Overcome Digital Distraction | Reduce Screen Time, Phone Addiction, Improve Focus, Healthy Habits, Rewire Your Brain, Digital Detox, Digital Wellness, Time Management

29 | The Dinner Table Reset: How to Create Screen-Free Family Dinners That Work

Ever sat down for dinner and realized… no one’s actually there? The forks are clinking, the plates are being passed but eyes are glued to screens, minds are miles away, and conversation is replaced with the dreaded “Fine.”
If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. I’m sharing my simple Five-Step Dinner Table Reset, a framework to help you reclaim mealtimes as sacred space for connection, conversation, and even spiritual formation. We’ll cover why screens at dinner matter more than we think, how gratitude and intentional questions can transform conversation in minutes, and what to do when your family resists or rolls their eyes at “phone-free” time.
Because silence can feel awkward when you’re first trying screen-free meals, I’m giving you a tool to make it easy: Table Talk: 50 Conversation Starters for Screen-Free Family Dinners. This free printable guide is packed with thoughtful, funny, faith-filled, and memory-making prompts to keep conversation flowing. You’ll get:
Everyday check-ins to ease into connection without pressure
Deeper curiosity questions that spark meaningful dialogue
Faith & character prompts to help your family reflect on kindness, courage, and God’s presence
Silly & creative questions for lighthearted fun (yes, even “If we had a pet dinosaur, what would we name it?”)
Family & memory builders to strengthen connection through shared stories
Use them nightly or whenever your family needs a little help warming up. Keep them on the table, let the kids pick a question, and watch your table come alive again.
I think you're going to enjoy this one!
Resources & Next Steps:
🍽️ Table Talk: 50 Conversation Starters for Screen-Free Family Dinners 👉 Table Talk Guide
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
🔲 Get Brick: A Digital Wellness Device to Help You Overcome Digital Distraction. You just tap your iPhone to it, and it activates a custom focus mode you’ve already designed. Tempting apps? Blocked. Helpful ones? Still accessible. Want to learn more or try Brick yourself? Get 10% off with my link here: https://julianneaugust.com/brick
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com📱 Instagram: @julianne.august📘 Facebook: Julianne August 
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!

28 | How to Turn Off Notifications in 5 Simple Steps Without Missing What Matters

How often do your phone notifications pull you away from what matters most?
You’re mid-conversation, mid-prayer, or finally making progress on a project—then ping. Just like that, your peace evaporates, your body tenses, and your brain shifts into reactive mode. It happens dozens of times a day.
In this episode, I’m sharing practical ways to turn off notifications that don’t deserve your attention, without missing the ones that do. We’ll talk about what digital distraction is doing to your nervous system, your brain, and your soul and how you can start healing your focus one small reset at a time.
You’ll walk away with a simple Notification Audit you can do in less than 10 minutes. Whether you're drowning in digital overload or just need a reset, these five steps will help you turn off notifications that interrupt your day and steal your focus.
This isn't about being unreachable—it's about being intentional. It's time to silence notifications that pull you out of the moment and into stress.
What You’ll Learn:
Why constant alerts trigger your stress response even if you don’t check them
A simple Notification Audit to clarify what deserves your attention
5 practical ways to turn off notifications and protect your peace
How to reduce digital overload and restore your focus
Why most alerts aren’t urgent and how to train your brain to stop reacting
What Scripture says about focus, presence, and guarding your attention
Resources & Next Steps:
🔲 Get Brick: A Digital Wellness Device to Help You Overcome Digital Distraction. You just tap your iPhone to it, and it activates a custom focus mode you’ve already designed. Tempting apps? Blocked. Helpful ones? Still accessible. Want to learn more or try Brick yourself? Get 10% off with my link here: https://julianneaugust.com/brick
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com📱 Instagram: @julianne.august📘 Facebook: Julianne August 
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!
Hashtags: #ScreenFreeSaturday #DigitalWellness #TurnOffNotifications

27 | Having Trouble Sleeping? The Blue Light Truth About Evening Screen Time Every Tired Person Needs to Know

