Today marks the end of Plugged In’s Screen Fast 2025. If you joined us on this crazy little journey, you have successfully navigated a week of greatly curtailed screen use. And, if you’re like me, you both felt that absence keenly and ultimately relished in the extra time you gained.
You can listen to my experience, and that of my colleague Bret Eckelberry, right here.
But while the first thought of many of you might be, “Hey, I can use TikTok again!” your next thought might be along the lines of, “It’s great I can use screens again and all, but I don’t want to go back to my same ol’ habits. How do I cut back on my screen time without cutting it out?”
Well, have no fear. As part of our Screen Fast Survival Guide, we did include a few suggestions on the eighth day of our journey. We also talked about it on the most recent episode of The Plugged In Show.
But let me offer a few quick tips for you and your family:
- Designate a phone-free zone in your home. The kitchen is an ideal phone-free locale, because so many organic conversations take place there.
- Shut down your phones and screens during certain hours of the day—or even whole days! I know of families that have “screen-free Tuesdays,” where those Tuesday evenings have been turned over to family game nights. So instead of dreading those evenings, the kids look forward to them.
- When you’re talking with someone face-to-face, ignore your phone entirely—no matter how much it’s buzzing. Make sure that the person you’re talking to, especially if he or she is your child, feels that you’re fully present with them.
Remember, using screens wisely isn’t a weeklong exercise. It is, ultimately, a lifelong discipline we should lean into. If you’ve completed our Screen Fast, you probably have a new understanding of how much you actually engage with those screens. And, if you feel that that screen time was excessive, take steps to put those screens in their rightful place.
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