Internet and technology boundaries

Past User

Hi sorry to bother you. I’ve not been doing too great lately and one thing that really hasn’t helped lately is I feel like I spend all my time on the internet. We all have an awful lot of time on our hands lately and with things being tough I find it hard to take time away from my screen. Technology may have offered help and a distraction in the beginning but now it’s becoming extremely draining. (I’m also here all the time, sorry about that )

I’ve tried taking breaks in the past the furthest I’ve ever got is about four days. Without the distraction of a screen I find myself hitting lows and I struggle on until I can’t cope anymore. But I’m finding myself disengaged from reality and feeling like a failure.

 I was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions or advice about how they manage their screen time. 

I just really need a break from technology but I’m struggling to actually do it, once I get last the seven day mark I should be ok it’s just the first few days I struggle with.

(ive tried parental locks but always end up getting rid of them in a day) 

Heres a wonderful resource I was given to help , I’m working my way through the ideas  but was hoping for a few more to try. 

https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-how-to-reduce-screen-time-and-boost-your-well-being.html


Sorry for bothering you I know it’s quite silly. 

Happy Tuesday, here if anyone ever needs anything.

Former Member

Hey Otter!

Oh how I can relate! I've been trying harder lately to get some screen free time as it appears the news can be impossible to escape too!

Honestly a good thing is finding something you enjoy doing outside of screens. I love colouring in so I try to get some time a day where I'm doing that. I always put a playlist on too, I count that as I don't stare at my phone 🤣

Some of those suggestions are quite handy! I love scheduling! Do you like to take walks? You could try and get some exercise time in too. Play with a pet. Read something, I'm going to look at some books I could get into maybe. Or any new hobbies you could take up! 

Ooh or even a good word search or cross word! 

I just try my best to get time in during every day where I can take a break. Props to you cause a big detox sounds quite tricky! I could manage a social media one I think, I should do that at some point

Past User

Thank you @laine , Happy Tuesday or Wednesday since it’s quite late. 

Wow those are some awesome ideas thank you so much. When people say about finding a hobby  my mind normally jumps straight to reading something I’m not doing great at focusing on lately. I never would have thought of colouring or crosswords. I’m not great at crosswords (I normally stuff letters in and hope for the best 😂) but I guess there’s no better time to improve. I used to draw a lot to unwind I’m not good it was just about getting my emotions out, now is probably a good time to start again. 

Im not great at small breaks which is why I need a big break. Thank you so much for the advice again, I’m feeling really hopeful.

Wishing you all the best. You’re an awesome person, here if you ever need anything 

Former Member

I'm a big fan of trying to amuse ourselves without technology @SpaceOtter and actually this weekend I'm planning on doing a screen detox A couple hobbies / activities I enjoy that don't involve technology are: painting, sketching, writing, reading, sudoku, juggling (this is super fun and requires concentration - lots of good tutorials on YouTube though haha), guitar (again the tutorials are usually on YouTube). This could be a good thread for lockdown passion projects

Former Member

Hmm lemme think.
Sometimes just sitting down can help and drinking tea or something.
Or looking out the window.
Cooking and baking can be fun. Or even just like cutting up food and presenting it.
Getting practical and fixing things is another. Or cleaning up. And personally i do drawing though i do a lot of digital too so haha. And sometimes other random art things. Reading is another thing.

Not exactly a break from screen time but watching tv could be at least a break from the internet. I find I spend a lot of time scrolling on the internet where at least with tv its just static kinda. 

Azziman

Lots of newer devices have app and screen controls. You can see how much time you spend (we all spend much more time on devices that we think!). But they also have app/screen timers, so that you put limits on how much time you're allowed to spend on it - those are super useful if you need some help with it. If there are apps on your phone that you could also have on your laptop, you could remove them - then, if you still really want to watch it, it's still there but less accessible.

Most importantly though, you have to be disciplined with how you use it - all these reminders and changes won't do much if you're still mentally depending on them for entertainment etc, so being mindful of your goal to not use them much is important. You could even set a set period of time of the day, say an hour in the evening, where you can use it as you like, but not outside that time - but depends on how and when you need it for work etc. Hope this helps!

Past User

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful suggestions. sorry for the late reply. I still use technology a lot but this past week I’ve managed to cut down on my screen time and I’m hoping to keep that up 

@JamJar I hope your screen detox went well. You gave me some awesome ideas , To help me pass the time I’ve started drawing and I’ve done some painting with my cousin too. I tried  juggling when I was little I even had a set of juggling balls but I’ve got the coordination of a slug so I was never particularly good. But trying again now  I’m older might be a very good distraction. Thank you for all the ideas 

@tkdog thank you for the awesome suggestions. Sometimes I forget distractions don’t have to be as big as starting a new project and sometimes something as simple as staring out of a window can be a great thing. I’ve spent a lot of time window gazing now and it’s left me feeling a lot more peaceful. You’re suggestion of digital drawing reignited my passion for it, I’m not very good but it’s satisfying to draw something out and the just delete it. I’ve also started reading again too instead of scrolling through YouTube so much.

Thank you @Azziman you’re definitely right about being disciplined. I’ve got myself a little time table I follow now. The structure has helped me an awful lot and it even helps the days go faster. Instead of cutting out screen time completely I thought a more achievable goal would be to decrease my screen time from last week, and next week I’ll try to decrease it even further.

Thank you so much for all the awesome suggestions I really appreciate them. Sorry again for the late reply and sorry if I sounded rude.

Since cutting down screen time I feel like my brains a little quieter and I sleep a lot better  

I hope you all have an awesome day