Be honest with yourself about screen usage

“Our screens are a seductive gateway to almost everything that we need,” says counsellor Georgina Sturmer, “but we’re simply not designed to absorb and cope with the constant flow of rolling news and social media feeds.  It attacks our attention spans, making it harder for us to focus and be productive.”

To mitigate this, Sturmer advises being realistic about your screen usage. “Be honest with yourself about the impact that your devices are having on your everyday life,” she tells Strong Women. “Then, you can figure out what boundaries you need to have in place in order to retain control of your time and productivity.”

Again, most of us necessarily have high screen usage because of our jobs – and there’s nothing much we can do to reduce that (although the previous tips will help to reduce the damage done over the working day). What Sturmer is on about here is all the other stuff – being honest with ourselves about how reliant we are on our devices once the laptop’s been shut and the working day is done.

She suggests thinking about finding analogue solutions to your digital craving: invest in an alarm clock, a notepad or an A-Z (retro!). “Or try to develop alternative ways to spend your time so that you don’t fall into the trap of the endless scroll when you’re feeling bored.”

We know staring at a screen is bad for us – here are 7 ways to reduce the impact