Your presence is the best present this Christmas!

On average, smartphone users are spending from 2.5 hours on the phones per day. It is so important that we find ways to switch off from our phones over the Christmas period to engage with our loved ones and build healthy technology habits for our families. Our wonderful Zoe Semmler delves into the issue and provides some useful practical tips.

The holiday season is a great opportunity to focus on connecting with our loved ones. For smartphone users, it is also a great time to reflect on our phone usage and how this may be impacting our relationships. In our last Beam blog, Andrew explored the topic of children and screen time.

This week we would like to turn the focus back towards adults with a friendly reminder to check in on our own screen time habits. On average, smartphone users are spending from 2.5 hours on the phones per day. Ensuring healthy phone usage not only contributes to our wellbeing, but for parents and carers, allows for role modelling of these behaviours to children and adolescents.

So how can we make sure we are switching off in order to tune in?

Dinner time game: stack phones in the middle of the table
Practice mindfulness: increasing our awareness can be helpful in reducing phone use and being as focused as possible in our conversations with others
Place your phone out of sight when you’re not using it – studies indicate that we are less engaged just by having our phone screen visible even if we’re not using it
Phone free zones at home (e.g. bed, dining table)
Download a free application which monitors your usage for you

Another smart thing to do is to get out and find enjoyment in your local area. There is always a plethora of things to do that will naturally switch your child’s attention to things that are healthy for them and away from the distractions of technology. As we are proudly based in Newcastle, here are a few ideas.