Digital distraction: The real culprit isn’t your phone

When you sit down to work, your to-do list waits, but so does your phone. One buzz, one glance at your phone, and suddenly you’re distracted, and start scrolling through a feed, not a spreadsheet.

This cycle repeats daily, quietly slicing your attention into fragments. It feels innocent and normal, but the effects run deep.

We often blame the phone itself. It’s a small, glowing thing we can’t resist. Productivity hacks suggest hiding it, muting it, or moving it away. But do these tricks actually help?

A recent study, published in Frontiers in Computer Science, challenges this approach. It asks a deceptively simple question: If you put the phone just a little farther away, does your mind come back to focus? The answer turns out to be more complicated than expected.

Subtle changes and behavioral shifts

“The study shows that putting the smartphone away may not be sufficient to reduce disruption and procrastination, or increase focus,” stated Dr. Maxi Heitmayer, a researcher at the London School of Economics (LSE) and author of the study.

“The problem is not rooted within the device itself, but in the habits and routines that we have developed with our devices.”

To explore this, the researchers invited 22 participants into a controlled setting. For two days, each participant worked alone in a soundproof room. They brought the devices they usually used at work – laptops and phones.

The researchers did not change notification settings. All incoming alerts came naturally, as they would on any other workday.

The only variable that shifted was the phone’s location. On one day, it stayed right on the participant’s desk. On the other, it was placed 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) away, on a separate surface. This small shift created a subtle yet revealing change in behavior.

Phones aren’t the only distraction

When the phone sat within arm’s reach, people used it often. When it was farther away, phone use decreased. But rather than becoming more focused, participants simply diverted their attention elsewhere – primarily to their laptops.

This redirection didn’t affect how much time people spent on actual work versus leisure. The total amount of distraction remained consistent across both setups.

So, even when the phone was harder to reach, the impulse to break concentration didn’t vanish – it just found a new outlet. Phones still drew more attention than laptops.

“It’s your connection with loved ones and with work. It’s your navigation system, alarm clock, music player, and source of information. Unsurprisingly, people turn to the tool that does everything,” said Heitmayer.

“Even if you have no clear purpose, you know it has your socials and can provide entertainment.”

Though laptops could provide similar access, they lacked the same appeal. Phones felt more distracting to use. They were more portable, more personal, and more instantly rewarding.

The phone itself is not the issue

“In my research I want to shift the discourse beyond device-centric debates,” Heitmayer said. “The smartphone itself is not the problem. It’s what we do with it and, frankly, the apps that generate and reinforce these habits.”

“The key issue lies in the rituals we’ve built around these devices. Picking up a phone doesn’t require intent anymore. It’s automatic. A second of silence, a moment of rest, and we reach our hand out toward it, without thinking.”

This reflex isn’t just about checking the time or answering a call. It’s about filling tiny gaps in the day – gaps where our brain used to wander, pause, or recharge. Those gaps are now filled with feeds, images, updates, and loops that rarely end with one swipe.

Phone apps designed for distraction

To reduce distractions, people often try turning off phone notifications or setting strict rules. Some set alarms to limit scrolling. Others use apps to block other apps. These strategies may offer brief relief, but they rarely change behavior for long.

“Whenever there is a small break, people check their phone, regardless of whatever system they have in place. And then there’s the socials, which is an entirely different beast,” said Heitmayer.

“There is a very unequal battle fought out every single day by each and every one of us when we use our phones.”

“The things inside phones that are the biggest attention sinks are developed by large corporations who greatly profit from our failure to resist the temptation to use them; all of this is literally by design.”

The most engaging parts of your phone are not random. They are engineered. Social media apps, messaging platforms, news updates – they all compete for your time. Such apps reward small clicks with large dopamine hits. And they rely on repeated use, even if you feel worse afterward.

A call for responsibility and protection

For most adults, managing their relationship with phones and their constant distraction takes daily effort.

It’s hard, even when we understand what’s happening. But for younger users, who have grown up with this digital environment as a norm, the risks may be even greater.

“These devices are incredibly useful and can facilitate learning and creativity, but they come at a cost that most adults struggle to manage, so we simply cannot ignore this,” noted Heitmayer.

This caution points to a future where digital responsibility must expand. It’s not enough to educate users on balance in their lives. Platforms and apps must be designed with user well-being in mind.

Children, in particular, need tools that support – rather than erode – their ability to focus, reflect, and grow.

It’s not the phone, it’s the habit

At the center of this issue lies a simple truth: distraction is a habit that is alive and well. In order to make a significant change, we must recognize the loop and disrupt it – not just with tools or rules, but with awareness and intention.

When we stop seeing the phone as the sole culprit, we can start reshaping the way we think, work, and live in its presence.

The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Computer Science.

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