How does a mom limit screen time—even educational screen time?

Watching instructional craft videos, history documentaries, or playing chess online aren't bad things. In fact, I think they're wonderful uses of technology.

But I also know my kids.

If I gave them unlimited access, even educational screen time could easily consume most of the day. Every minute spent on a screen—even for good reasons—is a minute not spent outside, building forts, drawing, reading, inventing games, or simply being bored long enough to come up with something creative.

So instead of banning educational screens altogether, I put boundaries around them.

My kids have to complete a handful of important tasks first. Sometimes they work straight through the list. Other times they'll finish a couple of items and disappear outside to play for two hours before coming back. That's perfectly fine with me. The goal isn't to rush through a checklist—it's to make sure the important things happen before screens do.

This summer I made an official "Order of Operations" checklist for our family.

The title is a little math joke. My oldest immediately understood the reference to the math term, while my younger two simply know it means, "Here's the order we do things."

In our home, recreational screen time is already very limited. We save games and free browsing for the weekends, and even then it's for a designated amount of time (I'll share more about our "screen-time beans" system in another post).

But I also know my kids enjoy using technology for worthwhile things—playing chess on Duolingo, researching whatever topic they're currently obsessed with, and other educational activities.

Rather than letting those happen whenever they want, I decided to make them something to earn after the day's priorities are finished.

So this summer, I created this:

It has worked surprisingly well. The checklist provides structure without dictating exactly when each task has to happen. If a neighbor knocks on the door or we decide to head to the pool, the list simply pauses. We pick it back up later.

Educational screen time is still part of our day—but it comes after habits that I believe matter even more.