The phone is lying on the table, the screen is off and no notification is coming. But is your mind often drawn towards the phone? There is a huge attraction for mobile phones in today's young generation and most of the youth spend most of their time on smartphones. According to recent research, even if we do not use the smartphone and it is just lying with us, it has a negative impact on our concentration and efficiency.
Assistant Professor Adrian Ward of McCombs School of Business, University of Texas, and his team conducted an experiment on more than 800 smartphone users. Users were given cognitive tests and their phones were placed in three different locations—on a table, in a purse, and in another room. People whose phones were in the other room performed best in the test. Researchers have named this condition 'brain drain effect'. That is, even if the phone is switched off or not in use, its very presence holds back a part of the brain's processing capacity. According to a study published in the scientific journal 'Nature', attention and working speed decreases when the phone is in front of the eyes.
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How do smartphones distract you?
Notification: As soon as the message, social media or email alert comes, the mind stops working and asks 'What's new?' She becomes eager to know.
App Design: Continuous scrolling feeds, auto-play videos and red notification badges are designed to keep users engaged in the app.
Habit: Checking the phone during difficult times of boredom has now become an automatic habit rather than a conscious decision.
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Growing prevalence and statistics in India
According to the government's Comprehensive Modular Survey of Telecom, 85.5 percent of households in India have at least one smartphone, while 97.1 percent of youth aged 15 to 29 use mobile phones regularly. According to reports, Indians spend billions of hours on smartphones annually, with the average person spending 5.8 hours a day in front of the screen. 59 percent of this time is used for media and entertainment.
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Easy ways to gain concentration
Turn off unnecessary notifications and auto-play features immediately.
Keep your phone on silent in another room or out of reach during study or important work.
Remove social media apps from the home screen.
Instead of checking your phone frequently, set a fixed time in the day.