One of the most important aspects in managing screen time is recognising that screens themselves aren’t inherently harmful. The problem arises from how we use them. Rather than attempting to eliminate screen time altogether, it’s more beneficial to differentiate between passive and active usage.

Passive vs. Active Screen Time

Passive screen time refers to activities where you consume content without actively participating or engaging in any meaningful way. For example, mindlessly scrolling through social media, binge-watching videos, or reading endless news feeds. In these situations, your brain is basically just sitting there, taking it all in, which can lead to a decrease in focus, lower productivity, and even overthinking.

In contrast, active screen time is about purposeful engagement with technology. It could be learning a new skill online, developing a personal project, writing a novel, or participating in communities where you contribute rather than just consume. Active use is usually more mentally engaging and requires tackling challenging tasks, despite their inherent difficulty, which can help you grow as a person.

Set Screen Time Goals

To begin putting the concept of passive and active screen time into action, we can begin by utilizing our device’s built-in tools to track screen time. This can often be found in the Settings app. On iOS, navigate to the Screen Time tab, and on Android, they can be found under the Digital Wellbeing and Parental Control section.

Our initial goal is to collect objective data on our current device usage. There’s no immediate pressure to alter our habits, as we do not yet have a complete picture. Instead, I suggest monitoring your daily screen time activity for a full week while using your devices as you normally do.

Once we have that data, we can make more informed changes to our digital habits by categorising our weekly activities into passive and active screen time. For example, doing this exercise allowed me to identify a holistic picture of my technology usage.

There were some positives with my screen time usage, such as spending large portions of my time creating videos in LumaFusion, managing the comic project I am writing and illustrating, and writing markdown notes. These are activities I did not want to change. However, I noticed that I was spending too much time consuming on apps such as Reddit and YouTube. These are behaviours I wanted to address.

So I started to make some adjustments to my digital environment to discourage those behaviours. For example, I always have a physical book or my Kindle Scribe within reach to foster a positive reading habit whenever I feel the urge to scroll or consume content. This simple action has been transformative as reading enables me to engage with subjects in a much more meaningful way.

Additionally, I have deactivated my social media accounts and deleted the apps from my phone. The only exception to this is YouTube, which I can still access on my iPad and MacBook. However, to control my passive screen time on YouTube, I have set a daily screen time limit of 30 minutes.

You can set similar limits for any app or website on your phone using the built-in Digital Wellbeing tools. On an iPhone, go to Screen Time and use App Limits to set daily limits on the apps, websites, or categories you want. On Android, go to Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls, then tap the hourglass icon next to an app in the dashboard to set time limits.

Counter the Influence of Colour

Tech companies use psychological and behavioural science to keep us hooked to their products. As Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google, says, there’s a whole playbook of techniques used to get you to use a product for as long as possible.

The next step in changing our screen time habits is to start counteracting these techniques. For instance, a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology indicates that specific colours can evoke particular psychological reactions. The colour red, in particular, has been found to elevate heart rate and enhance concentration by stimulating the brain’s alert system. This is the reason why tech companies often use red notification badges in their apps and operating systems. These badges act as a cue to your brain that something important needs your immediate attention, reinforcing the habit of checking your phone even in the absence of true urgency.

We can begin combating this influence by turning on a grayscale filter on our devices. On iPhones, iPads, and Macs, you can do this by adding either the Accessibility shortcut or Color Filters control to the Control Center. On Android, you can find this option under the Color Correction setting.

If you have an iPhone 15 or 16 series, you can take this a step further by assigning the Action button to activate the Color Filter shortcut. I recently purchased a used iPhone 16 to complement my Pixel Pro and one of the first things I did was set up this shortcut. I can enable colour for times when it’s necessary, such as during a video call or while recording videos. However, when colour is no longer needed, I can quickly revert to the grayscale setting using the Action button.

Adjust Notification Settings

Another powerful tactic used by tech companies is the use of Variable Rewards, a concept rooted in B.F. Skinner’s research on operant conditioning. Skinner discovered that rewards given unpredictably are more effective at reinforcing behaviour compared to predictable ones. This explains the addictive nature of slot machines, where the uncertainty of winning keeps you engaged. Many technology devices are similarly designed to create a dopamine-driven loop. This cycle encourages you to repeatedly check the device, which increases your overall screen time and online consumption out of habit.

Notifications are a great example of this, as they create a never-ending cycle of anticipation and response. Alerts from both passive activities like social media and news apps, and active activities like a phone call from a loved one, increase our urge to check our phones frequently, making it more challenging to disconnect.

To reduce this cycle, we can adjust our notification settings to filter out passive screen time activities, ensuring only valuable notifications reach us. Navigate to Settings, and select Notifications on iOS and Android. From here, you can determine which apps are allowed to send you notifications, and how.

