A collection of Canadian researchers conducted a study with 266 participants that involved blocking access to mobile internet on their phones for 2 weeks. The goal was to build a causal understanding of the impact of continual mobile phone use.
What they found – the intervention improved mental health, subjective well-being, and objectively measured ability to sustain attention; 91% of participants improved on at least one of these outcomes.
And why? Because the participants spent more time socializing in person, exercising, and being in nature.
They concluded with – These results provide causal evidence that blocking mobile internet can improve important psychological outcomes, and suggest that maintaining the status quo of constant connection to the internet may be detrimental to time use, cognitive functioning, and well-being.
In time, I’m sure our language will shift from “may be detrimental” to “is known to be detrimental.”
Our mobile phones are tools. Either we learn to use them carefully… or they use us.
