Improve your wellbeing with Joe Wicks’ screen time hack

Joe Wicks, The Body Coach, explores how you can improve your wellbeing with his screen time hack.

You’re not alone if you find yourself spending far too much time on your phone.

We use them for so many things: connection, knowledge, information, entertainment, or even healthy lifestyle habits like working out or finding recipes. It’s easy to get addicted when there’s so much on there to look at.

My issue with my phone is that my brain is, without a doubt, addicted to the dopamine from social media. Social media, like Instagram, is designed to be like this. The dopamine hit you get from new comments or likes means you can spend hours on your phone.

I can often find myself reaching for my phone the second I wake up, and scrolling through social media before I’ve even properly opened my eyes. The same can happen in the evenings, when I’m trying to get the kids to bed but get distracted by screens. Sometimes I look at my screen time on my phone and realise how bad it is.

That’s why I came up with an idea to set myself boundaries to try to reduce my screen time. 

I call it the 6-8 challenge.

I set this challenge for myself to limit my daily screen time, where, between the hours of 6am-8am and 6pm-8pm, I lock my phone away or turn it off completely. It’s no good having the phone in the same room or on the side – it has to be out of sight. I find that morning and evening routines can be so important and impact how we show up throughout the day.

It’s hard (and unrealistic) to commit to no screen time for days on end – and I always believe that setting smaller, more achievable goals will mean you’re more likely to succeed.

When I do this, it means I have time to actually think and feel calmer in the mornings and then can be more present with the kids for their bedtime in the evening.

I don’t manage it every day – and some days are harder than others – but the days I do, I feel grateful for it and it’s a good goal to keep bringing myself back to.

Reducing screen time is great for your wellbeing. So, could you try the 6-8 challenge – or something similar?

If you want to give it a go, set the intention now for what you’re going to achieve tomorrow.

The timings may not suit you, so could you find a few other hours in the day when you stay off your phone completely? It might be that scrolling on your phone when you’re meant to go to bed is affecting your sleep habits, so it might be a good time to try and get off it completely.

Find what works for you, and enjoy a few hours of screen-free time when you can.

Remember, the decision is yours. You are in control. You can decide the actions you take and how you want to start your day. You can say no to screen time. You can make progress.

Stop scrolling, start moving.