The best ways to kick your ‘zombie check’ habits revealed

MOST people are guilty of “zombie checks” — an addiction of randomly checking your phone — but there are some simple ways to kick this habit.

THE average person checks their phone every 12 minutes, this includes “zombie checks” — and it’s not just teenagers.

Research has revealed adults have become three times more addicted over the past year.

In fact, one in three parents have their kids text them while they’re both at home.

Dr Joanna Orlando, a researcher in technology and learning at the University of Western Sydney, conducted a study of technology practices in Australian homes, revealing 95 per cent of her 80 participants (teens and adults) are using their phones three times more than what they were 12 months ago.

“The most prominent reason users of all ages reach for their device is not to work, but to ‘zombie check’ — these are the unthinking times you use your device throughout the day to avoid boredom,” she said.

RELATED: Helpful trick to curb phone addiction

“We pull out our phone during lull times in the day, when we’re in line for a coffee, waiting for dinner to cook, when we’re bored at work. It’s filling the gaps in the day which are unfulfilling.”

A Deloitte survey revealed we spent 21 per cent of our digital entertainment time on social media. It’s higher among women, who spend 25 per cent compared to men at 17 per cent.

According to Deloitte’s Media Consumer Survey based on 2000 consumers, 61 per cent of respondents engage with social media on a daily basis, with 27 per cent checking their accounts four or more times a day. The fastest rates of growth in social media users over the past four years have been Baby Boomers, at 38 per cent.

Those who admit they have an addiction tend to steer towards a “digital detox” a method where they cut out the use of technology or social media over a specific duration. But Dr Orlando advises against this, saying a one-size-fits-all recommended number of screen hours does not work.

“Even professional screen time recommendations for children acknowledge that placing a number on recommended hours is too difficult because of our varied technology needs and lifestyles,” she said.

“Digital detoxes are often posed as the answer to managing screen time. However, their underlying assumption that ‘all technology use is the same’ is not a sustainable management approach.”

Apple, Google and YouTube now have time management tools to help regulate your phone addiction. Facebook and Instagram are soon to come out with their versions.

Dr Orlando, who is a leading international expert on family and digital lifestyles, said the key is to weed out uses that do not have a positive impact on your life, such as zombie scrolling.

How? By using time management tools.

Apple recently introduced Screen Time to its new operating system. It’s a new section of the settings menu that creates detailed daily and weekly activity reports from how long you spend in apps, how many notifications you receive and even how often you’re picking up your iPhone or iPad.

RELATED: Experts call for mobile phone ban in schools

“The screen management features can help us understand and modify our technology habits,“ Dr Orlando said.

“With data we may be able to see and identify our own usage ‘red flags’ (problematic areas), and move towards better self-regulation to kick zombie screen time habits.”

Google also has its own version for Android users called Digital Well-being dashboard offering a similar design to Apple.

There’s newly established features on YouTube to tell you how long you’ve watched videos over the past seven days and Facebook and Instagram are also in the introductory phase of a similar range of settings.

“Once we have a look at how many times a day or how long we spend on social media, which to some may be confronting, it allow us to make a plan to improve it.”

Dr Orlando said that while creative, focused technology use has an overall positive effect, excessive unproductive use can have negative mental and socio-emotional implications for young people and adults.

“For example, it can contribute to reduced mental wellbeing and sleep disturbances.”

“A lot of the parents from the study said they never get mental rest because they’re either on their phone organising life or zombie checking, with never any down time to let the brain rest.”

With 88 per cent of Australians now owning a smartphone, there’s never been a better time to manage your zombie habits.

Mood killer? 1 in 10 Australians admitted to using their phone while having sex with their partner, according a study from Huawei, in partnership with Decibel Research.

THE PLAN TO MANAGING ZOMBIE CHECKS — Dr Joanne Orlando

Step 1: Map your use

Use the screentime features to examine how you use technology during the day, and over a week. Identify the aspect of your zombie use that you want to change. For example, this may be to reduce the time you spend using a particular social media platform, or watching YouTube or to reduce how many times a day you pick up your phone.

Step 2: Identify your triggers

Identify what triggers the aspect of technology use you want to change.

For example, if you want to reduce how many times a day you pick up your phone then look for the time of day you have most pick-ups, or if there are particular days in the week where your pick-up tends to be higher.

Step 3: Make a plan

Planning ahead may include setting specific times when you will or won’t use your device in particular ways. It may involve making sure you have other options to avoid boredom, such as having a book with you when you’re travelling or waiting for family members.

Step 4: Reflect on your plan

After one day or week of using the plan, ask yourself key questions: Did you accomplish your plan? Under what conditions did your plan work best? Were you distracted from your plan and how did get back onto it? Do you need to adjust your plan so that it is achievable?

You can use the new activity monitoring tools to review and revise your plan.