Ever feel physically tired but mentally wired when your head hits the pillow?
You’re not crazy—and it’s not just stress. 
It’s probably blue light.
Yep. The invisible kind glowing from your phone, your TV, even your overhead lights is hijacking your brain’s ability to rest. It suppresses melatonin, confuses your circadian rhythm, and leaves you wide awake at midnight wondering what’s wrong with you.
In this episode I break down exactly how blue light affects your sleep and your spiritual clarity.
This one’s a blend of neuroscience and Scripture, because understanding how your brain works is powerful, but it’s even more powerful when paired with God’s design for rest. You were created for deep, healing, God-designed sleep. 
Inside the episode, I share:
What blue light actually does to your brain
Why it’s not enough to just “put your phone down”
A 4-step evening routine that changed my sleep (and mornings)
The spiritual cost of chronic sleep deprivation (this one hit me hard)
If you’re ready to stop waking up groggy and start reclaiming the rhythms God designed for your restoration, I think this one will really speak to you.
And if you’re up for it—I’ve got a 7-day Blue Light Sleep Challenge inside that’ll help you test this for yourself (and feel the difference fast).
Your well-rested, more focused, more peaceful future self will thank you.
Resources & Next Steps:
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
🔲 Get Brick: A Digital Wellness Device to Help You Overcome Digital Distraction. You just tap your iPhone to it, and it activates a custom focus mode you’ve already designed. Tempting apps? Blocked. Helpful ones? Still accessible. Want to learn more or try Brick yourself? Get 10% off with my link here: https://julianneaugust.com/brick
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com📱 Instagram: @julianne.august📘 Facebook: Julianne August 
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!
Hashtags: #ScreenFreeSaturday #DigitalWellness #OvercomeDigitalDistraction

26 | Why Boredom is the Secret to Breaking Bad Digital Habits That No One Talks About

In this episode, we flip the script on boredom—and reveal why it might just be the secret weapon you’ve been missing when it comes to breaking bad digital habits.
Sounds too simple? Maybe. But that “I’m bored” feeling isn’t random —it’s a signal. A quiet nudge from your brain and your soul that you’re overdue for something deeper than distraction.
Most of us treat boredom like a problem to fix. We fill the gap with noise, scrolling, or multitasking. But what if that gap is actually the gateway to being fully present, more focused, more peaceful, and more spiritually grounded?
We're diving into:
Why boredom feels unbearable—and what it’s really trying to tell you
The habit loop that boredom triggers (and how to change it)
How stillness, silence, and Scripture reveal a better way forward
Practical ways to respond differently
If you’re tired of numbing out every free minute and ready for more clarity, calm, and connection —this one’s for you.
Resources & Next Steps:
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
🔲 Get Brick: A Digital Wellness Device to Help You Overcome Digital Distraction. You just tap your iPhone to it, and it activates a custom focus mode you’ve already designed. Tempting apps? Blocked. Helpful ones? Still accessible. Want to learn more or try Brick yourself? Get 10% off with my link here: https://julianneaugust.com/brick
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com📱 Instagram: @julianne.august📘 Facebook: Julianne August 
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!
Hashtags: #ScreenFreeSaturday #DigitalWellness #OvercomeDigitalDistraction

25 | Your Summer Screen Reset and the One Habit That Matters Most

Summer’s here! BBQs, iced coffee, slower mornings...and maybe a few too many hours lost to screens. If you've caught yourself scrolling through dinner, binging Netflix instead of resting, or reaching for your phone before your Bible, you’re likely not the only one!
In this episode, I’m inviting you to pause and take a summer screen reset. Not a full detox. Not a five-step overhaul. Just one intentional shift to help you restore peace and presence this summer.
You’ll walk away with 3 powerful coaching questions to identify your most life-giving next step, simple habit reset ideas, and a dose of biblical encouragement to “choose life” in your digital habits.
Let’s make this the summer something shifts.
What you’ll learn:
Why summer is the perfect season to pause and reset
3 coaching questions to help you identify your ONE screen habit to change
How small changes create big ripple effects in your digital wellness
Practical habit ideas to reduce screen time 
A biblical encouragement to "choose life" in how you use your attention
How to design your environment so good habits stick
My personal summer screen reset (and how you can join me)
Resources:
Episode 5: How Grayscale Transformed My Phone Habits 👉 Download your guide
Episode 4: The Power of Your First Hour: One Habit That Can Transform Your Morning 👉
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com📱 Instagram: @julianne.august📘 Facebook: Julianne August 
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!

24 | How to Overcome the Urge to Check Your Phone (Again)

Ever caught yourself opening your phone… closing it… and reopening it 10 seconds later?
Yup. Been there. Done that. Probably did it this morning. 🙋‍♀️
If you’ve been wondering how to stop checking your phone all day long without even realizing it, this episode is for you. We’re getting soul-level honest about that reflexive reach and what to do instead. Because the constant checking? It’s not a moral failure. It’s a habit loop. And the same brain that learned it… can unlearn it.
You’ll discover how to interrupt the pattern without guilt, get curious about what your heart’s really seeking, and retrain your brain with grace and truth. We’re talking dopamine, Jesus, and practical steps you can actually take in the middle of your day (without throwing your phone in a drawer).
This one is tender, practical, and might just be your new favourite. Let’s break the habit loop.
What you’ll learn:
Why phone checking becomes a habit loop
3 small, faith-filled steps to interrupt the urge
How to spot the cue and disrupt your default
Why your brain isn’t bad, it’s just looking for relief
Soul-filling swaps that actually satisfy
What Jesus offers that scrolling never can
How to stop checking your phone in a way that’s sustainable and Spirit-led
Resources & Next Steps:
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
🔲 Get Brick: A Digital Wellness Device to Help You Overcome Digital Distraction. You just tap your iPhone to it, and it activates a custom focus mode you’ve already designed. Tempting apps? Blocked. Helpful ones? Still accessible. Want to learn more or try Brick yourself? Get 10% off with my link here: https://julianneaugust.com/brick
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com📱 Instagram: @julianne.august📘 Facebook: Julianne August 
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!
Hashtags: #ScreenFreeSaturday #DigitalWellness #OvercomeDigitalDistraction

23 | How Screen Time Affects Relationships and Is Quietly Destroying Your Connection (And What to Do About It)

In today’s episode, we’re diving deep into the relational ripple effect of digital distraction and how our habits aren’t just personal… they’re contagious. Whether you’ve been called out for scrolling mid-convo or you’ve sat across from someone glued to their screen while you’re pouring your heart out, you know the tension I’m talking about.
The truth? Most of us are living by unspoken digital agreements that are quietly normalizing disconnection. And unless we talk about them, they’re not going anywhere.
But there’s hope. Research, Scripture, and a whole lot of real-life stories show us that healthier, more connected relationships are totally possible. You just need the right conversations and a few practical tools to get there.
What You’ll Learn:
The silent cultural “agreements” that normalize being half-present
How screen habits are shaped within our relationships, not just individually
Research that will totally change how you think about boundaries (seriously, 79% of couples never talk about them!)
The 3-question self-inventory to identify where your relationships may be enabling distraction
Grace-filled conversation starters for spouses, kids, friends, and coworkers
Creative ways to create screen-free rhythms that rebuild connection and presence
Why “sharpening each other” (Proverbs 27:17) sometimes means calling out the phone habit - with love
If you've ever wished your home, marriage, or friendships felt more present, more joyful, more real and screen free, this episode is for you.
Resources & Next Steps:
Episode 2: The 8 Forms of Digital Denial 👉 How Distraction Steals Your Focus & Your First Step to Reduce Screen Time
🔲 Get Brick: A Digital Wellness Device to Help You Overcome Digital Distraction. You just tap your iPhone to it, and it activates a custom focus mode you’ve already designed. Tempting apps? Blocked. Helpful ones? Still accessible. Want to learn more or try Brick yourself? Get 10% off with my link here: https://julianneaugust.com/brick
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com📱 Instagram: @julianne.august📘 Facebook: Julianne August 
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!

22 | Meet Brick: Stop Overriding Screen Time Limits With This Digital Wellness Device

One Small Tap That Changes Everything: My Honest Review of the Brick Digital Wellness Device
What if one small tap could help you stop scrolling, protect your peace, and reclaim your focus all without deleting every app on your phone or going off the grid?
That’s exactly what I’ve been testing for the last 30 days.
In this episode, I’m sharing my honest review of a new physical tool called The Brick - a small but mighty digital wellness device that’s changing how I interact with my phone. It’s been one of the simplest and most effective ways I’ve found to create intentional, screen-free space in my day. It's definitely helping me overcome digital distraction.
This isn't just another gadget. The Brick interrupts compulsive phone habits in a way that’s gentle, smart, and shockingly effective (without subscriptions, batteries, or maintenance). It uses NFC technology *just like tap-to-pay* to help you pre-decide how you want your phone to work before the distractions even start.
You’ll hear how I’ve used it to change my morning routine, improve family time, and even set up screen limits that actually stick, for yourself and anyone else you’re trying to lead by example.
If you’ve ever overridden your own screen time limits without thinking, or wished for a tool that could help your whole family focus better, listen in. This one’s for you.
♦︎ What if your phone told you, “This is a distraction”?♦︎ What if tech helped you pause instead of pulling you in?♦︎ What if a tiny tool could transform how you use your phone?
Let’s talk about why physical boundaries beat willpower every time and how this might be the digital wellness device you’ve been waiting for.
What You’ll Learn:
Why most screen time limits fail (and what works better)
How the Brick device creates friction that rewires your habits
My favourite ways to use Brick for deep work, rest, and family time
The surprising spiritual insight behind protecting your attention
How to use Brick with kids and finally stop being the “screen time police”
Get The Brick:
🎁 Want to try Brick yourself? Get 10% off with my link here: https://julianneaugust.com/brick
Resources & Next Steps:
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com 📱 Instagram: @julianne.august 📘 Facebook: Julianne August
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!
Hashtags: #ScreenFreeSaturday #DigitialWellnessDevice #OvercomeDigitalDistraction

21 | When Digital Distraction Erodes Your Identity And Steals Your Name

Ever felt like you're reacting to your life more than living it?Like the swirl of input is naming you faster than God's truth can remind you who you really are?
I was standing in my kitchen, juggling a blinking to-do list and a phone full of notifications when this quiet thought slipped in: "I don't even know who I am right now." Not theologically. I knew I was loved by God. But I couldn’t find the me beneath the noise. That moment sparked today’s episode.
We’re diving into a kind of identity theft no one warns you about, the slow erosion of your name by digital distraction. Because distraction doesn’t just steal your time. It steals your name. And if the enemy can steal your name, he can distort your calling.
But you are not powerless. There’s a way back to clarity. Back to calling. And it starts by hearing your name again, not from your screen, but from your Saviour.
What You’ll Learn:
What neuroscience and Scripture both reveal about distraction and identity
Why you stop recognizing God’s voice (and your own) in a noisy world
4 daily rhythms to reclaim your name and restore your soul
How to rebuild attention as an act of worship (yep, it’s that deep)
How real connection and Christ-centered community help reflect your true identity
And I’ll guide you through a simple practice I call a “Name Fast,” a 24-hour reset to help you notice what’s naming you, and what God says instead.
If you’re feeling fragmented, reactive, or just plain lost in the noise, this episode is for you. Hit play, then grab the free Digital Wallpapers for your phone or desktop I made for you to help re-anchor your identity in Scripture. 
Resources & Next Steps:
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com 📱 Instagram: @julianne.august 📘 Facebook: Julianne August
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!
Hashtags: #ScreenFreeSaturday

20 | Your Eyes Feeling Screen Fatigue? Overcome It with This 20-Second Habit to Reset Your Eyes and Mind

Ever wrapped up your day with burning eyes or a pounding headache, wondering if your screen time is to blame? In this episode of Overcome Digital Distraction, I share my personal journey through digital eye strain and introduce you to the 20-20-20 rule, a simple, optometrist-approved habit that can transform your eye health and mental clarity. It's a practice that’s so deceptively simple, it almost feels silly.
What You'll Learn:
The surprising effects of prolonged screen time on your eyes
How the 20-20-20 rule can alleviate digital eye strain
The science behind blinking and eye muscle fatigue
Practical tips to integrate eye care into your daily routine
A biblical perspective on the importance of our eyes
You’ll hear how this tiny habit became a powerful act of stewardship in my own life and why I believe it’s something we all need in this distracted age.
Your eyes are a gift.Let’s start treating them like it.
Resources & Next Steps:
Take the Screen Time Personality Quiz and get your 3-Day Digital Peace Plan - a free guide to help you reset your screen habits and reclaim your focus. 👉Screen Time Personality Quiz
📲 Grab Your Free WallpapersGet your free gallery of truth-filled phone and desktop wallpapers, designed to help you pause, reset, and refocus every time you reach for your device. 👉Digital Wallpaper
Want more tips on healthy tech habits?Check out Episode 5 and download your FREE Guide to Grayscale with step-by-step screenshots to turn your phone into a calm, less-distracting space. 👉Guide to Grayscale
Let’s Connect!Share your experiences with the Waiting Room Challenge by leaving me a voice message through Speakpipe on my website!
📩 Email: hello@julianneaugust.com 📱 Instagram: @julianne.august 📘 Facebook: Julianne August
🌐 Website: julianneaugust.com
🎙️Don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a written review, it helps this message reach more listeners who need it!
Hashtags: #ScreenFreeSaturday