This Concludes Our Broadcast Day

There was a time when television knew when to stop.

Late at night, after the final show ended, the screen would fade to the American flag. The national anthem would play. A simple message appeared:

“This concludes our broadcast day.”

And that was it. No autoplay. No next episode. No endless scroll. The day was done.

I think about that a lot now.

We live in a world where nothing ever signs off. Social media never sleeps. News never pauses. Notifications never end. Somewhere in the world, someone is awake, posting, reacting, arguing, selling, performing. And because of that, we are always invited to stay a little longer.

The problem is not time zones.

The problem is that human beings are not particularly good at self regulation.

I wish platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others had an end of the day. I wish there were a moment when the feed gently stopped and said, “That’s enough for now. Go rest.” I realize that will never happen. These companies are not designed to protect our attention. They are designed to capture it.

So the responsibility falls back where it always does in leadership.

On us.

Self-regulation is one of the most important personal leadership skills we can develop. It is also one of the hardest. It requires awareness, discipline, and sometimes doing things that feel inconvenient in the short term so we can live better in the long term.

This is not just an adult problem. It is an everyone problem.

Here in Ohio, school districts have begun mandating that student devices are not allowed during the instructional day. When these policies were first introduced, there was resistance.  I have heard students, including my own daughter, say they did not like the idea at first.

What surprised me was what came next.

Many of those same students now say it is better this way. They are more focused. More present. Less anxious. They talk to each other more. They are not constantly pulled away by a screen in their pocket.

In other words, when the decision was made for them, they discovered something they struggled to do on their own.

We need help. All of us.

Since the platforms are unlikely to conclude their broadcast day for us, we have to learn how to do it ourselves. Thankfully, there are practical ways to build this skill.

Here are a few that actually work:

• Use built-in phone settings like app limits, downtime, and focus modes.

• Set timers for social media and honor them when they end.

• Turn your phone completely off at night.

• Buy an old-school alarm clock so your phone does not need to be in your bedroom.

• Charge devices in another room.

• Create a nightly routine that replaces scrolling with reading, journaling, or simply sitting quietly.

• Decide in advance what time your personal broadcast day ends.

None of these are groundbreaking ideas. That is the point. Leadership is rarely about knowing something new. It is about consistently doing what we already know is good for us.

This is hard at every age. Kids struggle with it. Teenagers struggle with it. Adults struggle with it. Leaders struggle with it. I struggle with it.

But struggle does not mean surrender.

The ability to say, “This is enough for today,” is a powerful act of self-leadership. It protects our sleep. It protects our focus. It protects our relationships. It protects our peace.

So here is the call to action: Decide when your day ends. Choose one boundary you will put in place this week. Just one. Tell yourself, clearly and confidently, “This concludes my broadcast day,” and mean it. The world will still be there in the morning. And you will show up better rested, more grounded, and more in control of the life you are building.

Leadership matters. Let’s give the world something worth following.

You are awesome!

Kelly