Listen to your BFF. Block your internet and ex for two weeks, and you will be a new person! Turning off the mobile internet for two weeks has been shown to improve mental health, feelings of well-being, and attention spans, according to a new study.
91% of Americans own a cellphone that can access the internet, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2011, only about one-third did. Most of them end up staring at the mobile screens for an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes a day. It’s not that they do not want to quit the habit of doomscrolling, but they somehow end up spending more time than intended. A 2022 poll found that 58% of American smartphone users, including 80% of those under 30 years of age, worry they use their devices too much. A recent study led by Adrian Ward, associate professor of marketing at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, found that blocking mobile internet access for just two weeks can have a miraculous effect on the brain.
“Smartphones have drastically changed our lives and behaviors over the past 15 years, but our basic human psychology remains the same. Our big question was, are we adapted to deal with a constant connection to everything all the time? The data suggest that we are not,” Ward says.
The researchers conducted a four-week randomized controlled trial in which 467 participants, an average age of 32. The participants were asked to install an app on their smartphones, which blocked all internet access, including browsers and social media, only allowing calls and text messages. While one group followed this for two weeks, the other got their internet access back after one week. The outcomes were almost surreal. They found that blocking mobile internet for two weeks led to notable improvements in mental health, subjective well-being, and sustained attention. All these three outcomes were evident in 91% of participants. 71% of participants reported better mental health after the internet break than before it. What was even surprising was that the attention span of the participants improved to a tremendous extent that it was equivalent to reversing 10 years of age-related cognitive decline. The benefits of blocking mobile internet seem to increase over time.
“These effects on psychological functioning can be explained by how blocking the mobile internet affected participants’ daily lives, “Ward says. The researchers noted that participants didn’t simply turn to other screens, such as television. Instead, they “increased time spent in the offline world. That’s doing hobbies, talking to people face-to-face, or going out in nature. They got more sleep, felt more socially connected, and felt more in control of their own decisions.”
Digital detox is indeed legit, and the recent study further emphasizes the need. Employers could also play a crucial role by offering tools to help workers cut back on mobile internet usage, although Ward recommended giving employees the choice to opt in. “Maybe you put it to a vote, and people will choose to vote for it,” he said. “The fact that 80% of people think they use their phones too much suggests that maybe they will.”
