a summer weekend in the life
We had the nicest chill weekend, so I thought I’d share how we function as a family in the summer with minimal phone use. Our weekends didn’t always look like this. We use to spend a good bit of our free time doomscrolling while our kids played in the background or having Saturday double features then wondering why our toddler was so overstimulated.
I’ve always felt uneasy about my personal screen use — the doomscrolling, the over reliance on checking my phone for every little thing. But it was these weekends with my family, full of screens, that ultimately were the catalyst for creating change in my life. I wanted something better for my kids. They deserved my full attention. And then I discovered that I, too, deserved my full attention.
It was a long journey to get to where we are today, but the biggest shift for me happened when I changed my mindset: my phone is a tool. Nothing else.
Learning to use it exclusively that way took a lot of time and effort (and it’s the foundation of my course programs) but that mindset shift was the first and MOST important step. You can see how that mindset shift is reflected in our weekend.
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Here are my top tips if you want to spend more time off your phone, on the weekend or anytime:
• Keep your phone docked or put away for most of the day.
• Leave it at home when you can, even if it’s just a short walk around the neighborhood.
• Plan your day around things that naturally keep you away from it: the pool, local markets, friends, the park.
• Prepare for the easy pitfalls. Always checking the time? Wear a watch. Want to know the Yankees score? Listen to the radio. Don’t want to miss a cute pic? Bring a disposable camera or Camp Snap.
The mindset shift is step one. If you want the full system for actually rewiring the habits underneath it, that’s what Rewire Your Digital Habits is built for.
