Why digital awareness should top your list of time management strategies

If you’ve ever downloaded a new app to get organized, then deleted it three days later, you’re not alone. Most parents are carrying ridiculously heavy mental loads—between work meetings, grocery deliveries and school spirit schedules (“Is it pajama day today or tomorrow?”), our brains are maxed out. Adding another app can feel like one more thing to manage.

What’s missing isn’t more tech—it’s digital awareness: noticing how technology affects your focus, time and mental space. Families often try to use new tools to get organized, but as research in Families, Relationships and Societies (2024) shows, even the most connected homes struggle when the tech doesn’t match the family’s existing rhythms or expectations. It’s rarely the app that fails—it’s the mindset behind how it’s used.

I’ve been able to design time management strategies and routines for my family that feel simple and almost invisible (like bedtime routines, morning routines and even screen time routines). The three research-backed hacks below are the ones I’ve used to create our routines, and they can help you create meaningful time management strategies with tech you already have.

1. Pause first: Practice digital awareness

Before you pick up a device, take ten seconds to ask, “What am I using this for—distraction or direction?” That simple pause can turn everyday tech into a time management tool.

1. Smartphones: Use them to plan and organize—not to scroll.

2. Voice assistants: Let Alexa or Google handle simple reminders and lists so your brain can rest.

3. Automatic tech: Choose tools that make routines smoother, like smart locks, and routers that turn off Wi-Fi automatically at consistent times.

Once you notice which tools help your family focus, you can design time management strategies that actually fit your life.

2. Notice patterns: The shared family calendar

I admit that the family calendar can easily become overwhelming. When confronted with too many choices, the brain can experience a shutdown effect known as cognitive overload.

So, what can you do? One of my favorite hacks is using color coding. When everyone is assigned a color, it makes everything much easier to understand.

Here’s why color coding works in your time management strategies:

Color has been shown to enhance memory performance. And your brain naturally gravitates toward the color you’ve been associated with. For example, in my house, my color is blue. It’s my favorite color and has a calming effect, so I associate calmness with it. Even when my schedule gets chaotic, it doesn’t feel overwhelming because of that association.

How to use it:

1. Set up a main family calendar that everyone can view and edit in real time.

2. Gather everyone to choose their color; make it a family event.

3. Whenever anyone adds something to the calendar, they use their color tab.

4. Automate the simple stuff

By delegating reminders to voice assistants like Alexa, we can focus on more complex or creative tasks. For instance, in our home, our voice assistant  reminds the kids to turn off their devices every night at 7 PM.

As a result, they’ve developed a habit of doing it without reminders from me or their dad—even when we’re on vacation. This consistent cue has helped instill a positive tech behavior.

How to set it up:

Just ask your smart speaker, “Help me create a daily schedule,” and the assistant will guide you from there.

You can adjust or cancel reminders anytime. The goal is to build reliable cues that lighten your brain’s load. Automation is one of the most effective time management strategies for families because it reduces the number of small decisions you have to make each day.

5. Use your home router to build consistent time management strategies and routines

Smart home tools can help create time management strategies that build consistency. A smart lock means your child uses the same after-school routine every day. A router with automatic shutoff times turns screen time limits into a dependable pattern instead of a nightly debate.

Each small automation removes one “Did you remember to…?” from your list and builds more peace into your day.

How to try It:

• Use your Verizon router or Verizon Family Plus tools to pause Wi-Fi or set screen time limits from anywhere.
• Set up smart locks so kids can safely enter the house after school.
• Turn on Do Not Disturb or Focus Modes during homework or dinner.

When to add, when to adjust

Look for the points in your day that always seem to fall apart: Those are your signals to add support.

Try small adjustments in your time management strategies; like a shared reminder for after-school check-ins, a cue from your smart device before bedtime or a quick evening calendar review. When you use tech to fill in those routine “pain points,” you’re not adding more work, you’re creating systems that quietly keep your family on track. Each tweak teaches everyone how to pause, reset and find what works.

We’ve got you: You’re there for them with Verizon Family. Verizon’s there for you—including our 3-year price lock*.

*Learn more about our 3-year price lock guarantee.