Need to Focus? Scrolling Through Your Phone Could Tank Your Concentration
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, using your phone in between important tasks decreases your ability to focus.
The findings suggest that it’s best to try not to look at your phone while doing things that require your full attention—such as work projects or riding your bike. Instead, wait until after.
If you have a spare moment, chances are you grab your phone and mindlessly scroll through your apps until you’re all caught up with everything. But according to recent research out of Rutgers University, doing so might not be the best thing for your brain.
In the study, published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 414 people had to solve 20 total anagrams—or a “set of jumbled letters that can be rearranged to form one or more words,” the study states—on either a smartphone, a computer, or on paper.
Some students were given a break after they solved 10, where they were instructed to choose three things to buy from a store, again using either a smartphone, a computer, or paper. Then, they solved the remaining 10 puzzles.
“This task was chosen because it could realistically be performed via either a paper or an online format, was wholly unrelated to the focal task, and was common enough to be a true-to-life break,” as the study explained.
Study participants who didn’t take a break continued solving all 20 anagrams straight through.
The results? Those who used their phones during the break took 19 percent longer to finish the rest of the puzzles and solved 22 percent fewer of them than those who used their computer or a piece of paper during the break. The phone users performed only slightly better than the people who didn’t take a break at all.
Why? While researchers aren’t 100 percent sure, the reason for this may have to do with the fact that it’s hard for your brain to shift focus between different things so fast.
“We suspect—but haven’t yet shown definitively—that because we use our phones for so many things, many of which are addictive in their own right, seeing your phone at all sends your mind down many other pathways and makes it harder to shift back into whatever you were trying to focus on previously,” study coauthor Terri Kurtzberg, Ph.D., associate professor of management and global business at Rutgers’ Business School, told Bicycling.
Kurtzberg goes on to say that it’s the phone itself triggering this cognitive decline—not any specific actions such as checking Twitter or answering a text. However, depending on the person, one app might suck someone in more over another, simply based on their preferences or interests.
But because it’s not entirely practical for people not to use their phones at all, Kurtzberg suggests trying not to look at your phone while working on an important task that needs your full attention until you finish it.
“During the moments when we actually need to think hard about something, it’s wise for us to get better at declaring defined stretches of time—even small ones—without [our phones],” she said.
Giving yourself more time to transition in and out of phone use between tasks is helpful, too, she said, rather than just jumping right into whatever you were going to do next.
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This not only goes for work-related projects, but cycling as well. Because it’s so important to be focused on the road and any obstacles ahead of you when you’re on the bike, waiting until you’re totally done with your ride to check your missed notifications is the safest option.
However, another recent study found that playing games on your phone could help relieve stress more than mindfulness apps, so, like almost everything else, everything in moderation. If you do find that games or other apps relax you, you don’t have to ditch them completely—just be mindful of the timing when you start scrolling.
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