How to Break Free from Screen Time Overload | Parenting, Faith, and Healthy Tech Habits w/ Erick Vargas

Welcome to the Collide Kids Podcast! Host Christen Clark has a thought-provoking conversation with Erick Vargas, a Christian entrepreneur and app developer who focuses on integrating technology with faith.Erick Vargas shares his journey from uncertainty about his career to becoming a co-founder of the Sabbath Space app—a tool designed to help Christians reduce screen time and enhance connections with their faith, family, and community. Fueled by his personal struggle with tech addiction, Erick explains how he was inspired to create an app that introduces balance in digital usage. He highlights the app's unique blend of technology and physical devices that encourages users to prioritize real-life interactions over digital distractions.Listeners will get valuable insights into the importance of managing screen time, especially for young minds, and discover the beauty in boredom as a springboard for creativity. Erick also offers practical tips to break free from the tricks that tech companies use to keep us glued to our screens.Tune in for an episode that not only explores the intersection of technology and faith but also encourages a thoughtful approach to digital consumption. To learn more about Sabbath Space and download the app for yourself, go to https://sabbathspace.io/ today!Special Thanks to our amazing editor, Jay Lee, from provisionpods.comClip Finder: "Understanding Coding: Coding is a language. You know, it might sound scary, but really, it's kind of like doing math, Right?"— Erick Vargas [00:08:30 → 00:08:37]"Creating Through Collaboration": "Absolutely. And so, like, I like. I would encourage anybody if you went to, like, these websites called Fiverr or Upwork. These are freelance websites where you could just hire a developer and say, hey, make me this, and work together."— Erick Vargas [00:09:47 → 00:10:02]"Tech Overload and Parenting: A Personal Revelation": "I just had my firstborn son and he's two now, and I look at my phone and I spent six and a half hours that day on my phone and I was like, what? Like, how is that possible?"— Erick Vargas [00:11:03 → 00:11:17]"The Importance of Sabbath Rest": "I wanted to take a break and rest from all the incoming messages of the world. Trying to capture our mind and capture our attention. Telling me that I need to be richer or fitter or whatever it is that is not rooted in the identity that Jesus has purchased for me on the cross and say, hey, all this is going away."— Erick Vargas [00:14:17 → 00:14:42]Breaking Bad Habits: "The analogy I like to describe this as is, is not keeping cookies in the house. Right. So if you're on a diet, just like, just make it easy on yourself, don't keep the cookies in your house."— Erick Vargas [00:17:09 → 00:17:20]The Dopamine Dilemma: "And the problem with getting all of these dopamine hits with these notifications is you start to seek more and more and more of that."— Erick Vargas [00:20:11 → 00:20:22]**Bringing Ideas to Life:** "And so it's pretty cool, at least in software, to say, I have an idea and then bring it to life.... It's like a magical thing to say, like, wow, I designed this keychain with a chip in it, and other people are getting value and experiences out of it. And so that's what God has taught me is like, don't let your ideas just be an idea only, but get it out there in the world so I could bless other people."— Erick Vargas [00:24:15 → 00:24:47] Bark proactively works to monitor, detect, and alert you to potential issues on your kids' devices. Visit bark.us to learn more about how you can keep your kids safe online. Use the code COLLIDEKIDS to get 15% off Your Bark Technologies Plan !Support the show