Philip Withnall
pwithnall@gnome.org
Damilola Oladele
damilolamohammed2@hotmail.com
Track how long you use your device, and help plan when to take breaks.
Justin van Steijn
jvs@fsfe.org 2016
Hannie Dumoleyn
hannie@ubuntu-nl.org 2017
Nathan Follens
nfollens@gnome.org 2022

# Screen time and break reminders

# Screen time

You can track how much time you spend on your device, enable screen time recording, and optionally set daily limits. To do this, follow these steps:

Open the Activities overview and type Settings.

Klik op Instellingen.

Click on Wellbeing in the sidebar to open the panel.

Press the Enable button under Screen Time to enable screen time recording. If a chart is visible on the page, then screen time recording is already enabled.

When screen time recording is enabled, the amount of time you have spent logged in to the device each day will be stored for the previous few weeks. The times are displayed in the chart, along with averages for days and weeks, allowing you to explore how your screen time varies over time. Use the arrow buttons below the chart to scroll through past weeks, and click on the bar for each day to view its data.

Screen time data is not shared outside this device or with other users on it. It is automatically deleted after a few weeks or when you disable screen time recording.

To limit your daily device use, switch Screen Time Limit to on and set a Daily Limit. When the limit is reached, you will receive a notification and the screen will fade to grayscale.

Your daily limit is represented as a dashed line on the screen time usage chart.

It is recommended to limit your screen time to 8 hours a day and to make time for physical activity during those hours. One way to remind yourself to take physical activity breaks is to enable break reminders.

To disable screen time recording, press the ⋮ button above the screen time chart, then press Disable Screen Time. This will also disable screen time limits.

# Break reminders

To periodically remind yourself to take a break from using your device, enable break reminders by following these steps:

Open the Activities overview and type Settings.

Klik op Instellingen.

Click on Wellbeing in the sidebar to open the panel.

Switch Eyesight Reminders or Movement Reminders to on.

When either Eyesight Reminders or Movement Reminders are switched on, you will receive a notification at a chosen interval to remind you to take a break from using the device.

It is recommended to set break intervals that let you rest before you get tired, rather than recover afterward. Frequent breaks help prevent fatigue, eye strain, upper limb problems and backache. You can choose different intervals for short eyesight breaks and longer movement breaks.

Eyesight breaks remind you to look away from the screen and focus your eyes on something else. They also remind you to take a moment to blink, stretch, and change position. Movement breaks remind you to move around more, for example by walking away from the device completely to stretch your legs.