Screen Time vs. Family Time | Mark Ostach (BEST OF MKM)

Marriage Kids and Money: Personal Finance for Families

Andy Hill

Investing, Business, Kids & Family, Parenting

4.9 • 604 Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you ever feel like your phone gets more of your attention than your family? You’re not alone. In this Best of MKM episode, we explore how to reclaim our focus, strengthen our relationships, and find balance in a world full of digital distractions. Author and speaker Mark Ostach joins me to talk about digital wellness—what it means, why it matters, and how small shifts can make a huge difference in our marriages, parenting, and personal health. From setting boundaries with email to modeling good tech habits for our kids, Mark shares practical strategies to help us become more present at home and less consumed by screens. This conversation originally aired in 2022, but it’s just as powerful today. As part of our Best of MKM series, I’m excited to bring back this timeless chat with Mark, the author of Courage to Connect. Resources ⁠Sponsors, Deals and Partners⁠ Chapters 00:00 – Introduction 01:30 – What Digital Wellness Really Means 04:00 – The “Holy Trinity” of Checking & Digital Distraction 06:30 – Early Struggles That Sparked Mark’s Mission 07:50 – Impact of Screen Time on Marriage & Family Life 09:40 – Modeling Healthy Tech Habits for Kids 11:50 – Coping with Distraction & Digital Stress 13:30 – Small Steps Toward Digital Wellness 17:00 – Morning Routines & Phone Boundaries 18:00 – Healthy Ways to Use Social Media 20:00 – Managing Email & Avoiding Overwhelm 23:50 – When Should Kids Get Their First Devices? 25:00 – Parents as “Paparazzi” & Memory vs. Instagram 28:30 – Predictions for the Future of Digital Wellness 32:30 – One Simple Step You Can Take Today 34:00 – Where to Find Courage to Connect MKM RESOURCES: ⁠⁠⁠Own Your Time: Pre-order my first book today! MKM Coaching⁠⁠⁠: Want 1-on-1 support with your family finance journey? Book a time with me today. ⁠⁠⁠Coast FIRE Calculator⁠⁠⁠: A free calculator to help you find out when you can slow down or stop investing for retirement. ⁠⁠⁠Mortgage Payoff Calculator⁠⁠⁠: A free calculator to help you see how fast you can become mortgage free. ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠: Subscribe for free to watch videos of these episodes and interviews. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES (SPONSORS AND AFFILIATES): ⁠⁠⁠Monarch Money⁠⁠⁠ - Best Budget App for Families & Couples ⁠⁠⁠Empower⁠⁠⁠ - Free Portfolio Tracker ⁠⁠Cr⁠ew⁠⁠⁠ - HYSA Banking Built for Families - Get an Extra 0.5% APY with my partner link ⁠⁠⁠Ethos⁠⁠⁠ - Affordable Term Life Insurance ⁠⁠⁠Trust & Will⁠⁠⁠ - Convenient Estate Planning HOW WE MAKE MONEY + DISCLAIMER: This show may contain affiliate links or links from our advertisers where we earn a commission, direct payment or products. Opinions are the creators alone. Information shared on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Marriage Kids and Money (www.marriagekidsandmoney.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. CREDITS: Podcast Artwork: Liz Theresa Editor: Johnny Sohl Podcast Support: Andy Hill Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Ava from Vanta.
0:02.0	In today's digital world, compliance regulations are changing constantly,
0:07.0	and earning customer trust has never mattered more.
0:10.0	Vanta helps companies get compliant fast and stay secure,
0:13.0	with the most advanced AI automation and continuous monitoring out there.
0:17.0	So whether you're a startup going for your first SOC two or ISO-27,001, or a growing
0:22.1	enterprise managing vendor risk, Banta makes it quick, easy, and scalable, and I'm not to say
0:27.2	that because I work here. Get started today at banta.com.
0:32.0	Take one hour of a digital fast. I don't care when it is. Make it the same hour for you so that way we're
0:38.4	creatures of habit, you get used to that, oh, that's my hour, and give yourself the grace to know
0:42.8	that you're going to fail on these digital kind of dimensions that we're talking about
0:47.2	or these baby steps. And when you fail, that's okay. Just restart the next week or start again.
0:52.5	Give yourself the grace to know that this is a,
0:54.9	it's going to be a journey.
1:01.8	This show is dedicated to helping you, strengthen your family tree and live financially free.
1:07.3	Welcome to the Marriage Kids and Money podcast, everybody. This is Andy Hill. And today we're
1:11.3	bringing you another Best of MKM episode. This week we're featuring an interview that I did with
1:17.5	Mark OSTAC in 2022. We had the pleasure of doing this in person, which was kind of cool because he's a
1:22.9	Metro Detroit dude. Mark wrote a book called The Courage to Connect, focused on making meaningful connections.
1:30.5	Now, a big part of that conversation was about screen time versus family time and how we need
1:36.7	to find that happy medium. Without further delay, let's jump into this Best of MKM episode from
1:42.5	2022 with author Mark Osteck.
	...

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