Is Your Smartphone Distracting You?

Do you find your cellphone is taking up too much of your attention?  Research suggests you’re far from alone. There’s evidence that smartphones can drive us to distraction — even if we don’t bother to pick them up.

Simply leaving your phone out where you can see it may be enough to scramble your focus, according to a study in which participants were asked to turn off their phones and place them screen down on a table while taking tests that assessed concentration, attention and processing speed. The mere presence of a smartphone was linked to significantly worse performance on the tests. And a different study found the buzzing of a smartphone to have a negative effect on attention and cognitive control. 

Although acknowledging that more study is needed, researchers have noted that smartphones have a “distracting effect” and can hinder cognitive performance “even if they are not actively used” in a meta-analysis of 22 studies published in Behavioral Sciences in 2023.

To learn more about how your phone can steal your focus, read this article on Staying Sharp.

_{This content is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide any expert, professional or specialty advice or recommendations. Readers are urged to consult with their medical providers for all questions.}