What is the first thing you do in the morning when you open your eyes? If your answer is, to check your phone – well, we can relate. Screen time, in any form, has become part of our daily lives so much that it can affect our day-to-day functioning and hinder face-to-face social interactions.
If you haven’t considered the amount of time you spend engaging with a screen in some time, mental health awareness month is the perfect opportunity to do so.
We’re exposed to screens everywhere, every day. From the house to the office, we can’t mask the fact that screens are part of our lives but from time to time, it is so important to reduce your screen time for your own personal wellness.
Reducing screen time frees up more time to connect with family and friends. Fuelling connections with others can help with symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety and improve your overall wellness. We often miss out on the fun and beauty happening all around us because of the devices stuck to our hands.
Screens have become a vital role in our work lives as well. We cannot change that, but we can work on healthy screen habits. For example – being mindful of taking a screen break during your lunch time and not eating in front of your computer.
In this day and age of social media, wanting to capture and showcase every moment of our lives, we tend to get lost in the digital world and it might take a healthy dose of reality to wake us up to the fact that we need to make some changes for the better.
Wellness benefits when cutting down screen time
- Improving your physical health
- Freeing up personal time for other fun activities
- Making social connections
- Boosts your mood
We often hear: “Reduce your screen time before bedtime as it will improve your quality of sleep”. We understand it’s difficult because a quick scroll on Instagram or Tik Tok turns into a deep dive down the social media rabbit hole. We’re all guilty!
Pro Tip: When you wake up in the morning, try to not reach for your phone. Rather be still and present in the moment – even if only for two minutes, to set your good intentions for your day. This may be through prayer, meditation or simply laying in bed in a moment of silence to clear your head before a busy day.
We are not saying go cold turkey and cut screens out of your life completely but think about the amount of time you spend on a screen, and think about what other meaningful activities you can do in place of that.
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