Why We Can’t Put Down Our Phones: The Psychological Barriers to Reducing Screen Time

The amount of time we’re locked in looking at our screens is reaching alarming levels. While you might have convinced yourself that you are spending less time on your phone and more time completing productive activities, new research suggests that phone usage among American adults has surged by nearly 60 percent since the pandemic.

A report by AllConnect, a free online marketplace that helps consumers compare various internet-based products and services, found that the average screen time per user in the U.S. rose to roughly 13 hours per day at the height of stay-at-home orders during the pandemic.

Nearly four years later, the average internet user spends at least 7 hours online daily, compared to the recommended 2 hours daily. Around the world, humans are spending at least 40% of their waking hours looking at screens, whether it be cell phones, televisions, or computers.

All that overconsumption is leading to a new series of psychological problems that many children, adolescents, and adults are starting to experience. New research is uncovering that excessive screen time can have a myriad of negative effects on a person’s physical and mental health, leading to increased issues of anxiety, depression, and stress.

However, when the solution to drastically reducing our screen time is to simply delete those time-consuming applications from our phones or restrict ourselves from spending countless hours doom scrolling through social media or browsing the internet, why does it feel nearly impossible to get a grip on being more digitally minimalist and seeking more intentional ways to reduce our screen time?

The Psychological Impact Of Too Much Screen Time

New research into the effects of excessive screen time on mental health has promoted many individuals to take more active measures to reduce daily screen usage, with younger generations making a more notable effort.

As per ExpressVPN’s survey on limiting tech for mental health, around 17 percent of Gen Zs are making an effort to limit their screen time. For a generation defined as “digital natives” who have only known a world with technology, 29 percent of Gen Zs said that they are taking more active measures to reduce their screen usage most days.

Though there has been a somewhat positive response in the way younger generations view the importance of limiting daily screen time, several scientific studies have found that there is a direct link between internet overconsumption and our mental health.

For starters, in one study, researchers found that those individuals, especially children and adolescents who spent most of their time interacting with digital devices were statistically more likely to internalize problems at a late stage in their life.

Not only have they found that many more children and young people are internalizing problems they may be facing, but these actions are leading to many children and teenagers experiencing heightened levels of anxiety, depression, social anxiety, and somatic complaints.

Higher levels of frequent screen time and mental health problems often influence specific changes in brain development, according to the same study.

There have been similar findings among adults with increased use of screens. In a recent study published in 2021, researchers found that excessive screen time may harm learning, memory, and mental health in adults. In fact, adults aged 18 - 25 with high levels of daily screen time exhibited a thinning cerebral cortex, an exterior part of the brain that is responsible for processing memory and cognitive functions.

More than this, studies have shown that increased screen time can affect a person’s sleep, especially among adults who look at screens before going to bed or late at night. Researchers found that light from screens can actively delay melatonin release from the brain, which can impact the body’s natural circadian rhythm.

The issue isn’t only our phones, as other studies have found that adults watching up to five hours or more of television per day could have an increased risk of developing neuro-related diseases, including dementia, strokes, and even Parkinson’s disease.

There is plenty of research that provides us with an in-depth look into how our habits have started to impact brain development among children and teens, and how excessive screen time and constantly being locked-in can influence our mental well-being.

Technology and smartphones have become such an integral part of our lives that it’s nearly impossible to imagine a world without them. Everything from the second we wake up, reaching for our phones, to the minute we get back home from school or work, we’re constantly surrounded by the noise of the outside world.

Yet, the mindset of being constantly connected to the outside is what’s causing more serious long-term mental and physical health problems for many children and adults.

In fact, researchers suggest that those adults engaged in excessive use of technology and screen time, who have been diagnosed with an addiction to their smartphones often exhibit lower levels of gray matter volume.

According to the study, gray matter is the brain tissue responsible for supporting daily human function, including important things such as our emotions, movement, and cognitive functions such as memory.

While it’s natural for gray matter volume to decrease as we begin to age, passive screen time is suggested to be an influencing factor that can impact brain health, sleep cycles, and stress management among some adults.

