The Time Freedom Podcast

Ruby Ryba on Packing a Full Life Into One Life

Episode Summary

Today on the podcast, Brian and Kirby welcome Ruby Ryba. Ruby, married with three kids (ages five, two, and two months), lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. She's a former high school math teacher turned screen time strategist and the author of the book "How to Stop Scrolling," out March 30th. In this episode, Ruby opens up about how her husband's entrepreneurial mindset cracked open her own ideas about freedom, why she used to feel a kind of sadness about only getting to live one life, and how she and her husband have responded by trying as many things as they can: different cities, different careers, different ways of structuring their days. She shares the framework she uses to stay sane with three young kids, the three pillars of her book, and why the scariest part of putting your phone down might be the question it forces you to answer: what do you actually want to do with your time?

Episode Notes

Top 5 Takeaways:

1. Give each day a single focus. Instead of cramming work, family, self-care, and social time into every day, Ruby picks one theme per day. It stopped her from feeling like she was failing at everything.
2. Accept the seasons of "time broke." With young kids, certain hours of the day are just spoken for. Accepting that (instead of resenting it) frees up the hours you do control.
3. You don't have to be with someone all the time to love them. Ruby and her husband travel without their kids regularly, and she's normalizing it for her family. The guilt fades when you see how good it is for everyone.
4. Fill the vacuum. Removing scrolling from your life forces a question most people avoid: what do you actually want to do with your time? That's what makes the change stick.
5. Design over willpower. You can meet a friend at the bakery and resist the croissant, or you can meet them at the smoothie place and skip the battle entirely. The same principle applies to your phone.

Chatpers:

• 0:00 – Welcome and Early Personal Insights
• 1:16 – From High School Math Teacher to Author
• 5:36 – Generational Perspectives on Time Freedom
• 10:26 – Freedom, Autonomy, and Designing Your Life
• 13:40 – Entrepreneurship and Intentional Life Choices
• 17:19 – Time Freedom Across Different Life Stages
• 25:30 – The Story Behind Writing How to Stop Scrolling
• 30:00 – Understanding the Reader and the Problem of Phone Use
• 31:14 – Reclaiming Time and Attention in a Digital World
• 34:27 – Building Meaningful Connections and Adult Friendships

RUBY RYBA

Ruby Ryba is a former high school math teacher turned screen time strategist and the author of How to Stop Scrolling, out March 30th. After teaching algebra and AP statistics for years, Ruby pivoted during COVID to pursue writing and coaching, blending her analytical background with a passion for helping people be more intentional with their time and attention. She hosts a weekly writing circle through the Write Useful Books community and publishes The Scroll Shift, a weekly newsletter with actionable advice on redesigning your relationship with your phone.

You can connect with Ruby at howtostopscrolling.com and rubyrybawrites.com.