This Simple Trick Could Finally Help You Cut Down on Phone Time

The statistics for how much of the day we spend staring at our phones make for sobering reading: Individual usage varies a lot of course, but if you're 'average' you might expect to spend six hours a day on your phone, and unlock it twice every hour.

With ongoing questions about how our ever-present digital companions affect health and well-being, numerous studies and trials are looking into ways that we might be able to regulate phone usage – and one of the best approaches could also be one of the simplest.

Now researchers from institutions in India and Spain, publishing their work in Social Science & Medicine, have found that when phone users choose their own screen time limits, they're more likely to stick to them.

"Allowing individuals to choose their own goals may strengthen engagement and support healthier digital behavior," write the researchers in their published paper.

"Incorporating opportunities for goal-selection may represent a simple addition to digital-health and public-health interventions aimed at helping individuals moderate smartphone use and improve well-being."

The researchers enlisted 149 volunteers and put them into three groups for a 35-day experiment: 55 participants got to choose a screen time reduction goal of 10, 20, or 30 percent, 62 participants were told to aim for a 14 percent reduction in screen time, and the other 32 participants weren't given any goals (but still had their screen time monitored).

Those volunteers with targets to aim for were given the same incentive, a modest financial reward for every day they succeeded. Screen time data was logged automatically on the participants' phones, and this continued for another 28 days after the main intervention (though without any incentives).

The group that had picked their own goals fared the best. They reduced their screen time by an average of 49 minutes per day, compared to 23 minutes for those who were told their targets. The 'self-selected' group also hit daily targets 11 percent more often. In the control group, usage went up by 11 minutes a day, on average.

"Reductions in phone use persisted into the post-intervention period in both intervention conditions," write the researchers. "Participants in the self-selected condition continued to use their phones about 16 minutes less per day than at baseline, while participants in the assigned condition used their phones about 11 minutes less per day than baseline."

"In contrast, phone use in the control condition was 2 minutes higher than baseline."

Based on questionnaires, hitting targets was also linked to improvements in well-being scores, though only 93 people completed this part of the study, and the differences between the self-selected and assigned groups were not statistically significant.

"Although the mental health findings should be interpreted with caution, the direction and magnitude of changes observed here are consistent with the possibility that reducing total smartphone use may be associated with improvements in psychological well-being for some individuals," write the researchers.

Before we declare our global smartphone addiction cured, it's worth bearing in mind that this was a relatively small sample size monitored for a relatively short amount of time. Research in larger, more diverse groups will be needed to confirm the findings.

However, the study raises an intriguing possibility: that there's a simple, free way that people can better manage their phone usage.

Related: Screen Time In Bed May Increase Insomnia Odds, Study Suggests

The researchers have some ideas about why this might be the case. Perhaps having extra ownership over a goal boosts motivation and commitment, or it could be that personalizing the target makes them more attainable. Again, this is something future studies can look into.

"Many people feel they use their phones more than they would like, yet struggle to cut back," write the researchers. "This study suggests that allowing individuals to set their own goals can support healthier digital habits."

The research has been published in Social Science & Medicine.