LIFE

Dear Carol, 

My parents used to yell at me about screen time, but now all of us are on our phones and laptops 24/7. This can’t be good for me.

- Addicted

Dear Addicted, 

Here’s hoping it gets easier and easier to hang out with friends face-toface. Ask yourself how you feel after an hour on social media. Not great? OK, set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes and let yourself check again later in the day. Or go into Settings, then Screen Time and set some more limits. This can help prevent a quick peek from turning into a lost afternoon. I like Likes as much as the next person, but one day, I turned off my notifi cations, and this meant I no longer stopped what I was doing just to see who hearted a post. You can also establish a few family rules, like no phones at dinner. (It may be more meaningful coming from you!) At night, I leave my phone two rooms away because I can fall into the rabbit hole, too. Think about what you want to do with that time instead. Read more? Dance? Journal? Watercolor? The possibilities are endless.

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by GL | 4/4/2021