LONDON, March 29 —The smartphone, our faithful daily companion, never leaves our side, even in the office. But is placing it out of reach enough to improve concentration and productivity? A recent UK study, published in the journal Frontiers in Computer Science, challenges this widespread belief, arguing that keeping your phone away from you is not always enough to stay fully attentive.
The smartphone has become a veritable digital companion, always close at hand. In the office, it’s usually the first thing you drop onto your desk. For many, it’s not just a phone, but rather a pocket computer with immense possibilities. It’s this fascinating potential that drives us to check it almost every five minutes, often driven by habit or incessant notifications. However, these repeated interactions disrupt our concentration and hamper our productivity.
So could keeping your smartphone at a distance help you concentrate better at the office? That’s what Maxi Heitmayer, a researcher at the London School of Economics, wanted to find out. For two days, he conducted an experiment in a controlled professional environment with 22 volunteers. The results? Even when the phone was placed 1.5 metres away, it didn’t make the participants any more concentrated or productive. Deprived of their precious smartphones, they simply transferred their distractions to their laptop, maintaining a similar level of interruptions.
The paradox lies in the way our smartphone has become, for many of us, a veritable extension of ourselves. The phone itself is not to blame. “The smartphone itself is not the problem. It’s what we do with it and, frankly, the apps that generate and reinforce these habits,” explains Maxi Heitmayer in a news release.
Regaining control of our attention
So much so that suddenly finding yourself deprived of your smartphone can generate real anxiety, and a feeling of profound abandonment. Nomophobia, or the fear of being separated from your mobile phone, is now a tangible reality for some users, to the point where actual detox centers have opened their doors, notably in China and Japan.
So why do we allow our smartphones to take up so much space in our lives? Quite simply because they make our lives easier at every turn. A veritable digital Swiss army knife, our phone houses everything we need — and more. It connects us to our loved ones, guides us with its GPS, wakes us up in the morning, plays our favorite music and entertains us at all times. It’s impossible to get bored with this pocket companion, always ready to fill even the smallest moment of downtime. “Whenever there is a small break, people check their phone,” notes Maxi Heitmayer. Conversely, the computer, less intuitive and practical, is much less naturally attractive.
To really regain control over these ubiquitous little devices, the specialist suggests a far more effective solution than simply putting our phone out of reach. Instead, he recommends a complete overhaul of the way we manage notifications. Scheduling specific times during the day to consult these alerts, or even temporarily disabling them, could enable us to gradually regain control of our attention — an ambitious but essential challenge.
Because behind this growing difficulty in resisting distractions lies a disturbing truth. The most captivating applications are specifically designed to monopolize our time, to the benefit of the big tech companies. Maxi Heitmayer therefore calls for greater collective awareness, and for greater protection for users, especially younger users, in the face of these formidable marketing strategies.
The real challenge, then, is not so much to take our smartphone away as to relearn how to effectively manage our attention in the face of a tool designed to capture it. At work, as elsewhere, regaining control of notifications and digital distractions is becoming an essential skill, on a par with mastering artificial intelligence or time management. Indeed, maybe knowing how to resist the constant pull of their smartphone could be the standout skill for tomorrow’s professionals. — ETX Studio
