'At the rate I'm going, I'll be spending 7 years of my life on it'
How much time do you spend on your phone in a single day? If the results of our in-house challenge are anything to go by, it's probably a lot longer than you think.
A week ago, five Marie Claire team members downloaded the screen time app Moment for a week to measure exactly how long they spend scrolling every day. For most of them, the results were a big wake-up call.
Lucia Debieux, fashion editor
Daily average screen time: 4 hours 55 minutes
Waking life: 36% per day
Pick-ups: 46 per day
Day of the highest use: Tuesday
Most-used app: Instagram
Lucia says: 'I feel mortified that I'm spending 36% of my day on my phone! It’s a long running conversation in my family that I have a problem with my phone and these stats really bring it home. I did expect it to be bad, but in my head I was thinking the results would show 2-3 hours per day, when in reality it’s 4-5.
I’m relieved that it shows I barely use my phone on the weekend when I’m with my daughter as I worry that I’m not present enough when I’m with her.
I’ve got into a bad habit of using my phone while walking along so I’m going to start leaving it in my bag zipped in a pocket while listening to a podcast, rather than constantly having it in my hand.'
Lucy Pavia, entertainment editor
Daily average screen time: 3 hours 14 minutes
Waking life: 22% per day
Pick-ups: 54 per day
Day of the highest use: Thursday
Most-used app: Instagram, Twitter
Lucy says: 'My husband shared a fantasy of his with me recently. No, not one of those. It's this: we're on our way somewhere in the car and I'm using the quiet time to scroll through my emails, Instagram or Twitter feed. In one smooth motion, he plucks the phone out of my hand, rolls down the window and flings it onto the kerb.
I know I look at my phone too much, and I know it annoys my husband, who would happily leave his upstairs for most of the day. The results of this test don't surprise me, but they've helped reinforce the new rules I'm imposing to cut down. We're buying an alarm clock so we can instigate a no-phones in the bedroom rule. We're banning multi-screen time, so when we're watching something on TV together the phone stays in the kitchen, and I'm buying a stash of physical books to read (rather than downloads) to stop me scrolling through social media on the train.
But I do have to be realistic: staying on top of things through my phone is a big part of my job as an entertainment journalist, so a total detox isn't practical, but I'm hoping these steps will help to chip away at my average screen time. There are days when I feel like Gollum, obsessively tapping and swiping. And we all know what happened to him.'
Victoria Fell, features assistant
Daily average screen time: 1 hour 56 minutes
Waking life: 12% per day
Pick-ups: 68 per day
Day of the highest use: Sunday
Most-used app: Safari
'I’m a bit shocked at myself to be honest – I thought the maximum time I’d be looking at my phone would be an hour, considering I use my laptop at home and spend most of my time at work in front of the computer.
The fact I used my phone the most on Sunday was a bit sad, as it was my weekend and I hope I didn’t miss out on anything through using it.
Stop scrolling! 5 apps to help reduce screen time
Moving forward, considering I use my phone to read a lot of news sites and Twitter, I’m going to try and start picking up actual newspapers and books to keep myself entertained and cut down on screen time.'
Penny Goldstone, digital fashion editor
Daily average screen time: 3 hours 14 minutes
Waking life: 22% per day
Pick-ups: 71 per day
Day of the highest use: Monday
Most-used app: Instagram
'I knew I spent a lot of time on my phone (I have a long train commute and I use my phone a lot for work) but the results still came as a shock. Some days I spend four hours on my phone, which is insane!
I use my phone the most on a Monday, which I think is mainly because I catch up on everything on my 45-minute train commute in the morning. I need to make an effort to put it down and read books more.
It’s so easy to fall down the Instagram rabbit hole in the evening too, so I’m going to install a post 9pm digital ban. My app tells me that if I don’t cut back, I will spend 7.2 years of my life on my phone - I really don’t want that.'
Lori Lefterova, picture editor
Daily average screen time: 2 hours 49 minutes
Waking life: 17% per day
Pick-ups: 71 per day
Day of the highest use: Monday
Most-used app: Safari
Lori says: 'I'm really surprised how much Safari I use, I expected social media to be my most-used app, and I definitely thought I use my phone more than I do.
I've just found out that the new iOS update will have similar feature to Moment, called screen time. It will show in a graphic how much you’ve used the different apps on your device. I'm looking forward to seeing the results over a longer period of time.'
