Are You Controlling Your Screen Time or Is It Controlling You?

A friend recently threw out a challenge to take a 24-hour rest from all screens—phones, computers, TVs. It was enlightening to discover my most challenging aspect of screen dependency.

But first, a look at my day.

Upon awakening, I ran into immediate hurdles. My Bible reading app is online, and I have favorite music for getting ready in the mornings. But, of course, my music player is my phone.

One of us got a parking ticket two days ago. (I don’t want to mention any names, but his initials are the same as my husband’s.) If we pay the ticket today, it’s only $12. Past today, it bounces up to $25. I can either drive downtown and try to find the correct office for traffic ticket payments, but my GPS is on my phone. Or I can pay the bill online. But my online-bill-paying-ability is… well, online.

I was working in the yard and noticed that our dwarf pear tree was beginning to show off its snowy blossoms. It was a gift from friends before they moved out of state. I turned toward the house to grab my camera to send a pic to them, but… yeah, my phone is my camera.

I’m part of a couple of family text strings, a Life Group text string, a women’s Bible study text string, and a Walking for Wellness text string. It’s how we communicate across the miles. But not today.

Television isn’t a challenge because my husband Dan and I seldom watch TV (well, except during football season). Most evenings I enjoy reading and playing a couple of brain-strengthening games. Not because I’m getting older and more forgetful, but because I’m… getting older and more forgetful. And of course these word games are on my phone, which means I lost a day of brain-stimulating activity.

But the most challenging aspect of no screens was not being able to write. It’s my work. I write and edit and do Google searches and rewrite and submit articles—all online. I did write today. But it was on a yellow tablet with pen. Which means tomorrow I’ll need to take the time to transcribe from paper to laptop. Sigh.

Are You Controlling Your Screen Time?

Honestly, the main reason for taking a break from our screens is to own how much accumulative time we spend mindlessly scrolling through social media and getting sucked into reel after reel. While I definitely could use some self-discipline in those areas, I also saw how much I use electronic gadgets to do my work more effectively and run the household more efficiently.

My phone is a camera, calendar, grocery list, to-do list, reminders, encyclopedia, address book, alarm clock, timer, and music-player. Online banking, writing, editing, researching, procuring speaking engagements, arranging travel, submitting magazine articles, posting blogs—all done with the aid of a screen.

Yes, our screens suck us into mindless activity. But they’re also useful tools. Just as an electrician wouldn’t leave his multi-meter, pliers, wire strippers, or drills before setting out on a job, I’m not planning to toss my working tools.

But here’s the thing: If we’re not actively controlling our screen time, it controls us.

Replace Mindless Scrolling With These Stimulating Activities

There are a number of ways to set aside our screens—for an hour, an afternoon, or a day—and fill the time with creativity, outdoor movement, or learning something new.

• Plan a weekly family game night with screens turned off and left out of sight.
• Sign up for that watercolor painting class you’ve always wanted to take.
• Try baking something from scratch, and then take it to an elderly neighbor, sitting and visiting for a while.
• Write a hand-written note to someone special (I’m pretty sure it will make their day).
• Pick up that knitting project you’ve long neglected.
• Take a leisurely walk through the park, then sit in the shade and read for a while.
• Join a friend in a morning Zumba class, grabbing a coffee afterwards without checking your screen in between.
• Volunteer to listen to 2nd-graders read.

Our friend who challenged us to the 24-hour rest from all screens got the idea from author and pastor John Mark Comer. Comer and his family take a “screen sabbath” for 24 hours every weekend.

There are so many creative ways to control our screen time instead of letting it control us. I like this thought from 19th-century German theologian Johann Tittman: “Watch the time, and make it your own so as to control it… Serve not the time, but command it, and it shall do what you approve.”

What if we tried to make the best use of our time while we have it? Because this valuable gift of minutes and hours and days and weeks make up our wild, precious, irreplaceable lives. And who doesn’t want to live that life well?

So maybe the question to ponder isn’t “How much time do I spend watching screens?” but “How am I spending my life?”

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