Wednesday, March 4, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Get ready for positive
change
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
During the elementary
school9s Screen Free Week,
local mom Renee Stelle
enjoyed checking out Hoo-
doo Ski Bowl. But, she said,
her family wasn9t able to take
a break from screens. <I defi-
nitely feel bad that we didn9t
fully embrace it,= she said.
They weren9t prepared.
Stelle9s family is not alone.
Research has found that most
people, kids and adults, have a
difficult time controlling tech-
nology in our lives. Whether
we struggle with full-blown
addiction or a few mindless
little habits, changing our
ways can be rough going.
Be a prepper: Want to try
a screen-reduction program or
experiment with a screen-free
week of your own? Take a few
weeks to prepare mentally and
physically. Don9t skip this step.
Plan real-life activities:
Make a list of fun things you
could do if you weren9t staring
at a screen or interrupted by
endless notifications. It may
feel silly writing out simple
phrases like <read a book,=
but this list will come in handy
later. Hang it on the wall for
inspiration and guidance.
Grade school kids jumped
right into their screen-free
Bingo cards last week, eager
to X off each square 4 even
ones that suggested yard work.
Activities included planting
seeds, baking, taking walks,
hiking and sporting events.
<I feel like the school has
done a good job of making
suggestions,= Stelle said. For
next year, she said she needs
to <mentally prepare= for it
earlier.
Canned activity lists are
helpful, but you can make your
own from scratch. <I definitely
like the idea of getting with the
kids and brainstorming,= said
Stelle. She imagines sitting
down with her elementary and
middle-school children and
asking, <Hey, what could we
do other than screens? Let9s
make it a family fun night.=
Get everyone on board:
Ask friends, family, bosses,
and co-workers for their under-
standing and help. Explain
that your availability will be
limited. Some folks may be
accustomed to frequent text-
ing or count on you to check
work email at night. Others
may assume that you9ll always
read their social media posts.
Stelle was concerned that
the adults couldn9t or wouldn9t
change their own habits for a
week. <We can9t have the par-
ents on their screens and then
be asking the kids to be screen-
free,= she said. <That doesn9t
work. That wouldn9t be fair.=
Setting boundaries is essen-
tial. Enlisting someone9s help
can be more effective than lay-
ing down the law. For some, it
may be useful to phrase this
as, <I9d like your help with my
family9s screen-free week.=
Others might say, <I will no
longer be answering personal
texts and emails except on
Wednesday afternoons,= and
leave it at that.
Get 8organazized9: Tech-
nology makes it easier to make
plans on the go and to be flex-
ible. This can be handy for
the improvisers among us, but
endless last-minute changes
can be a huge drag on our time.
Back in the day, people prom-
ised to show up someplace at a
certain time, and they mostly
got themselves there for the
occasion. Changing the plan
was just too complicated.
If you9re mostly off-phone
for a week, it9ll be tough to
set up a meeting or play date.
To quote Robert DeNiro in
Taxi Driver: it9s time to get
organazized [sic]. Plan get-
togethers in advance. Clarify
with others that you won9t be
checking your phone for last-
minute changes. Be specific.
<I might look at my phone=
leaves things too open-ended.
Try, <I will look at my texts
before setting out to pick you
up at the airport Thursday, but
not until then.=
Compartmentalize: Most
of us can no longer work with-
out screens. Pay attention to
how you slip from work to
personal to family use of your
device, from news to oh look
at the kitten! Sit down with
an analog piece of paper, and
write down some ideas for
how you9ll corral your time
and screen use. (Our family
has found success with doing
a digital Shabbat every Fri-
day night through Saturday;
more about that in a future
installment.)
Extricate truly needed
work screen time from the
not-so-necessary stuff. For us
freelancers, working parents,
and gig economy jugglers,
this can be a big challenge.
Need inspiration? Find the
book <Digital Minimalism:
Choosing a Focused Life
in a Noisy World,= by Cal
Newport. Despite the fact that
he seems to be naturally good
at compartmentalizing his
time 4 while some of us sure
ain9t 4 Newport9s calm intel-
ligence makes the effort seem
manageable.
Good luck! And let us
know how your own personal
screen-free week turns out.
Part of an ongoing series
about how screens affect our
children, our families, our
communities, and ourselves.
Email: tiffany@plazm.com.
The Nugget Newspaper Crossword
By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service
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