My 31-Day Screentime Challenge: Week 3 Updates

^{January 21, 2025}

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By Holly Trantham

Confession time: this morning, I woke up with my alarm and immediately opened Instagram on my phone. This is exactly the kind of bad habit I’m trying to break with this challenge (if you’re new here, catch up here, here and here!), but in such a tender, despair-filled week, it’s really hard to only abide by our “good” habits. 

I think part of the despair is that I genuinely enjoy a lot of aspects of social media, but it seems like those are becoming more and more jeopardized. I like keeping up with IRL and online friends, getting inspiration for renter-friendly apartment decorations, finding new voices to read, and witnessing other people’s joy. It’s hard to say what the future of all of the apps will look like now that the circumstances of our tech oligarchy are now plainly visible. 

I’m a little sad to report that my overall Instagram scrolling last week was up from the first week of my challenge — an average of 1 hour and 21 minutes a day compared with 1 hour and 10 minutes at the beginning of the month. Granted, a few hours of my Instagram time last week was spent editing a video for the TFD account in the app (if you’re lucky enough to have never had to deal with Instagram’s video UI, spoiler alert: it sucks), so this actually doesn’t feel like too significant of a change from week’s past. 

And the rest of my updates are not all bad: I succeeded in committing to my yoga practice every day for the past week, and I spent several hours on phone-free activities (most of which was journaling, but it felt perfectly in line with my goal and is something I don’t do enough, so I’m counting it). I also began my yoga teacher training this past weekend, which was a bit overwhelming but mostly great. It was wonderful to have something occupying my attention for 8 hours a day that physically kept me from scrolling through my phone (also the main reason I love hiking). 

The one thing I was not able to do in the last week was finish another book. I started and bailed on three different options from my TBR — simply nothing was hitting. But this week, I have a book I have to read and am genuinely looking forward to diving into, which is our Society book club pick for January! (Reminder that we are hosting author and financial therapist Aja Evans in a q&a to discuss her book, Feel Good Finance, next Monday 1/27 at 7pm ET — make sure to join the Society on YouTube or Patreon so you don’t miss out!)

Here’s my little updated tracker, for those not following along on my Instagram (note I’m using the little journal icon on some days in place of the craft or puzzle emojis): 

Overall, I am feeling decent about my follow-through during this challenge. I already knew how much better I feel doing yoga every day, so that part is not a surprise — but now that I’ve started teacher training, I’m going to be shifting my home practice to include more journaling and mindfulness meditation (the latter of which is very new to me outside of yoga classes). It has also been encouraging me to engage in more offline endeavors, because really, the goal here is to not feel like my phone use/screen time is pulling my attention away from real life. These are just a few things I’ve started doing this month that were not explicitly a part of this challenge, but feel aligned with my overall goal:

• Signing up for a volunteer shift at my neighborhood mutual aid group/food pantry

• Taking photos with a film camera (my birthday/Christmas present)

• Enrolling in a Japanese language class with my husband, just for fun

I also want to note that my overall goal to decrease my phone use does not mean I am disengaging or not paying attention to the news. I am simply trying to be more mindful about what is a good use of my time and energy, and what is not.

I’ll be back in your inbox next week with new updates!

Welcome to our weekly series, Ask A Financial Advisor with Kellen Thayer of ​Advisor.com​! Dozens of members of the TFD community love and trust Advisor to help them on financial journeys. Get $500 off your first year with Advisor by signing up through TFD! ​Click here​ to take our short quiz and schedule a FREE consultation call with Advisor today and never make another financial decision alone!

Q: How would you recommend I budget/save best when I’m currently living paycheck to paycheck?

A: Living paycheck to paycheck can feel overwhelming, but small, consistent steps can create significant change. Start with a clear understanding of where your money is going. Track every expense for a month to identify areas where you can cut back. Even small reductions in discretionary spending—like subscriptions or takeout—can add up.

Next, adopt the 50/30/20 rule as a goal: 50% of your income for needs, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings or debt repayment. If that ratio feels out of reach, start smaller—saving even $10 a week builds momentum. Automate savings by setting up a separate high-yield savings account (HYSA) and scheduling automatic transfers on payday. Building a small emergency fund (start with $500) can help break the cycle of relying on credit cards for unexpected expenses.

Finally, if income is the issue, explore side gigs or negotiate for a raise. Sometimes, boosting earnings is the fastest way to move forward.

Get $500 off your first year with Advisor by signing up through TFD! ​Click here​ to take our short quiz and schedule a FREE consultation call with Advisor today and never make another financial decision alone!

