In a world where we’re worried about too much screen time, maybe less screen time isn’t actually the answer.  Maybe the answer is doing more of what you love.

Before diving into outdoor education, I worked with students struggling with substance abuse. Every Friday, we sat in a circle and made weekend plans to help stay clean over the break. Every Friday, Eric had the same plan:

“I’m going to stay inside and not use.”

Every Monday, Eric came back and failed his drug screen.

It turns out “don’t do drugs” is actually a terrible plan for stopping drug use. It sounds clean and simple, but it ignores something deeply human about us. We long to do something, to be engaged, connected, and active.

The more we focus on not doing something, the more powerful it becomes in our minds. Try this:

Don’t think about an elephant with a stuffy nose.
Don’t think about how many tissues it might go through in a single day.

Exactly.

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about screen time and the damage it causes. There’s a strong case to be made that screen addiction is real and widespread in the U.S. There is a strong case to be made that excessive time on social media contributes to anxiety, depression, and a host of other challenges. 

But “less screen time” is a terrible plan—for kids and for adults trying to cut back.

More time doing what you love is a much better plan.

And how do you find more time? Check your screen time report. You may be surprised by what you find.

Some Practical Suggestions

Find the things that help you connect to the real world around you. Find what you enjoy enough to get off the screen and fully be where you are.

Lately, I’ve been growing sprouts and feeding the birds.

It’s not much, but watching a tiny seed turn into something beautiful—and tasty—grounds me and connects me to nature. Plus, I love good food.

Sipping coffee (or munching on sprouts) while watching birds fluff their feathers in the frigid wind connects me to the season and helps me pay attention to who else I share my neighborhood with. We eat breakfast together and I wonder where they came from and where they’ll head when the season changes. Chip Chip, a squirrel who joins me most mornings, has one distinctive ear—and I often find myself imagining the battle that earned it.

Once a month, on the full moon, I meet my brothers for a nighttime hike. It connects us to the rhythms of nature, but more importantly it connects us with each other. 

Find the things that work for you.

Here are a few ideas you can try with kids—ways to get everyone involved in the world around them:

• Try a nature scavenger hunt. It works just as well in a city as it does in the woods.
• Plant something.  It could be a spring flower on your front porch.  It could be a house plant. It could be a tree. It could be sprouts. 
• Take a walk.  
• Try sit spot journaling.
• Challenge kids to build something outdoors—fairy houses, winter bug shelters, or small structures made from found materials. It’s an easy way to pass time creatively while also providing shelter. This works on the edge of a playground or in any pocket of green space.

A Further Thought

This idea is part of a bigger shift we need to make in our environmental narrative—moving away from a negative stance (“Don’t litter,” “Don’t drive high-emission cars”) and toward positive action.

Plant a tree.
Install solar panels.
Replace some grass with native perennials.

Less don’t.  More do.

Less doom.  More Hope.  

Less fear.  More love.