This is a sponsored post. The sponsoring company compensated me for my time, however all opinions and text are my own. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.
It’s no secret that in today’s world, technology is a huge part of our daily lives.
From keeping up with friends and family on social media to the tools and apps that we use to help navigate our busy schedules, it seems as though there is a technological answer to nearly every situation.
This, of course, has its advantages, but can also distract us from the things in life that truly mean the most to us.
Still, in today’s technological world, simply not using any form of technology isn’t an option for most people.
So, how do you balance your time in front of a screen with the time you spend interacting with those closest to you face to face?
Well, fortunately, Google has created some amazing tools that can help you and your family find and maintain that balance in a way that works for you.
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Foward Influence Network. I am being compensated for my time, however, all text and opinions are my own.
More often than not we, as parents, want more than anything to help our children find a healthy balance within their lives. Whether that be with sports, healthier food choices, friendships, and even schoolwork. We want to give them the tools they need to be successful while helping them find the balance that will also make sure they are happy.
With technology, however, that can be difficult.
There are no hard and fast rules as to how much is too much, how young is too young. You have to find what works for your family.
Google believes that technology should play a helpful role in your life and in the lives of your family, but they also realize that this isn’t always the case. Many parents struggle with managing screen time, both their own and that of their children.
Which is why they have created digital wellbeing tools like Family Link and the Family Guide, which both contain a wealth of knowledge. They want my family, and yours, to have a balanced relationship with technology.
One of the most amazing parts of Google’s Digital Wellbeing initiative is the Family Guide.
This guide can help you determine when your kids are ready for their first device, how to balance online and offline activity, and how to use social media meaningfully and responsibly.
Think of it as a parent’s guide to finding technological balance within your household.
It can help parents start those tough conversations with their kids about challenging tech topics and provides discussion points, expert tips, and even some activity ideas that you can use to help the whole family work on building those healthy tech habits together.
If your kids are big gamers, for instance, the Family Guide at wellbeing.google can give you some helpful tools for navigating that as a family.
From discussion points that encourage talking with your kids about the good and the not so good parts of gaming to the resources that are included for parents interested in learning more about keeping their kids safe while gaming online, you’ll find plenty that you can adjust and adapt to fit your family’s needs.
In fact, there’s an entire activity devoted to helping you and your family find ways to balance online games with offline games and you’ll be able to personalize it to make sure that it actually works for your household.
For us, this section was particularly enlightening as our kids love playing games. For them, it doesn’t really matter if they’re video games or board games, they just love playing games.
Participating in this activity, however, showed us just how many different types of games we could play during our next family fun night without ever looking at a screen.
Google became a partner in our family’s journey to find balance and as a parent, I now feel empowered to think differently about technology fits into my family’s day-to-day life.
Balance That Fits Your Family
For us, we’ve found that adding more board games to our family fun nights is a quick and easy way to help us balance screen time and family time.
While it may seem small, it’s important to remember that, as with anything, starting with small simple steps is your best chance for success.
Trying to change every aspect of your daily life in a single weekend probably isn’t going to go over very well.
However, making one simple change at a time can put you and your family on the road to healthy tech habits in no time!
So, start small. Use the Family Guide at wellbeing.google to look at the things most important to you and your family and go from there. You might just be surprised at how easy it can be to find the balance you’ve been seeking.
And to discover more tips and tools like the Family Guide, visit wellbeing.google to find a balance with technology that feels right for the whole family.