I see my smartphone as a portable tool for communication and capturing information, rather than a device that demands my constant attention. For this reason, I’ve decided to keep notifications enabled only for a few selected apps, such as Messaging, Video Calls, and Task Reminders. Moreover, I’ve disabled all notification sounds, with the exceptions of phone calls and video calls.

Notification sounds are very powerful. Much like a war siren, tech companies frequently utilise sharp or distinct tones, which provoke a primal response intended to create an immediate sense of urgency and alertness. In my view, no app merits that level of my attention, except for calls from those closest to me. Additionally, I’ve replaced the default ringtone with Johann Strauss’s The Seconds, The Blue Danube, which offers a beautiful harmony, rather than something crafted to elevate anxiety levels.

By customising my notification settings, instead of relying on the default ones, I’ve created a digital environment that aligns with my goals. This setup supports my intentions to use my screen time actively and prevents distractions from passive screen time activities filtering through.

Established Stopping Points

Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter and hormone in our brain’s reward system that influences our motivation and the pleasure we feel. By elevating our dopamine, tech companies are able to keep us hooked on their platforms for longer periods of time, whereby they can monetise your attention through advertising, subscriptions, and other revenue streams. Social media apps are the most notable example of this.

As you scroll through your feeds, your brain constantly anticipates exciting or novel content. This cycle of anticipation and reward is driven by intermittent reinforcement. Sometimes you come across something truly engaging, and other times you don’t. This unpredictability increases your passive screen time by keeping you hooked. The impact of intermittent reinforcement is further strengthened by features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, which create a continuous cycle.

To counteract this dopamine-driven engagement cycle, we need to introduce intentional stopping points into our screen time. Unlike a book or newspaper, which have natural endpoints, social media and video platforms are designed to be endless.

One way to take back control is to set clear screen time limits using the digital wellbeing tools we talked about at the start of this article. Another effective strategy is to intentionally turn infinite scrolling into finite scrolling by making small adjustments. For example, to cut down on my passive screen time on YouTube, I implemented a few strategies.

Firstly, I disabled the watch history and autoplay features. This stopped videos from automatically playing, giving me a chance to consciously decide my next video. Wanting to go further, I installed a free browser extension called Unhook (available on Chrome, Brave, and Firefox). This tool helps by hiding distracting elements on the YouTube website, such as the short section, recommendation sidebar, and comments.

By implementing stopping points and personalising my YouTube experience, I’ve made it less addictive, helping me regain control over my screen time.

Prioritise Real Connection

Humans have a deep-seated need for social connection and belonging, which social media platforms often exploit to keep us on their apps. This is a trait that evolved from our ancestors, who relied on social bonds for survival through cooperative activities like hunting, gathering, and protection against predators. Tapping into this innate desire for validation, social media platforms are able to transform social interactions into a competitive game.

Metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and follower counts are all intended to be tangible indicators of social approval. This competitive aspect is intensified by features like read receipts, active status notifications, and time-sensitive stories, which compel us to remain online and engage continuously, thus increasing our screen time.

However, whilst these platforms give the appearance of fostering community and engagement, the interactions they promote are often superficial and temporary. For example, although Reddit is centred around the idea of digital communities, most of the interactions I've encountered there tend to be short and superficial. Rather than fulfilling our desire for connection, these encounters often amplify our sense of isolation, replacing meaningful dialogue with fleeting, transactional exchanges.

This perspective is supported by a longitudinal study published in BMC Psychology. The study found that increased social media use was associated with higher levels of loneliness over time, suggesting that digital interactions may not provide the same emotional fulfilment as real-world connections.

For these reasons, I believe that technology is best utilised to enhance real-world relationships. That's why I've prioritised using apps like FaceTime and video calls on WhatsApp on my smartphone to stay connected with my true support network, and removed social media apps entirely. By choosing direct and personal communication over text-based or algorithm-driven interactions, I'm ensuring that technology strengthens my connections, making screen time more purposeful and active.

The Key to Lasting Change

I want to close by acknowledging that taking control of your screen time isn’t a quick fix. It’s an ongoing process. Life’s challenges, stress, and boredom can sometimes pull us back into old habits, and that’s perfectly normal. What matters most is how we respond to those moments. Instead of being hard on yourself, simply recognise them and gently guide yourself back on track.

Research from Scientific Reports highlights the importance of mind-wandering for creativity. When we allow our minds to drift during moments of boredom, we give our brains the space to generate more original ideas. Constant digital stimulation is robbing us of this stillness, leaving us caught in cycles of comparison and groupthink that suppress our unique creative impulses and individuality.

I’ve experienced this personally. For instance, when creating videos for this channel, I find it more effective to brainstorm an outline on paper, or use an E-Ink device like the Kindle Scribe. These methods help me avoid algorithmic influences, allowing my thoughts to flow more freely and authentically as I organise the video concept. Consequently, I’ve gained more presence and confidence in expressing my creative voice.

Every day is an opportunity to reshape your screen time and relationship with technology. Remember, a single off-day doesn’t mean you’ve failed. True progress is built on self-compassion.