How to Create a Digital Wellness Plan That Sticks

Beyond 'Use Your Phone Less'

Vague intentions to 'be more mindful' with technology don't work. You need a specific plan: what's allowed, what isn't, and what systems will enforce it.

A digital wellness plan isn't about deprivation—it's about intentionality. Designing your tech use rather than letting tech design your day.

Step 1: Audit Current Usage

Before changing anything, understand your baseline:

• •Check screen time reports: Total time, pickups per day, which apps
• •Identify problem apps: Which make you feel worse after using?
• •Note trigger moments: When do you reach for your phone mindlessly?
• •Calculate true cost: Hours per week, money spent, sleep lost

Step 2: Define Your Values

What matters to you that technology might be displacing?

• •Relationships: Are you fully present with people you care about?
• •Health: Does phone use affect sleep, exercise, mental health?
• •Productivity: Are you accomplishing what matters to you?
• •Creativity: Do you have space for boredom, thinking, creating?

Step 3: Set Specific Rules

Create concrete boundaries:

• •Phone-free zones: Bedroom, dinner table, meetings
• •Phone-free times: First hour of morning, after 9 PM
• •App-specific limits: 30 minutes social media daily
• •Notification permissions: Only calls/texts from real people
• •Earning access: Social media only after workout (via Accountable AI)

Step 4: Build Enforcement Systems

Rules without enforcement are wishes. Set up systems:

• •Use Screen Time/Digital Wellbeing with someone else's passcode
• •Install Accountable AI for app-blocking with consequences
• •Physical environment: Charging station outside bedroom
• •Tell people your rules: Social pressure helps

Step 5: Review and Iterate

Your first plan won't be perfect. Schedule weekly reviews:

• •What's working? Keep it.
• •What's too restrictive? Loosen it.
• •What's not restrictive enough? Tighten it.
• •What new challenges emerged? Address them.