Free planning tool
Make a phone agreement together.
Choose a starting example, edit it to fit your household, then copy or print the agreement. The example is a suggestion; the useful part is deciding the details together.
No account required. Entries stay in this page’s memory and disappear when you leave or reload. Use roles instead of private names.
1. Choose a starting example
Loading an example replaces the situation fields; your participants and review date stay in place.
2. Make it specific
Keep necessary communication and medical or accessibility functions available. For significant distress or ongoing difficulties, a worksheet is only a starting point for a conversation with appropriate support.
Your agreement
OUR PHONE AGREEMENT What we want to protect: Finish a conversation without optional phone checks. When the rule applies: During the shared evening meal Where the device goes: On the kitchen shelf What we will do: Put optional phone activity on hold until the meal is finished. What happens next: Ask each other about one interesting part of the day. Exceptions and access needs: Keep medical, accessibility, and agreed urgent-contact functions available. Our reminder: One calm reminder: “Meal time.” Who follows the agreement: Everyone taking part, including adults Review date: Agree on a date together At the review, ask: Did we finish a conversation? Was anything important missed? Change one detail if the plan does not fit. This is a planning aid, not a clinical assessment. Digital Dopamine Dispenser — digitaldopaminedispenser.com/tools/phone-agreement
Before you call it agreed
Read it aloud. Can each person explain when it applies? Is the device location practical? Does the exception describe a real need? Ask whether the reminder would feel respectful if someone said it to you.
For example, “be responsible” leaves too much to interpretation. “During our shared meal, optional phone activity pauses; the adult on call steps away to answer work calls” describes a situation you can recognize. If there is no shared meal that day, the agreement does not invent one.
At the review, discuss the activity you wanted to protect. A smaller screen-time total alone does not show that the plan helped. Keep a useful rule, change a confusing detail, or choose a different situation.
Read the full family agreement guide