However, when the solution to our problems seems as simple as not being on your phone the whole time, why are so many people struggling to keep their daily screen time to a minimum, and what can they do to cut back on being constantly locked in?

Why It’s Become So Difficult To Reduce Your Screen Time

For many of us, it’s become a natural habit to check our messages, emails, and social media the second our eyes open in the morning. We’re scrolling, browsing, and tapping away at our phones before the day has even properly started.

Our digital habits have become ingrained in our everyday routines, and without our phones by our side, we’d feel lost and completely out of touch with the world around us. Just imagine what the commute to work must feel like without a podcast blaring in your ears, having to read the news online, or even using your maps app to find a bus or train schedule.

Reducing our screen time seems nearly impossible, and having tried everything from deleting apps, turning on screen time notification limits, or even turning your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode while at work, nothing seems to help, yet, why is that?

Phones Are Designed to Keep Us Engaged

Take a look at your phone, and you’ll notice how everything has been designed throughout to keep you engaged. Everything from the color of the icons on the screen to the ability to personalize the layout, font, and wallpaper, phones have been designed to keep us engaged.

When phones were still in the primary years of development, screens were small, buttons were hard, and the body of the phone was bulky and heavy. We’ve come a long way since then, and now our mobile devices are designed to comfortably sit in our hands or our pockets for hours, without us even noticing it.

The ergonomic design of cell phones makes them more comfortable to hold and look at for longer periods. Icons have been designed with the psychological intention to attract your attention. Even things such as the notifications symbol that pops up at the top of an icon have been designed to express a sense of urgency.

Apps Allow Us to Be in Control

Across our smart devices, we’re looking to be in control, building a personalized experience that is tailored to all our needs. By being in control, we have the authority to choose and make up a world of experiences that we are most likely to enjoy and interact with daily.

We’re allowed the opportunity to choose and dictate what and who we want to engage with. On social media, we can set our content preferences to things that only include people or things that we think resonate with who we are. Our subscriptions are built around our needs, everything from what we like to eat and how we dress can be used to help create a more hyper-personalized experience.

Having the freedom to choose and make important decisions gives us the feeling of being valued, and importantly of being in control, something that many individuals might take seriously in a world where politics and social issues are reaching a boiling point.

Social Media Promotes Habit-Forming

Whether you agree or disagree, social media has been designed to create a feeling of gambling. Don’t believe it? In 2018, a former Meta employee, then Facebook, told in a BBC interview that the social media platform was designed to imitate the feeling of playing on a slot machine.

Take for instance those moments when you refresh your social media pages after scrolling for several hours. Once the loading has completed, which usually takes several split seconds, you are presented with new and fresh content that you can interact with.

What this means is that you can begin forming habits with how you use social media. When you’ve reached a certain point during your mindless scrolling sessions, you can simply refresh your feed, and find new content to watch, read and interact with.

Daily Dose of Dopamine

On a deeper neurological level, social media can be considered an addictive substance that helps to increase the levels of dopamine, which in turn makes us feel more relaxed, and influences our moods.

Studies have shown that social media consumption can be driven and reinforced by dopamine. Though dopamine is responsible for many neurological and cognitive functions, including our sleeping patterns, moods, and emotions, for younger users who are more susceptible to acceptance and rejection on social media, these dopamine triggers can become more harmful to their mental well-being in the long term.

Reducing our intake of social media and limiting our screen time can help to minimize the impact of mental health difficulties, however, researchers suggest that even moderate screen use can be associated with mental health problems which may require medication or other invasive treatments.

Positive Self-Affirmations and a Sense of Belonging

Social media has quickly moved from being a place where one can interact with those around you, to becoming a platform through which we can attain a sense of belonging, community, and claim self-affirmation of our identity.

Everything from how many likes, comments, friend requests, follows and reactions we receive on our social media reinforces that feeling of belonging and importance. Social media has allowed us to feel recognized and seen by our peers and those on the internet.

