We seem to be turning a corner in our relationship with smartphones.

When the iPhone first launched in 2007, Steve Jobs described it as a “revolutionary and magical product” and, in those heady early days, it truly seemed the start of a wonderful new age. The smartphone’s impact has been undeniable, transforming our lives, our work, our habits and our society in deep and profound ways.

Now, almost two decades later, a grand reassessment has begun. A mountain of scientific research has amassed on the perils of smartphones. A mini-industry of highly readable and thought-provoking books has emerged in lockstep, with a host of provocative and ominous names — Digital Minimalism, Stolen Focus, Alone Together, The Anxious Generation, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, Wish I Were Here etc.

Smartphones haemorrhage the attention span. Research shows that having one’s phone lying unused on the side or in a pocket or in a bag nearby — its mere presence — significantly impairs one’s concentration. Phone breaks also exact heavy consequences — a study from the University of California Irvine discovered it takes an average of 23 minutes to regain one’s focus for the task at hand.

Research has linked heavy smartphone use to a host of physical conditions, including obesity, ADHD symptoms, lower sperm counts in men and higher risk of breast cancer in women. On the social side, phone usage correlates with significant risk of accidents, dissatisfaction in relationships and political polarisation.

Addiction is a concern. Apple reported in 2016 that iPhone users unlock their phones 80 times a day on average — approximately once every 18 minutes. Another survey found that typical users touch — ie tap, type, swipe etc — their phone over 2,600 times a day.

Then there is hard biological evidence: MRI scans found that heavy smartphone users had reduced grey matter volume and, in common with other addictions, less activity in brain areas correlated with empathy, impulse control, emotion and decision-making.

Smartphone and social media also cause an uptick in stress biomarkers, including the hormone cortisol. The implications are succinctly expressed in the title of a New York Times story on this finding: ‘Putting down your phone may help you live longer.’

While smartphone addiction is not yet formally recognised as a mental disorder, the research is certainly piling up. It fits in with the operational definition of technology addiction, ie “non-chemical, behavioural addictions which involve human-machine interactions” — alongside addiction to the Internet, social media and video games. The term nomophobia — ‘no mobile phone phobia’ — has entered the lexicon, the irrational fear of being without one’s phone or being unable to use it for some reason.

A self-diagnostic ‘smartphone addiction scale’ developed by Korean researchers in 2013 is hugely influential and continues to rack up hundreds of research citations every year.

These concerns are real enough to start driving policy: a town in Finland made headlines last year when it announced schools were shunning screens and reverting to paper. Another proposal in Finland to ban mobile devices in schools has garnered strong parliamentary support and is expected to go live in August.

Most of us, though, will rarely get this luxury. “We don’t have a choice on whether we use smartphones,” writes journalist Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up With Your Phone. “The choice is how we use them.” And this is where things get complex: how does one find a healthy balance with a technology that is literally designed to be addictive?

There is no standard recipe. There seem to be three main types of interventions, each progressively more intense.

THE LONG, ARDUOUS ROAD TO RECOVERY

First up is nudges, quick fixes, hacks, and small habits which pack a punch.

The first obvious step, of course, is to turn off non-essential notifications on the phone. Multiple studies report that notifications increase distraction, stress, annoyance and frustration. A study from Duke University finds that batching notifications to three times a day reduces stress and increases well-being.

This is easy enough to do. Android phones now come with digital well-being controls. For those who prefer a more proactive approach, there are a wealth of apps which enable users to set time limits and restrictions on specific apps.

I’ve personally found an unorthodox approach very helpful: turning the phone display to grayscale — research indicates that absence of bright and saturated colours makes screens “less gratifying” and helps control usage. There are tons of websites, video explainers and books devoted to the ‘digital detox’ trend, how to take intentional breaks from smartphones and screens.

Engaging real-world activities also help substitute for smartphone time — socialising, hobbies or even simple things such as reading a newspaper or picking up a book. Adult colouring books are hugely popular in the West because they are a good way to relax and cultivate a meditation-like state.

If these tricks don’t work, we have the second strategy: rituals, discipline, and significant lifestyle interventions.

Some people ditch smartphones entirely. ‘People want ‘dumbphones’. Will companies make them?’ reads a BBC headline from last year. The answer is a resounding yes. Dumbphone sales in the US were forecast to reach 2.8 million units in 2023, amounting to a small but significant two percent of overall phone sales. Nokia rebooted its classic 3210 brand a few years ago to a strong response. Nature is another ally. A Danish study indicates that time spent in green spaces — long immersive sessions with nature — can have a restorative effect and reduce smartphone use. Unfortunately, the design of Pakistani cities does not prioritise nature. Here, it might help to experiment with hands-on activities such as gardening or cooking or art as a creative and fulfilling substitute for phone time.

The third intervention is the most important and profound. We dip into the metaphysical dimension. Could it be that our smartphone compulsion reflects a deeper psychological or spiritual malaise? To quote author Nir Eyal, in his book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life: “Most people don’t want to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that distraction is always an unhealthy escape from reality.”

Perhaps we have given up on real life, on changing the big things — we are just passing time now, coasting along, one distraction to the next.

Eyal suggests that the big question we should be asking ourselves perhaps is not what we are being distracted by — but rather, what are we being distracted from? In other words, are we doing important things in life? Things we truly believe in? Does our work matter in the grand scheme of things? If so, perhaps we would not be so easily distracted.

This feeds into a larger critique of modern life, undertaken by luminaries ranging from GK Chesterton to George Orwell, Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman. Modern society is synonymous with hyper stimulation — from junk food to video-on-demand, reality TV and social media — reminiscent of the “bread and circuses” formula that Aldous Huxley wrote about in his famous dystopian vision, Brave New World.

Modern jobs are no longer seen as vocations or callings, where one can pour in one’s heart and soul. Company culture is rarely geared towards community. The concept of quiet quitting — mentally checking out of one’s job and doing just the bare minimum at work — is a mainstream phenomenon now.

Without a distinct sense of personal identity, a clear personal mission, perhaps one subconsciously seeks out the siren song of infinite distraction. And the phone provides it in spades.

And, perhaps, this is the real tragedy here. We seem to have disengaged from disinterested virtue, from transcendental ideals. We are strangers to nature. We no longer choose to dip into the deep waters that give us great art, literature and music. Younger generations perhaps have little idea that this dimension even exists. These pursuits are hard but they are infinitely more rewarding than anything our phones can give us.

“The earth has its music for those who will listen,” wrote famous philosopher and poet George Santayana.

But only if we put our phones aside.

The writer teaches at the NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Islamabad.

He can be reached at taha.ali@gmail.com