Does that even make sense?  Stay with me and you’ll understand.  How often do I find myself looking atmy  phone between the hours 5pm and bedtime.  More than I want to admit.  So how do we change that habit.  Well, it will take a conscious effort and a plan.  Here is my plan…   

 When I walk in the door, Im going to plug in my phone in my bedroom.  Typically this is the area in the house I spend the least amount of time after I get home.  So what is the benefit of this Disconnect from my phone?  Well to piggy back again on a prevoious blog, preparing for time with my family, is one thing we all fail to do.  At work, we plan to be successful, we schedule meetings, send deliberate emails about specific events or projects.  Same thing at home.  Plan to spend at least 10 minutes with each child before bed and ask open ended questions.  It will be awkward at first, but over time it will become normal.  There was a time in my life that I would take one day each month and one of my daughters and I would go and do something fun where we could talk.  I used the day of their birth to mark these days.  This is someting I read about on Tony Dungys allprodad site.  So for example, my oldest daughter was bon on the 10th of Oct.  So on the 10th of every month, we would go get ice cream, or starburcks.  Nothing elaborate, but meaningful.  But, because I havent made that a priority, that has fallen by the wayside.  My challenge to myself is to bring that habit back.  If your kids are old enough to be home alone, you can add your wife to the mix.  But regardless of how you schedule, make it something you plan.  Put it on the calendar.  Send a calander reminder to you kids.  Discounecting from our phone / tablet will help us plugin with our family.  

Try it for a week and leave me a comment on the impact it has on your family.