Some researchers suggest that the issue with social media is not necessarily how the applications have been designed to create more engagement among users, but rather how these platforms pair positive affirmations with our content preferences and what we are most likely to engage with.

On top of this, there’s this sense of belonging. Being part of a community where everyone can agree on the same thing supports the same point of view, or even have the same understanding of a topic that you have. These are all things that make us feel more connected with the content and creators we like and follow.

Whatever your opinion on something may be, we’ve become complacent with sharing our views with others, looking to obtain a positive or negative reaction out of others. Aside from this, we’re looking to leave a digital legacy behind that will be remembered by our friends, family, and followers.

Social media gives us this opportunity, by allowing us to feel important, but express ourselves in a way we feel is appropriate. Day in and day out we’re saturated by content online, and each time we interact with these snippets of content, we deliberately allow ourselves the chance to express our need for a connection.

What Can You Do To Slim Down Your Screen Time

Practicing digital minimalism isn’t a one-step approach. Instead, cutting down on your screen time will require you to have a more proactive mindset about your feelings towards social media, and how you can navigate through the ubiquity of being connected, without oversaturating yourself.

Cultivate a Sense of Mindfulness

Being aware of your screen habits and how much of your waking hours you spend being locked in on social media or other apps will help you realize what your intentions may be, and how you can adjust your approach to be more mindful of your needs.

Be Intentional About Your Screen Time

By being more mindful, you can gradually start to seek more intentional purposes for using your phone or other digital devices. For instance, your intentions should reflect your direct needs, such as calling a friend to schedule a meetup, or even checking an app to follow up with an appointment. Setting the right intentions can help put you on a more clear path toward understanding your needs and how you can be more considerate to yourself.

Have Designated Phone Time

This might sound elementary, but consider having designated phone time throughout the day. Instead of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning to scroll through social media, try and hold off until a later part of the day, such as during your lunch break or even during your morning commute. You can allocate designated phone time slots that meet your schedule needs. Try to cultivate this habit throughout your daily routine.

Seek Alternative Activities

Finding something else to fill those periods where you have nothing to do. Think of something that you haven’t done in a while, and try to pursue those activities instead of being on your phone. You can start exercising more, or simply take a walk around the block every afternoon. Pick up a new hobby, or seek ways to entertain yourself that don't necessarily require the need for technology.

Be Aware of Your Habits

You can only change that which you are aware of. Take a day to become more aware of the digital habits you have created in the last few years, and how they impact your daily routine. For instance, if you constantly scroll through social media over breakfast, try and find a suitable replacement, or change how you use your screen time in the mornings. By becoming more aware of your digital habits, you will realize where you may need to make some adjustments that will help you scale back on your screen time.

Evaluate Your Digital Needs

Is having several social media accounts really that important? Are you constantly checking each one of them, only to follow the same people or accounts across all of your accounts? How many subscriptions do you have, and when was the last time you made use of all of them? Take stock of your digital footprint, and evaluate your needs. This is where being more intentional with your choices becomes an important part of the process.

Give Yourself the Benefit

Making changes can be difficult, and nothing happens overnight. Give yourself the benefit of introducing gradual change over time. Seek new ways to approach each problem in a way that takes your needs into account. Be considerate of yourself, how far you have come, and all the improvements you have made. Progress takes time, however, starting is usually the hardest part.

The Bottom Line

Breaking the cycle, and reducing our screen time will require an approach similar to that of breaking an addiction. That desire to be constantly connected has driven us to become overstimulated and oversaturated with content from every corner of our daily lives.

The supply has far outpaced the demand. Limiting our intake of social media content, or any other digital distractions requires an interventional approach that allows us to make adjustments to our rituals and form healthier habits with ourselves and with technology.

The problems that we have created seem to have limited solutions, but it’s possible to begin making a more positive change, seeking to create a mindful lifestyle that cultivates the necessity of intentional decision-making and allows us more ability to be flexible and live a digital minimalist lifestyle.