018: Controlling digital safety and screen time

06/20/19 • 28 min

This episode will clarify the options you have to manage how you and your children use their screens.

There are all kinds of connected devices in our homes: tablets, smartphones, laptops, televisions, gaming consoles and more. Dinah and Mia give you some tools and tips to help keep your children safer online and also help provide screen time limits.

Mia and Dinah talk about resources like Common Sense Media that you can use to decide on which games and apps to download for your children. They also discuss how as your children get older it is more important to make sure you have enabled the parental controls on all the devices they access.

They discuss tips relating to:

Setting up individual profiles for your children and using family sharing settings for Apple and Google
Using Screentime in Apple devices (iOS 9 and above)
Using Content & Privacy Restrictions in older Apple devices
Using parental controls for your PC and gaming consoles
Setting up profiles for Netflix and other streaming accounts
Password protection and staying one step ahead of your digital native children.

They also discuss some options for improving security at the router level including upgrading your router or adding additional gadgets to control all the devices connected to your home internet connection.

LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK

Dinah’s daughter had cooked dinner based on the family meal planner without being asked

Mia is currently applying for a new role at work and she is able to use the CV she had prepared by an outsourcer earlier this year

LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK

Dinah talks about channel confusion caused when groups of friends move between various communication channels like email, WhatsApp and text messages.

POWER TOOL

10% Happier Podcast Episode on Digital Minimalism When - The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink

RESOURCES

Australian Parents Council - Recommended Screentime Raising Children - digital safety and screen time strategies eSafety - Office of the e-safety commissioners Common Sense Media - Aged Based Media Reviews Guide to Screentime functionality for Apple Devices Parental controls for older Apple devices that don't support Screen Time Circle - Screen time management and parental control device that controls wifi access and displays usage history

Please head to the Life Admin Life Hacks Facebook page to connect with listeners and share your thoughts, questions or suggestions.

This episode will clarify the options you have to manage how you and your children use their screens.

They discuss tips relating to:

Setting up individual profiles for your children and using family sharing settings for Apple and Google
Using Screentime in Apple devices (iOS 9 and above)
Using Content & Privacy Restrictions in older Apple devices
Using parental controls for your PC and gaming consoles
Setting up profiles for Netflix and other streaming accounts
Password protection and staying one step ahead of your digital native children.

LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK

Dinah’s daughter had cooked dinner based on the family meal planner without being asked

Mia is currently applying for a new role at work and she is able to use the CV she had prepared by an outsourcer earlier this year

LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK

Dinah talks about channel confusion caused when groups of friends move between various communication channels like email, WhatsApp and text messages.

POWER TOOL

10% Happier Podcast Episode on Digital Minimalism When - The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink

RESOURCES

Please head to the Life Admin Life Hacks Facebook page to connect with listeners and share your thoughts, questions or suggestions.

Previous Episode

017: Meal planning & grocery shopping

Dinah and Mia discuss their adoption of meal planning and hacks to make grocery shopping more efficient. This episode features an interview with meal planning expert, Nicole Avery, from Planning With Kids and Planned and Present.

Nicole gives some great tips about:

developing a system to share the load (eg shopping)
involving the family to suggest meal ideas
taking into account your family’s schedule
cooking in bulk to create leftovers for lunches
making every meal work more than once
meal preparation ahead of time
enlisting family members to help with putting the groceries away
where to find inspiration for recipes
how to get your family to try new meals
how to accommodate family members dietary requests and allergies
how to get started and use simple rules to make choosing meals easier
keeping it simple and not over complicating the plan.

Mia and Dinah talk about some of their techniques including:

using criteria to guide your plan (like Friday pizza night, fish night, breakfast for dinner night)
weekly planning vs monthly planning
buying in bulk for staples
using subscription services for toilet paper and pet food
having magnetised shopping lists and meal plans on the fridge
how to get inspiration for meal ideas.

LIFE ADMIN RESOURCES

Nicole Avery’s website – Planning with Kids

Nicole Avery’s Meal Prep Primer course

Please head to the Life Admin Life Hacks Facebook page to connect with listeners and share your thoughts, questions or suggestions.

Next Episode

019: Filing your tax return

This episode will help you set up your systems to make tax time as minimal as possible.

People whose lives are otherwise in good shape can suffer a mental block when it comes to tax. This episode will give you tips to get motivated and preparing your tax return more efficient.

Mia and Dinah discuss:

motivations for doing your tax by the deadline
the benefits of using an accountant or tax agent
why you might want to see your accountant before tax time
thinking about your tax refund as a payment for the work you need to do
options for setting up an online filing system to keep tax records
using scheduling to set aside a time to do your tax return
rewarding yourself when you get your tax return done.

LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK

Mia discusses how she organised her son’s birthday in one Power Hour : finalised the guest list, booked the venue, bought gifts and invited family for a separate get together
Dinah talks about how she cleared out the 16,000 unread emails in her personal email account

LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK