The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a significant shift in our daily lives, including the amount of time we spend glued to our devices. Research published in 2021 found that Americans in their early twenties used their phones an average of 28.5 hours per week in 2020, up from 25.9 hours per week in 2018.
One review of studies conducted in 2020 and 2021 put the estimates even higher, finding that average screen time for adults in the U.S. and other countries increased 60–80% from before the pandemic.
Excessive screen time has been shown to have negative effects on children and adolescents. It’s been linked to psychological problems, such as higher rates of depression and anxiety, as well as health issues like poor sleep and higher rates of obesity.
Many researchers believe that excessive screen use may not be as damaging to adults, but the impact hasn’t been studied as extensively. Recent research has found that it can still have damaging consequences, such as digital eye strain, impaired sleep, and worsened mental health.
So, how much screen time is too much for adults? That’s the wrong question, experts say. The content you’re consuming actually matters more than the overall time you spend on your phone. Watching a documentary on your phone, for instance, doesn’t have the same impact as mindlessly scrolling Instagram.
“What researchers have been saying for the past 10 to 15 years is that what’s challenging about the time-limit focus is that it takes away from the content conversation, and the content conversation should be what we are leading with,” says Yalda T. Uhls, an assistant adjunct professor of psychology at UCLA and former movie executive who studies the health effects of screen time.
That’s why you shouldn’t necessarily freak out if your weekly iPhone screen-time report pings you with a high number, says Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician, epidemiologist, and director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, who has studied screen time in all age groups. The total amount of screen time isn’t as important as the breakdown of how you spent it, he says.
Many experts have found that time spent on social media apps is most concerning. “We can’t simply count all screen time as the same,” Christakis says. “Look at things you think of as being entirely recreational or entirely a waste of your time, and ask yourself, is there a way that time could have been better spent?”
If you feel as though your screen time has become excessive, Uhls recommends asking yourself five important questions: Are you sleeping well? Are you eating well? Are you leaving the house and being social? Is your work going well? Are you physically active? “If all of these things are happening, then I wouldn’t worry about your screen time,” Uhls says.
In conclusion, while there is no hard and fast rule for how much screen time is too much for adults, it is important to be mindful of the content you consume and how you spend your time on your devices. It is also important to ensure that you are taking care of your physical and mental health by getting enough sleep, eating well, being social, staying active, and seeking professional help if needed.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.