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Habit Formation
Breaking Bad: Time to Get Smart About Smartphone Usage
Take charge of your unhealthy smartphone use.
Posted February 7, 2024 Reviewed by Lybi Ma
According to Pew Research, as of January 2024, 97 percent of Americans own a cellphone, and 9 out of 10 of these devices are smartphones. The time we spend on mobile devices, mostly smartphones, according to Statista, climbed to over 4.5 hours per day in 2022, with this upward trend expected to continue in 2024. This figure, by the way, does not include talking on the phone.
We scroll social media, create video content, share photos, and access the internet all with one easily transportable device. We also watch movies, TV shows, news, and videos, carry a vast curated music library in our pockets, gamble, play games, pay bills, and connect through social media with like-minded individuals. We can listen to podcasts, shop for groceries, send out party invitations, attend classes, engage in therapy, and even wind down with the help of a meditation app, all with a single device smaller than a paperback book. Is it any wonder that our habitual usage of smartphones is on the rise?
Habit formation, according to Psychology Today, happens when: “… behaviors become automatic … and can form without a person intending to acquire them.” Since our habits impact our physical and psychological well-being, we must take steps to understand the potential consequences of these automatic behaviors that form while we’re out there, living our lives and using the tools at our disposal.
For better and for worse
People are becoming concerned about the potential fallout of our increasing dependence on these powerful devices. A June 2022 Gallup survey reported that 58 percent of respondents think that while they rely on their smartphones too much, 12 percent report that smartphones have made their lives worse. One thing seems certain: for better and for worse, smartphones are, at least for the foreseeable future, here to stay.
Research points to troubling symptoms
Researchers at the University of Toronto, have collected the largest data set to date, surveyed 50,423 participants from 195 countries between 18 and 90 years of age, about their smartphone usage. They found that: “Women scored higher than men in problematic smartphone use,” and that, “the older a user is, the less likely they are to have problematic smartphone use.”
Furthermore, a study on the excess use of electronic devices by children and adolescents published in June 2023 concluded that: "...extended electronic device use was associated with increased prevalence and severity of musculoskeletal symptoms, visual symptoms, and psychosocial health.”
In their A Day Without Media study, The International Center for Media and the Public Agenda analyzed feedback from 200 University of Maryland students who volunteered to abstain from media for 24 hours. In their robust feedback, students reported being functionally unwilling and unable to: “be without their media links to the world.”
A cross-sectional study, The Relationship Between Cellphone Usage on the Physical and Mental Well-being of University Students, concluded that: “mobile devices have been implicated in a wide range of negative effects on individuals’ physical and mental well-being.” Reported negative physical impacts included eye strain, neck pain, back pain, headaches, fatigue, impaired concentration, poor sleeping patterns, and troubling mental health impacts, including symptoms of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
These results are consistent with a 2021 study on the impact of excessive smartphone usage on mental health, which concludes that: “Excessive smartphone use is associated with psychiatric, cognitive, emotional, medical, and brain changes that should be considered by health and education professionals.”
No time like the present
When it comes to the habits and patterns around our smartphone use, there’s no time like the present to take stock and take control of our potentially problematic patterns of usage.
Six steps to take control
Build awareness: The first step to addressing any problem involves building awareness. Register the number of hours you spend on your smartphone each day.
Pay attention: Make note of your negative physical symptoms, like blurred vision, back or neck pain, fatigue, or sleep disturbances, and negative psychological symptoms, like anxiety, low mood, or lowered self-esteem.
Schedule regular breaks from technology: Create a daily schedule that includes periods throughout the day when you detach from your devices.
Say goodnight to your screens: Restricting screen time two hours before bedtime is practicing good sleep hygiene, and will help you fall asleep and stay asleep.
Seek support: A support buddy who shares your smartphone usage goals can help keep you accountable and on track.
Pay attention to the benefits of technology-free time: Make note of the upside of detaching from your smartphone— like a greater ability to concentrate on tasks, feeling less distracted, lowered eye strain, or fatigue. Realizing the benefits of taking control of your smartphone will help keep you on track.
