that night! Make sure to choose a reward that appeals to your specific family. This can also help remind kids that screen time is not just a kids’ problem; it is something we can all struggle with and work on improving! Modeling healthy screen-time habits for your kids speaks louder than any rule you may set for them.
- Put screen-free activities on your family’s schedule. Whether you want to enjoy some winter activities like ice skating or looking at holiday lights, or just finally start that intimidating puzzle, be intentional in scheduling time together.
- Learn to rest without screens. Although it may feel like rest, screen time is not a break but a distraction. After screen time, we notice our kids are actually more stimulated and more emotionally dysregulated. The same is true for adults. Give your brain a break from the constant stimulation and learn to rest in other ways. For some more tips about rest, check out the 5 types of rest I discussed in a previous blog post: https://summitcounseling.org/its-time-to-rest-5-types-of-rest-to-add-into-your-routine/