Try Limiting Your Family’s Time Media Time for One Month and See What Happens
Do you ever feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done? We often feel overwhelmed by the demands of life. Perhaps you don’t think you have time for important things like church, worship, prayer, and scripture reading. But have you ever counted up the amount of time you spend on social media, YouTube, or watching TV or streaming videos? It is shocking to most people when they honestly assess the time they spend on their devices. But if you do not take control of your schedule, then your schedule will control you. Uncontrolled media consumption (social or otherwise) inevitably leads to more stress, a neglected family life, poor health, and ineffective work. The consequences are far more dire for our children.
Here are a few principles that will help you (and your kids) get control of your schedule and rediscover that there is more to life than an electronic screen.
Prioritize
Scripture tells us to “redeem the time because the days are evil.” Have you ever considered what too much time on social media can do to your spiritual life, your physical fitness, your mental state, and your social life? Funny that “social media” makes us far less social and far less connected, than ever. You must set priorities, or else you will not get the most important things done. Many families are exhausted and overwhelmed because they do not prioritize. That means the most important things suffer. If you fail to guard yourself, then you will become a slave to the demands of the phone or the computer screen. Your spiritual life will suffer, your family life will suffer, and you will burn out. Consider setting time limits on the amount of time you and your children are allowed to be on social media or the Internet. Read the Bible. Read a book. Play a game. Take a walk. Paint a picture. Start a hobby. Plant a flower. It was not too many years ago that we did not have cell phones, the Internet, and social media. By being constantly connected, we are suffering from anxiety, disconnectedness, loneliness, depression, and poor mental health.
Simplify
You simply can’t do everything. It is insane to think that you can keep on adding to your schedule without ever eliminating anything. If you are going to exercise, you must prioritize it in your schedule by having a time and a plan. You also must eliminate something so that exercise can take its place. Don’t be deceived into thinking that you can keep on adding without ever simplifying as well. That is not a sustainable plan. You must simplify the children’s schedule, but they will be better for it. You must learn the power of “no” to experience the joy of “yes”. By limiting your children’s time on their devices, you will help them have a brighter outlook on life. It might be hard at first, but you and they will be better for it in the long run.
Embrace a less is more philosophy
By doing less you can accomplish more. That is sometimes hard to practice in our busy culture. We are often tempted to say, “I don’t have time for that.” However, the truth is that we have time for what we prioritize. We have the same number of hours in a day as everyone else. The real problem comes when we deceive ourselves into thinking that we can continue to add things to our schedule without removing something as well. Everything that we add to our schedule comes with a price. It will rob something else. Often, we live under the illusion that the important things in our life will not suffer when we continuously load up the schedule. But that is simply a fiction and a fantasy.
Focus on your priorities so you can do what you have been called to do. Do not rob your children or yourself of vitality because you have failed to prioritize the most important things. Be strong enough to limit the things that are harmful to them. Do not sacrifice the important on the altar of the urgent. By doing fewer things you will accomplish far more, and your family will be happier because of it. And God will be glorified.
Pastor Ritchie