Smartphone usage soars in 2024: 4 tips for balancing screen time, getting off your phone
Have you felt like it’s gotten easier to spend more time staring at cell phone screens this summer?
You’re not alone. From smartphones and tablets to TVs and computers, screen time keeps rising.
Getting online is how a lot of people connect to other communities, social networks, entertainment, get work done, go to school and find enrichment.
But when does it become too much screen time?
A new report from Reviews.org shows that the average American’s total screen time across all these devices combined is 16 hours and 10 minutes per day.
Americans’ screen time increased by 13% since 2023.
We’re spending about five hours per day on smartphones, and three hours per day streaming television.
Dr. Jill Haltigan is a family medicine physician with Mercy Health Youngstown and Salem.
She said too screen time is becoming a concern for Mahoning Valley patients.
“I’ve seen a lot more younger adults start to get worried about and complaining about attention deficit disorders,” said Dr. Haltigan. “Especially with adolescents, but this can affect adults as well. If a lot of the screen time is social media-related, especially for our younger female adolescents, that seems to be associated with depression and anxiety symptoms.”
How can too much screen time affect mental, physical health?
Spending too much time in front of screens can impact your physical and mental health.
Eye strain and sleep problems are common, as well as other consequences linked to sedentary lifestyles.
According to Reviews.org, millennials and Gen Z use their phones the most, logging over 6 hours per day.
“We’re always reaching for our phone or always having something in front of our faces, we don’t have any type of downtime where our brain can just wander,” said Dr. Haltigan. “People are working on cutting back their screen time. It’s a very uncomfortable thing. But there are certainly health benefits you can see from that, is certainly going to pay off if people can be consistent with it.”
Start by spending at least 30 minutes per day away from screens and limiting screen time before bed.
“It’s one of those things that just sort of cascades forward, like, what are people going to do [instead]?” said Dr. Haltigan. “They’re probably going to read or wash their face, and those kind of things will help promote better sleep, which makes them feel better the next day, maybe gets them more active so they’re not sitting at home on their screen. This can move people in the positive direction.”
Advice for planning activities without screens
Dr. Haltigan says the first step is to start tracking how much time you spend online.
“Especially for adults who maybe just are unaware of how frequently they’re picking their phones up or looking at screens,” she said. “Sometimes just using one of the free apps or the Internet sites that can track your online time for you can sometimes be really eye-opening for people. Then, just figuring out sort of some firm strategies to try. It might take some trial and error with a few different things to see what works for you.”
Instead of looking at screens, get into hobbies that don’t need a Wi-Fi connection, such as reading, art, music and exercise.
Dr. Haltigan said it can help to educate yourself about the algorithms designed to keep you staring at the screen.
“The more that teenagers in particular, kind of understand how much the phones and the apps are literally designed to make them, kind of keep using them sometimes, just understanding that, in and of itself, can be kind of powerful, because nobody wants to be sort of manipulated into doing something because of the right ding or the right, you know, cascade of lights that come on their phone and stuff. So just sort of more education maybe on the fact that, like, yeah, no, you’re not the only person that’s that you know starts playing one game of Candy Crush, and three hours later is like, what the heck happened?
But Dr. Haltigan wants everyone to remember not all screen time is bad time, especially for parents.
“I have a two year old, a six and a seven year old,” she said. “I haven’t looked it up recently, but the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends parents don’t have any screens with their kids. We’re only human. I don’t think there’s any direct evidence that all screen time is bad screen time, but it’s just more of being aware of what you use the screen for, interacting with your kids more while screens are on. If you’re folding laundry and watching TV, that’s okay. Talk to them about what you hear. too. That’s very different than just sort of leaving your kid in front of the TV all day, every day.”
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