How to be healthier in an era of ubiquitous connected screens

Hello there! Alex here again.

Many, many thanks to everyone who has signed up for Civic Texts and shared my first message. Special shoutout to the folks who have become paid subscribers, which is a humbling bet on me delivering something worth reading.

I was just asked how I approach balancing technology in my life, which is always top of mind if you've been Extremely Online for a quarter century. Almost a decade ago, I responded to a similar nudge and encouragement from Arianna Huffington by drafting 17 tips for parenting in an age of ubiquitous screens.

Here's 8 ideas that work for me.

1. Protect your sleep at all costs! Charge devices in another room, read books & magazines in print before bed. Keep TVs out of bedrooms. Those spaces are for sleep, reading, and romantic shenanigans.
2. Institute device-free meals. Create and defend the norm that devices go in a basket before dinner. (This may also be useful if you're at a table full of journalists.) It may be hard for both adults and teens, but I'll be that within a couple weeks you'll find meals to be a valuable space to connect and reconnect.
3. Combine exercise with work calls. Try to walk & talk as much as possible, in person, outside. Monument walks are great here in DC.
4. "Unwire" every weekend, focusing on spending time with your devices in "vacation mode" (just photos, maps, calls) & "forest bathing" in natural environments.
5. Try a "Digital Sabbath", for Saturday or Sunday, depending on your faith – or lack thereof.
6. Try RescueTime to focus. Keep an eye on your screentime.
7. Try a smartwatch to be connected, but not focused on your Glowing Rectangle of
8. Rebalance consumption vs creation time on computing devices, & lean as much as possible towards the latter. Generative time will leave you feeling more up.

If you have other strategies that help keep you healthy AND connected, let me know and I'll share the best ones back with you.