Put Your Phone Down

Most of us in the UK use our phones for over three hours/day!
They are incredibly useful - but using them just a little bit
less can have big benefits for your health and wellbeing. Studies
have shown that reducing your phone use by one hour each day can
reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. It can also increase
life satisfaction, reduce smoking and enhance physical activity
levels. On top of that, limiting social media use to 30 minutes a
day has been found to reduce feelings of loneliness. But if you
can’t bear doing any of that, just putting your phone out of
sight whilst you’re doing something can have significant
benefits. Michael Mosley speaks to Dr Adrian Ward from the
University of Texas at Austin who has found that just the sight
of your phone can have a powerful impact on your cognition. He
finds out about the alluring pull of our phones on our brains
(which can attract our attention even when they’re off), and why
multitasking is a myth!