Those constantly distracted by their phone will just find other ways to procrastinate if it isn’t nearby
A researcher put physical distance between people and their phones and found that our devices may not be the cause of our distraction – it’s what we do with them
Frontiers
If you just put away your phone to read this, chances are you’re not alone. Our phones are an endless source of distraction, and we interact with them every four to six minutes. This is often driven by habit as well as notifications, leading to a disrupted flow of activity while we’re trying to be productive.
A new study published in Frontiers in Computer Science investigated if placing smartphones just out of our reach while we’re at work influenced device use for activities not related to work.
“The study shows that putting the smartphone away may not be sufficient to reduce disruption and procrastination, or increase focus,” said the paper’s author Dr Maxi Heitmayer, a researcher at the London School of Economics. “The problem is not rooted within the device itself, but in the habits and routines that we have developed with our devices.”
Device vs distance
In the study, 22 participants were asked to work for two days in a private, soundproof room to which they brought the devices they usually have on them for work, a laptop and phone at a minimum. They did not change notification settings, and the notifications they received were in no way controlled by the researcher. Two settings that only differed by the distance between participant and their phone were explored: in the first, phones were placed on the desk participants were working from, in the second, the phone was placed on a separate desk 1.5 meters away.
Limited smartphone accessibility led to reduced smartphone use, but instead of becoming less distracted, participants shifted their attention to their laptops. Across conditions, participants did not spend different amounts of time on work or leisure activities.
In addition, the results showed that phones were the preferred device for distraction. “It’s your connection with loved ones and with work. It’s your navigation system, alarm clock, music player, and source of information. Unsurprisingly, people turn to the tool that does everything,” Heitmayer pointed out. “Even if you have no clear purpose, you know it has your socials and can provide entertainment.” While computers can fulfill the same functions, using one is less haptically pleasant, and they are not as handy and portable.
“In my research I want to shift the discourse beyond device-centric debates,” Heitmayer said. “The smartphone itself is not the problem. It’s what we do with it and, frankly, the apps that generate and reinforce these habits.”
Made to distract
To optimize time spent without distractions, notifications can be set to arrive at specific times or be silenced altogether. Any way that helps users be more mindful with their time is a step in the right direction, Heitmayer said. Despite these strategies, he cautioned that, realistically, we’re not stopping to pick up our phones anytime soon. “Whenever there is a small break, people check their phone, regardless of whatever system they have in place. And then there’s the socials, which is an entirely different beast.”
“There is a very unequal battle fought out every single day by each and every one of us when we use our phones,” Heitmayer continued. “The things inside phones that are the biggest attention sinks are developed by large corporations who greatly profit from our failure to resist the temptation to use them; all of this is literally by design.”
Heitmayer also said that in the future we should focus on protecting users, particularly young ones. “These devices are incredibly useful and can facilitate learning and creativity, but they come at a cost that most adults struggle to manage, so we simply cannot ignore this.”
Journal
Frontiers in Computer Science
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
When the Phone's Away, People Use Their Computer to Play Distance to the Smartphone Reduces Device Usage but not Overall Distraction and Task Fragmentation during Work
Article Publication Date
28-Mar-2025
Smartphone bans alone fail to equip children for healthy use of technology
Focus should shift to a rights based approach, argue experts
Banning smartphone and social media access alone fails to equip children for healthy use of technology, argues a group of international experts in The BMJ today.
They say the focus should shift to a rights based approach, underpinned by age appropriate design and education, that protects children from harm while developing skills to help them participate in a digital society.
Bans on smartphone and social media access have been advocated in many countries to protect children from harm despite lack of evidence on their effects, explain Victoria Goodyear and colleagues.
For example, a recent evaluation of school smartphone policies in England reported that restricted smartphone use in schools was not associated with benefits to adolescent mental health and wellbeing, physical activity and sleep, educational attainment, or classroom behaviour.
That study also found no evidence of school restrictions being associated with lower levels of overall phone or media use or problematic social media use.
While technology-free moments and spaces are important for children, the authors argue that blanket restrictions are “stop gap solutions that do little to support children’s longer term healthy engagement with digital spaces across school, home, and other contexts, and their successful transition into adolescence and adulthood in a technology filled world.”
Instead, they call for a rights based approach to smartphone and social media use, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recommends ways of protecting children from harm while nurturing the healthy development of smartphone and social media use.
Recent international legislation, such as the European Union’s Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act, also reflect a clear understanding of the need to ensure children’s uses of technology are compatible with their wellbeing.
Immediate priorities are to improve legislation for the tech industry grounded in children’s rights and create professional training and guidance for schools, teachers, and parents to help them be actively involved in the development of children’s healthy technology use and in shaping future policies and approaches, they write.
They acknowledge several potential challenges, but say in the longer term, this approach is likely to be more beneficial and sustainable as it is focused on building a safe ecosystem in a digital society.
“Ultimately, there is a need to shift debates, policies, and practices from a sole focus on restricting smartphone and social media access toward an emphasis on nurturing children’s skills for healthy technology use,” they conclude.
[Ends]
Journal
The BMJ
Method of Research
Commentary/editorial
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Approaches to children’s smartphone and social media use must go beyond bans
Article Publication Date
27-Mar-2025
COI Statement
We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and have the following interests to declare: GS is president of Games for Change Latin America, a non-profit organisation that supports work to use games for social benefit; VG is a consortium member for a UK Department for Science Innovation and Technology funded project led by AO focused on children’s smartphone and social media use. VG was the principal investigator responsible for leading the programme focused on digital literacy education for teachers funded by Google in 2019.
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