A year ago, I said I didn’t really have to put artificial limits on my screen time because life already did a pretty good job of that. Twelve months later? Still true.
Yes, I own all the gadgets. Yes, I have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and whatever new thing launched while I was typing this sentence. I could — theoretically — be posting, commenting, scrolling, and refreshing like a full-time influencer. But I’m not.
Not because I’m disciplined. Not because I’ve mastered the art of mindful digital balance. Not because I’ve deleted all my apps and retreated into the woods to grow my own quinoa.
No — it’s simpler than that:
My life is full.
Between teaching, writing, planning lessons, bourbon posts, football officiating, church, family, dogs, laundry, and the occasional attempt at sleep, the day is pretty much spoken for before I ever think, “Maybe I should open TikTok.”
I don’t need an app that locks my phone after 45 minutes. I need the 45 minutes back that real life already claimed — grading essays, drafting sub plans, answering emails, or remembering that dinner doesn’t magically appear just because I’m hungry.
If there’s a lesson in that, it might be this:
Screen time only becomes a battle when there’s nothing else calling louder. When your life is already full — with people, purpose, and actual in-the-room moments — the phone ends up being a side dish, not the entrée.
Could that change someday? Sure. Life shifts. Seasons change. Maybe one day I’ll have to actually police my scrolling. But for now, the only thing that keeps me offline…
…is the rest of my life.
Copyright © 2025 Doug DeBolt.
