NdukuOutLoud

I used to think I was failing at managing screen time. I had a goal- three hours a day on my phone- but I don’t remember the last time I checked. And that was just the phone. What about the laptop? The meetings? the blog? The endless e-mails?

Screens are everywhere. They are the backdrop to our work, our creativity, our parenting, our procrastination. I am a participant in the “corporate simulation” we’re in right now where circling back and snitches cc’ing my boss are daily rituals. Where I miss Susan’s third reminder and wonder if I’m the problem. Or if the system is.

TV? Not my vice. But I do have to negotiate with my 5-year-old and my own morals before watching anything remotely adult. And even then, I often lose the vote.

Now, with blogging and intentional writing, I spend even more time on screens than before. It feels ironic. Like I’m trying to escape the digital world by diving deeper into it. Even the guy preaching off-grid living is editing videos on a MacBook and checking his likes before milking the goats.

But here’s the shift. I’ve stopped trying to escape screens. Started making them work for me.

Why I Even Care;

I don’t want to look back and realize I spent more time with pixels than with people. I want to be present. For my daughter, for my creativity, for my own peace of mind. Not just productive. Not just plugged in. So I have a small and sane survival kit:

• No phone for 30-45 minutes after waking and before bed( they say 2 hours, but let’s not push it).
• 2.5- hour focus blocks with notifications off.
• Phone- free walks and runs.
• Always have a book for waiting lines and commutes.
• No forwarding chain messages( maybe that’s why my blessings are still pending).
• Occasional doomscrolling.

I try to minimize screen time for my daughter with DIY’s, painting, coloring-anything that pulls her away from animated pigs going to school and having babies. But even that feels like a gamble. Will she be ready for a world training AI models in preschool? There’s just no doing it “right” for this generation. So I do what I can. I teach her to create, not just consume.

Screens are here to stay and we paid for them. It’s on us to make sure they serve our purpose. Not enslave us. And managing screen time isn’t about perfection. It’s about intention. And maybe I am doing better than I thought.