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How to handle screen time — when you can't stop

Moves for when one more game turns into the whole night.

It's late, you said you'd stop two hours ago, and 'one more' keeps winning.

— Right now

  • Set a hard stop with an alarm in another room — you have to get up to turn it off.
  • Finish the current game, then physically leave the setup. Stand up, walk away.
  • Put the controller away, not within reach.

— Don't

  • Don't start 'one more' — that's the line that eats the night.

— Later

  • Set a play window in advance, and an alarm. Decide before you sit down.

More on this → Gaming & screen time

Screen time: the short version

  1. 1.Hard-stop alarm in another room.
  2. 2.Decide your window before you sit down.
  3. 3.Never 'one more' — that's the trap line.
  4. 4.Charge devices outside the bedroom.
  5. 5.The game's often the escape — name what from.
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