According to 2023 research from Data Reportal, the average screen time for users around the world aged 16 to 64 – across different platforms and devices – is 6 hours 37 minutes per day.
Over a quarter of a day spent staring at a screen.
Of course, it’s not really surprising. Everything is in our phones; work, friends, shopping, banking. Feeling like we can’t entirely detach from them makes sense, and that’s before we consider the dopamine release that endless scrolling brings.
However, if you are looking to cut down your screen time (who isn’t?!), a new study has found a way to curb the addiction and it all comes down to making your phone very annoying.
Yes, really.
How to make your phone too annoying to use
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, found that when phones are slightly more annoying to use, they’re less appealing to us. Which, tbh, makes sense.
While there are lockout apps available that can lock you out of your phone for a certain length of time, the researchers found that reducing the reaction times in phones was even more effective.
According to the university: “The study shows that interfering with swiping and tapping functions is around 16% more effective at reducing screen time and the number of times an app is opened than forcibly locking users out of their phones.”
Anhong Guo, a researcher at the university said: “If we just continuously add a little bit of friction to the interaction with the phone, eventually the user becomes more aware of what they are doing because there’s a mismatch between what they expect to happen and what actually happens.
“That makes using smartphones a more deliberate process.”
The researchers believe that forcing more mindfulness into otherwise mindless gesturing is the key to making smartphones less addictive.
The researchers created an app called InteractOut to test this, and while it’s not completely ready for release, early results indicate that it is effective, with 64% of participants continuing to use the app all day, compared to only 32% keeping a lockout app active all day.
What you can do for now
Back in 2019, researchers found that making phones grayscale helped to curb phone addiction.
This is because going grayscale removes positive reinforcements and dampens that urge to to keep loading up social media feeds or mobile games.
Brb, going to try that.