Advisor.com provides clients with a top notch advising team for a fixed, flat annual fee. Their team of advisors work for you, not commissions, and help you to achieve your smart financial goals through planning, investing, and more.

About Kellen Thayer

Kellen has dedicated his career to helping clients achieve their financial goals through comprehensive financial planning and wealth management. He holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh. Before joining Advisor Wealth Management, Kellen worked as an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs partnering with clients with $25mm plus in investable assets and later advised high-net-worth clients at Raymond James. His expertise spans a wide range of financial strategies, always with a focus on empowering clients from all backgrounds to build and sustain their wealth.

So, last time I poked my head into our newsletter, I shared that I’ve been doing my best to, little by little, reinvest my time in the things that brought me joy as a child–when I was at my most creative–starting with: fantasy books! I have since finished the entirety of  Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series!! I’ve now moved onto Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series and with its latest installment, Onyx Storm, having JUST released this past Monday, I am beside myself with absolute glee. Barnes & Noble, nationwide, had a midnight release party. It was just too fun getting to celebrate with fellow fantasy lovers! So, get yourself into a spicy fantasy series you can’t put down and get together with other fans!

I think I’ve spoken before about how much I appreciate foreign films. Recently, my friends came over for our weekly foreign movie night and we viewed, “Society of the Snow.” It’s about the survivors of the 1972 Uruguayan flight crash in the Andes. It was incredibly moving and superbly directed. My friends and I could feel the emotions of the characters. We even decided to watch Netflix’s “Making Of” the film to discover the bts of it all. I cannot recommend it enough as a thought provoking film.

Finally, I’ve recently remembered my former joy for letter-writing. It’s been so long and I don ‘t know why I fell off from it. To get me back in the spirit of writing, I purchased a customized wax seal kit to match my supply of personalized paper featuring my letterhead. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to get back into it. Maybe I’ll get a fountain pen too?

🎙️NYC! We're excited to announce our first ​LIVE event​ of 2025 (and our first in well over a year)! Join the TFD team and our friends Claire & Ashley of Celebrity Memoir Book Club, for ​The Financial Book Club​! This will be a fun evening of real money talk and debunking the financial scam artistry of male self-help gurus. In addition to discussing Tony Robbins' MONEY: Master the Game (7 Simple Steps To Financial Freedom) we'll also be doing live audience Q&A, giveaways, and interactive games, all on the evening's themes of money and toxic self-help culture. And for those NOT in NYC, you can livestream the event! Grab your tickets!

📚Join Holly for our first ​book club​ of the year! Happening on January 27th, our book club will be discussing Feel Good Finance by Aja Evans, and Aja will join us for a very special author Q&A! Join The Society at our $2.99 or up tiers for access!

✨Make sure to get your hands on our latest guidebook, ​The January Vibe Check​! This is a 16-page guidebook dedicated to helping you reflect on your goals from last year, plot your 2025 goals with intention, tune up your finances, and think about how you want your life to look different in 12 months from now. Exclusively available for members of The Society Premium.

📚Don't miss out! We’re still offering exclusive access to an entirely new bonus chapter for those who have purchased our latest book, ​Beyond Getting By​. With the start of a new year, we know how much you all are reevaluating how you spend your money and time. Beyond Getting By is the perfect companion for retooling your relationship with money, your career, and your life in general, complete with dozens of pages of beautifully designed interactive exercises. In order to get access to “‘Working To Live’ In The Face Of Layoff Culture,” please share your proof of purchase with us by filling out ​this very short form​ — once you fill out the form, the bonus chapter will be automatically emailed to you.

🎥 ICYMI: Our December video essay, ​Why It Feels Like You'll Never Catch Up​, dropped on New Years Eve — give it a watch if you haven't already! And a reminder that $4.99 and up members of the ​Society at TFD​ get an ad-free version!

By Chelsea Fagan

Each week, our $9.99 Society members get access to Chelsea’s premium newsletter, with her thoughts on everything from Taylor Swift to Trump. Read on for an excerpt from the latest edition, and be sure to join The Society Premium for instant access to this newsletter and our entire backlog!

I've been thinking a lot lately about the crisis of reliable friendship. As someone who shares quite a bit about hosting and entertaining -- and who has a book on the subject out this fall! -- it's a pretty dominant theme in my life. And the more content I create on the subject, the more I'm made aware that the norms and etiquette around reciprocal friendship have started to fall apart.

Every day, videos go viral of people (usually women) who have painstakingly prepared a party to which no one showed up. Every video I make about this or that aspect of hosting is filled with comments about guests' flakiness, or being the only person to host in a group, or generally not finding other adults who share this investment in friendship.

To read this newsletter in its entirety, click here!

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