New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill last year found that each day she was picking up her iPhone more than 100 times and looking at it for an average of five hours — roughly “the equivalent of January, February and half of March,” she writes. Even though that discovery filled her with “queasy regret,” she couldn’t nix the habit. So she decided to downgrade to a flip phone for a one-month experiment – one she says rewired her brain. Hill’s dumbphone experiment came as research suggests smartphone users are reaching for their phones every time they feel bored or anxious, which can lead to hours unintentionally spent staring at a 5-inch screen. Are you concerned you’re spending too much time on your smartphone?

Guests:

Kashmir Hill, tech reporter, New York Times; author "Your Face Belongs to Us"; her recent NYT article is "I Was Addicted to My Smartphone, So I Switched to a Flip Phone for a Month"

Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford Universityl; author, “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices