Healthy Habits - Limiting Screen Time in 2024

With the New Year upon us, it’s a great time to pick up some healthy habits for 2024! Whether you like to set resolutions or not, ”living healthier” is one of the most common resolutions. Americans are not living as healthy as they could be since most run into limits with occupation, environment, and time-management. One of the largest new issues that adults now face is the increase of screen time and those adverse effects associated.

In this new day and age, healthy habits look different than they did even just a few years ago. With ample technology all around us, it is important to take extra efforts to limit your screen time. Whether it is on a mobile device, television, or computer, screen time can add up quickly and has been proven to have adverse effects on humans. 

According to Forbes, Americans spent over 1,300 hours on social media alone in 2020 with straightforward effects like obesity and poor sleep associated. These statistics have only skyrocketed since, making adults more susceptible to the increase of screen time with a decrease in productivity.

At this point, the average American spends over 7 hours a day looking at screens, higher than the worldwide average due to occupational needs however, considered unhealthy and excessive all the same.

Though limiting screen time at work is not an option for most, here are some tips: take breaks from screens to allow your eyes a rest, and/or use special blue-light filtering glasses. When engaging in ‘extracurricular screen time’ outside of work, it is recommended to limit that to just 2 hours maximum!

Understanding the potential long-term harm of increased screen time and the negative sedentary habits that come with it is the first step toward a healthier life in 2024! Make your goals and expectations reasonable and don't forget that a healthier life is worth living!