Why do I keep checking my phone when I study?

Just checking the time

Leo is in Year 11 with a history test on Friday. At half seven he opens his notes and puts his phone face down beside them.

Four minutes later he picks it up to check the time. One message, then a video, then another. When he looks up it is ten past eight.

The next night he puts the phone in a drawer. He lasts a little longer, but spends the whole time wondering what he is missing. By nine he decides he just has no willpower.

Six minutes is normal

In 2013, psychologists at California State University, Dominguez Hills watched 263 students study at home for fifteen minutes, from middle school to university. On average they lasted under six minutes before switching, most often to texting or social media.

So Leo is not unusually weak. He is typical. Telling him to just ignore the phone asks him to beat a pull that almost everyone in that study lost to.

The drawer did not remove the pull either. It only swapped checking for wondering.

Give the phone a slot

Larry Rosen, who led that study, suggests something that sounds backwards. He calls it a tech break.

Keeping the phone in sight feels wrong. But now it has a time. When the urge comes, the answer is in eleven minutes, not never, and that is far easier to wait out.

When fifteen minutes feels easy, make the next block twenty, then twenty five. Rosen compares it to strength training: start easy, then build.

One block tonight

Leo tried it the next evening. Twice he glanced at the phone and left it there. When the timer rang he checked, found nothing that could not wait, and started the second block without deciding to.

By nine he had done three blocks. Forty five minutes of history, more than the whole night before.

Tonight you only need one block, and it starts with your phone. Check everything for a minute, turn the phone face down, set the timer, open the page.

If you have ADHD, start shorter and do not feel bad about it. A five minute block you finish beats a long one you give up on.

Plan2Ace

A kitchen timer and a face down phone are enough. Plan2Ace runs the timer for you.

Tap Focus and the block starts, alone or in a room with other students. Today already says what to study in it. Rather use a kitchen timer? The method is the point.

A few more questions