How to Get Your Evenings Back From Your Phone

For many families, evenings are when the phone wins. Dinner is half-eaten, the kids want attention, and someone is still catching up on a feed. Here is how to take the evening back.

1. Decide what evenings are for

Name it: dinner together, homework, a walk, a game, a book. A clear purpose makes it easier to put the phone down.

2. Make the phone boring

The best habit is the one that needs no discipline. If there is no browser and no social feed on your phone, there is nothing pulling you back to it.

3. Charge it somewhere else

Keep phones out of the bedroom and off the dinner table. A charging spot in the kitchen or hall works well.

4. Replace the scroll with something

Put a book, puzzle or instrument where the phone used to sit. Empty space gets refilled by habit unless you fill it on purpose.

5. Do it together

Households that agree on the rule keep it. A Grow Phone keeps calls, texts, maps and the apps you choose while removing the browser and open app store.

More: screen time limits that actually work and 5 reasons you need a filter on your phone.