Setting Boundaries with Technology

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What can help you to live a better life

There are lots of things that can help you to live a better life, but one of them is not that clear – boundaries. Boundaries are how we care and
give
support to those we love – without sacrificing our own health and happiness in the process. They are not necessarily about our relationships with people, as many might think. In the modern world, we sometimes need to set boundaries to using technology. Here are a few tricks I’ve found particularly useful.

My number one must-have is treating the news like a snack. I am ready to stop scrolling through negative news or social media content, and you would probably benefit from doing the same. Many therapists recognise that constantly refreshing the headlines
takes a toll on you
; during the workday, it makes you think less about the work, and it causes unnecessary stress. “There’s a lot of pressure to keep up, like it’s what’s expected of me or the right thing to do, and I need to redefine what the actual limit is for me,” says Mike, who has a consulting agency in San Francisco. “What I would love to do is go back to the days before cable news, when the newspaper arrived once or twice a day.”

If you don’t like your compulsive news-seeking habit either, join him in checking the headlines just twice a day. If that still feels like too much, I suggest subscribing to a weekly newsletter that summarizes recent events, and catching up in one condensed session. You’ll probably end up feeling more focused and optimistic.

Another important thing is to banish tech from the bedroom. In 2026, change the relationship with your phone – at least for nights. Mike is going to start keeping his phone in another room, and he encourages others to set the same boundary. “Nobody has told me I need to have my phone next to me all the time, but for a long time I used to do it. I thought, “What if somebody calls in the middle of the night, or there’s an emergency?” “But I also can't think of a time when
that
happened,” Mike adds.

If you, too, operate under the assumption that other people expect you to be available 24/7, reevaluate that notion, he suggests. You might find that if you keep your phone in another room overnight – after letting your friends know about your new boundary – you’ll sleep better and feel more refreshed in the morning.

Last, but not least – trade virtual time for face time. Katy Mith’s days often pass in a virtual haze. The New York-based psychologist sees clients online during the day, and then hops back on a virtual call in the evening to meet with fellow leaders in the organizations she’s involved with. Then there’s even more tech when it’s time to catch up with long-distance friends and family. “I’ve had to think about how much of my life I want to spend in that medium,” says Mith, author of many books about well-being
. “I’m trying to be very thoughtful about how much of my week is on virtual calls.”

If that makes sense for you, she says, make it a point to say “no” to opportunities that are not part of your usual course of work and involve online meetings, or let the organizers know that you can’t commit to lots of virtual time. Then, they can choose to proceed with or without you, if you’re not going to be virtual with them a lot of the time.

She also recommends seeking out community-based opportunities that prioritize getting together in person. “All those side conversations that happen when you get together with people are really good for your mental health and will help brighten your year.”

These boundaries help create a balance between online and offline life, ensuring that technology use enriches rather than detracts from personal well-being and real-world interactions.