Join the list

Challenge

A phone-light December.

December fills the phone with plans, photos, deals and group chats, just when the people it connects you to are in the same room. This calendar has one small step for each day to Christmas Eve, for you and for the family. Open one a day, or pick the ones that suit you.

Neaion · 5 November 2026 · 2 min read · Written with AI help

How it works. Twenty-four small steps, one for each day from 1 December to Christmas Eve. The first week clears the noise, the second gives the family some screen-free time, the third gets you ready for the holidays, and the last days are for Christmas itself. Each step takes minutes, and most link to a guide with the evidence behind it.

1 to 7 December: clear the noise

  1. Count your week: screen time, pickups, notifications. Where to find them.
  2. Mute the shopping apps. December is when they send the most: fewer notifications.
  3. Leave or mute one group chat you only read out of duty.
  4. Unsubscribe from five newsletters you delete unread.
  5. Let family through, mute the rest in the evenings: Do Not Disturb with exceptions.
  6. Charge the phone outside the bedroom: why it helps.
  7. A phone-free Sunday morning. Breakfast first, screens later.

8 to 14 December: time together

  1. A phone basket at dinner, for everyone, adults first: a phone on the table.
  2. Write one card by hand to someone you usually only message.
  3. A board game or a puzzle evening instead of a series.
  4. A walk to see the lights, phone in the pocket: walks and attention.
  5. Bake or cook something together, with the recipe printed or written out.
  6. Agree the house rules for the holidays, with the children having a say: meals, bedrooms, the hour before bed.
  7. An evening without the phone for the adults: how to plan it.

15 to 21 December: ready for the holidays

  1. Set an out-of-office for the days you are away, and mean it.
  2. Choose gifts that take over a phone’s small jobs, or make an evening without it easier: gift ideas.
  3. Set bedtime mode for the holidays, when late nights creep in: bedtime mode.
  4. Plan the travel day: tickets printed or saved offline, a book, music downloaded, a charger in the bag.
  5. Decide who takes the photos at the big moments, so everyone else can be in them.
  6. Pick an hour a day for messages and greetings, rather than all day.
  7. On the longest night, switch the screens off an hour early and light a candle instead.

22 to 24 December: the holidays

  1. Grey the screen for the holidays, which makes the feeds less tempting: grayscale.
  2. A phone-free outing, to a market, a church, a forest or a friend: what to sort out first.
  3. Christmas Eve: phones in the basket while you eat and open presents, the photographer of the evening excepted, and Do Not Disturb on with family let through.

For the children

A basket that only takes the children’s tablets is a hard sell; it works better when the adults’ phones go in first. For the youngest, the World Health Organization’s guidance on screen time is in screen time for young children; for older ones, the question of their own phone is in the first phone in Europe.

After Christmas

Keep the two or three steps that made the biggest difference, and if you want a plan for January, try the 30-day phone challenge.

Questions

How do you have a phone-free Christmas?

Aim for phone-light rather than phone-free: a basket for phones at meals and while opening presents, one person taking the photos, and Do Not Disturb with exceptions so that the people who need to can still reach you. The calendar builds up to that over December.

What can children do instead of screens over the holidays?

Games, crafts, cooking, walks and helping with the preparations. For young children, the WHO guidance on screen time is in our guide to screen time for young children; with older children, it helps when the adults put their phones away too.