Make room for
what matters.

Real is a Vancouver-based non-profit dedicated to improving modern life by changing the way we use screen-based technology.

Get involved

Behind Real

Our devices give us vastly more things we can do while making it harder to consistently choose the things we want to do. Real is about closing that gap.

Real isn’t anti-technology. We believe technology can help us solve some of our hardest problems. But it can’t be used to solve all of them. And many of us have become addicted to our tech, which seems to be making us mean, numb, and dumb.

Real brings people together to ask and answer some of the real questions that underlie a good life.

What do I want my life to look like?
Is my tech taking me toward that life—or away from it?
How can I change course?

More choice ≠ more freedom.

Having endless things to do is not the same as being able to choose what matters.

Every technology carries a trade-off.

What do we gain? What do we give up?

Strategy > willpower.

The will to change is crucial, but we won’t get where we’re trying to go on willpower alone. We have to use our understanding of ourselves and our ability to reshape our environment to make better choices easier.

Technology as a tool

The goal is not to use as little technology as possible, but to use tech in service of our carefully considered goals. We want to know what role each piece of tech is playing in our lives.

A life, in weeks

Visualized

Screens can help us work, learn, create, and nurture relationships. But just because we can’t separate ourselves from technology entirely doesn’t mean things have to continue as they have been. Enter your information below to visualize how your screen time fits, or doesn't fit, into your life.

What is your average daily screen time?

6h 05m Scroll, drag, or use arrows

Daily time online

Canada’s estimate is the starting point. It reflects average daily internet use among internet users aged 16+, not total screen time. Choose another country if needed, then adjust the dial to match your own screen time.

2025 DataReportal / GWI estimate of daily internet use among internet users aged 16+.

What share of your screen time feels wasted or disconnected from the rest of your life?

50% Scroll, drag, or use arrows

The visual starts at 50% as an illustration. Adjust it to reflect your own experience. Include screen use that feels wasted or disconnected from the rest of your life—not tasks you merely dislike.

Add your birthday (optional) Not entered

Use my birthday

1 of 5 · A life in weeks

As we age…

We spend our days the way we spend our lives.

This is your life in weeks. Each dot represents one week, and each column represents a year.

Note: As the dots appear, their changing colours are meant to suggest a mix of activities within a week. These activities are then grouped.

The same life, sorted.

Now we can further group the weeks by activity to get an even clearer sense of how much time we spend on each one.

Where does screen time go?

Real acknowledges that our devices are deeply intertwined with modern life and play essential roles in our work, relationships, learning, and leisure. Removing screens entirely isn’t an option for most of us.

Regret can be a useful signal.

But many of us spend time on screens in ways that feel disconnected from the rest of our lives, or in ways that are outright unhealthy. Real is about redirecting some of that time toward things that feel more meaningful.

1h 31m of disconnected screen time per day

What else might you do with this time?

Who better to answer that than you? Regret, like other negative emotions, is telling us something. Maybe we should listen?

After all, our lives are too precious to be spent merely watching other people live theirs.

4years 6weeks 3days

of projected disconnected screen time

Sleep · 38.6% Personal care, meals & transport · 13.5% Paid work & learning · 17.1% Unpaid work & care · 11.3% Socializing & leisure · 19.4% Device usage

The program

Four sessions over four weeks

Real begins with a four-week in-person course for people who find themselves spending more time with their devices than they would like. Our first cohorts are designed for people in their twenties located in, and around, Vancouver. Even that doesn’t describe you we still want to hear from you.

Across the four meetings, participants will learn about the forces shaping their digital habits, run practical experiments, compare results with a small group, and try tools and technologies designed to make different choices easier.

See

Participants look at where their attention is going and investigate their own particular pitfalls.

Substitute

Participants are invited to explore their own interests and come up with more rewarding pursuits in place of disconnected device usage.

Shape

Participants receive instruction and tools to help them reshape their environments, making distraction and disconnected device use less likely.

Sustain

Participants consider what it means to commit to a deeper life and develop strategies to maintain healthier habits.

Get involved

It’s time to get Real

Real is in its early stages. If you want to take part, contribute funding or useful items, make a helpful connection, or share research and ideas, we would love to hear from you.

Join a cohort

I would like to participate in an upcoming Real cohort.

Support Real

I want to contribute funding, make an in-kind donation, or connect Real with people who can help.

Contribute expertise

I can contribute research, theory, or practical expertise as Real develops.

Ask about Real

I would like more information about the program.

Add me to the mailing list This is how you'll be notified about phone-free hangouts, the lending library, and other stuff Real is working towards.

First name

Last name (optional)

Email address

Organization (if relevant)

Your message

Thanks for visiting the site. We look forward to hearing from you.

Received.

Thank you. We look forward to speaking with you.

Evan is a man with vision. When we first shared our perspectives on mindful screen use, I could tell right away that he not only cared about making his own life better, but the lives of everyone he knows. Whether it’s through spreading awareness or developing apps, Evan continues to sow seeds for future generations to do the same.
Rylan on Evan

What is your perfect day?

Many of my best days are filled with some mix of hard work, deepened connections. and something new. So really... the first day of a backpacking trip is something like my idea of a perfect day.

Why Real?

It has been said that if you take a personal problem seriously enough, you stand to make progress on a social problem. Real is about testing that idea. I started Real as an excuse to think deeply about what it takes to live well in the internet era. My hope is that some of the ideas, information, and resources I’ve collected will be useful to others as well.

Rylan has just the right mix of pensiveness and practicality. He considers things deeply, but is still capable of getting things done in good time. If I’m the loudmouth, Rylan is the attentive ear.
Evan on Rylan

What is your perfect day?

My ideal day is one I could look back on and happily live on repeat. I’d challenge myself with another niche hobby like 3D printing or slacklining, share philosophies and theories with a friend, and indulge at yet another all-you-can-eat restaurant while trying to get my money’s worth and “beat the system.”

Why Real?

Surrendering the summer of 2021 to Instagram shifted my perspective on digital hygiene for good. Filled with both disgust at myself and a deep sense of purpose, I knew the problem was bigger than me; it affects everyone in some way or another.

Through Real, I hope Evan and I can help provide a sense of community and a bulwark against a digital world that has become increasingly hostile to real-life experience.

Make room for what matters.

Behind Real

More choice ≠ more freedom.

Every technology carries a trade-off.

Strategy > willpower.

Technology as a tool

Visualized

As we age…

The same life, sorted.

Where does screen time go?

Regret can be a useful signal.

What else might you do with this time?

Four sessions over four weeks

See

Substitute

Shape

Sustain

It’s time to get Real

How would you like to help?

Received.

Make room for
what matters.