Are people aware of how much time they spend looking at their cell phones?

The answer to this question is complex and depends on a number of factors, such as age, education level, lifestyle and culture.

In general, it can be said that people are aware of the time they spend looking at their cell phone, but not necessarily the magnitude of that time. A study carried out in Spain in 2023 found that Spaniards spend an average of 3 hours and 20 minutes a day on their smartphones. However, when asked directly how much time they thought they spent looking at their phones, the average was 2 hours and 30 minutes. And I suppose that in other parts of the world the result would be quite similar.

This mismatch between perception and reality is due to a number of factors. First of all, the time we spend looking at our phones is very fragmented. We can pick up our smartphone to look at a notification, check email or read a news story, and then put it aside again. This makes it difficult to get an accurate idea of how much time we've actually spent using it.

Secondly, mobile phone use has become so common that we take it for granted. We spend the day looking at our phones without realizing it, whether to communicate with others, entertain ourselves or simply to kill time.

Third, mobile apps are designed to be addictive. They use positive reinforcement mechanisms, such as notifications or "likes", to keep us hooked. This makes it difficult to stop using our cell phone, even when we know we are spending too much time on it.

We must keep in mind that the companies that create and manage APPs are interested in capturing the attention of their users for as long as possible, since in this way these companies obtain the maximum data from those users that they later sell to the market. And that's how they get their good benefits.

It is essential that we know what we have in hand. The mobile phone is an extraordinary invention, which like anything, if not used properly can become negative.

Various suggestions have been made to control cell phone use. A pretty good one is to eliminate notifications from the Apps so that they do not distract us. And the one I always use is battery life. It has to last me at least 3 days, and if this doesn't happen I let the phone turn off, to be aware that I have used it too much.

Dear friends, we must be able to “control” our own life, and let no one external (and even less a device) control it for us. I love what my phone gives me, but I make the battery last around 4 days.

Our life is ours alone, and we must try not to let anyone control it.