3 Things I do to get off My Screens

We all do it: us, our partners, our kids, all of us. We are all on screens. In this day and age, it can’t be helped. For those of us who work in offices, it’s a job requirement to be able to work on computers. The whole time we were locked down at home during the pandemic, our kids were on screens to go to school. I get why we HAVE to be on screens. I don’t get the outcry of people who believe we should be spending as little time as possible on them.

1) I read books….like….book books – It may surprise you to learn that I am a bit of a book nerd, not because I have read millions of books, but because I like actual paperbacks. I certainly have a Kindle, which I occasionally read books from, but I find reading an actual physical book to be a bit more soothing. It may be turning the pages and marking my place when I’m done reading for the day. It’s also probably the feel of the book in my hand. I could read on my Kindle, and I do, but the only problem with that is that I’m paying as much attention to the story as I am paying attention to the percentage of reading completed at the bottom of the screen. “If I read 5% a day, I could be done in 5 more days!” are thoughts that run through my head regularly, which make it so that I’m not enjoying the reading so much as just trying to plow through it. with regular books, I have found myself lost in the story and reading chapter after chapter without really realizing it.

2) Go outside – Weather permitting, I like sitting in my backyard. You may live in an apartment and hang out on your balcony. Even if you go to your local coffee shop and just people-watch, that’s good enough to get you away from your screens. I like looking around the room when I go to restaurants and coffee shops, and when I see people, I tend to make up stories about them in my head. Some people have been spies, pirates, or mafia. bear in mind that I’m not actually interacting with these people, which is in my own head, but it’s fun to think outside the box and occupy your mind while you’re not on screens.

3) Get Crafty – A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (ok…I was living in Ottawa at the time), I had a spot in the back of the garage of my old house where I was able to do woodwork. I wasn’t fantastic at it, and I made more of a mess than I did woodwork-like things, but it was a chance for me to get out of my normal habits of being on devices or sitting at a desk from 9-5. When the pandemic was on, my wife found this really cool idea where you paint small pictures by pouring two or three different colours on a canvas and then scraping it off. We did this with our kids, and after a couple of canvases each, we had a really cool collage that we stuck up on our wall. It’s all about doing stuff with your hands. Because we use our brains and our eyes so much when we’re on our screens, having something to do where your manual dexterity is really needed can be quite calming. So, Build some Lego, put a puzzle together, or maybe bake something. All these are things you can do to get away from your screens.

BONUS THING!!! Go on a date! – Have a special someone in your life? Take them out for a nice dinner. It will make it even more special if it’s a device-free dinner. Go to a concert, take in a play, or if you’re like me, you could go to a theatre and watch a movie. I know, I know. A movie screen is technically a “screen,” but I still think it counts as getting off devices.

As an IT guy, I get a lot of people assuming that I’m a big gamer at home or that I spend a lot of time in front of my screens. I don’t think that I do that much. Being on screens is my job, so I don’t like doing it when I go home. That may be just me. In either case, I know how important being on screens is. Certainly, there are some arguments for managing the screen time of younger people, but hear me out here: Technology will play a pivotal role in their lives, and they should know how to use it. Assuming, of course, that they have done all the things that they are required to do (Homework, chores, etc.), there should be no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to use devices. As a parent, I have used my own kids want to be on iPads and whatnot to show them how to use technology and (when it breaks) how to fix it. So long as it’s educational for them, I don’t have a real problem. They have even (in some cases) used their screens for reading!

This month, I’m going to talk about stuff that I do to get away from technology. I know what you’re thinking, “Dude, this is a tech blog….If I wanted life advice, I’d go to one of those blogs.” Yes, I get that; I also recognize this is going out on April the 1st, but I guarantee this isn’t a prank. There is something to learning to disconnect from your tech, and all of us need to disconnect every once in a while, and hearing how from a tech guy is probably the best way.

How do you get off Screens?

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