7 Ways to Take Control of Your Smartphone

Unless we take charge, smartphones can wreak havoc on our social lives, work, and mental well-being

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By the time you’ve read this article, you may have felt the pull to check your smartphone—more than once. Americans are inexorably tethered to the little black screens in our pockets even though we know they can bring us more harm than good. So how do we keep our smartphone use in check?

In 2018, a survey found that Americans check their phones 52 times per day. If that sounds low, a different survey from 2022 found respondents checked their devices a whopping 344 times a day. Fortunately, new research is suggesting simple upgrades in our tech hygiene that can help us curb our smartphone habit.

A Problem in All Our Pockets

A 2017 review of studies examining links between smartphone use and mental health, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, found that depression severity and anxiety were associated with “problematic smartphone use.”