Neither try to quit smoking nor join the gym again nor learn a language. Nor do you want to eat healthier, spend more time with family or friends, or take life more philosophically. The main New Year’s resolution for 35% of Brits is to waste less time on screens, especially smartphones and tablets. This is revealed by a study by VMO2, a joint venture that Telefónica shares with Virgin Media in the United Kingdom, with conclusions that could perfectly be extrapolated to other large European markets of the Spanish operator.
Anglo-Saxon citizens usually make their own lists of propositions at the end of each year, with the aim of introducing positive changes in their lives. This centuries-old British custom has been exported to other countries and has landed on fertile ground in Spain, with practically universal coincidences. Until now, intentions for improvement in the field of health and coexistence took the top spots in good wishes, but this 2025 they have incorporated an addictive technological element that is here to stay.
However, these types of initiatives are usually taken with questionable effort, since the strength of will quickly dilutes with the passage of time. In fact, about a quarter of people eventually forget their goals during the first week of the year, which could presumably affect cell phone addiction.
According to a report from the Journal of Clinical Psychologynearly half of those surveyed (45%) kept their wishes intact at the end of January, a percentage that drops to 40% in the first half of the year and to 19% within two years. The same sources indicate that More than half of people fail in their self-commitmentswithout them preventing him from resuming identical matters every December 31.
The aforementioned VMO2 study published last week shows that “millions of people reach for their phones as soon as they wake up, with notable increases in traffic immediately after 6, 7 and 8 in the morning, probably the time when “They set most of the alarms.” The same report also highlights the extraordinary obsession of British citizens with knowing if it will rain in the next few hours or with getting to work on time. So, one in five (21%) check the day’s forecast, while 18% check travel interruptions. In turn, 6% check the fate of their securities on the stock market as soon as they open their eyes, even before the markets open.
The study by the British company Telefónica specifies that “Three in four Britons hope to improve their mental health, and a further two thirds (65%) want to sleep better.”. Half of Brits (49%) have admitted to trying unsuccessfully to reduce screen time, explaining record levels of data consumption and an overall 8.1% increase in broadband usage on the VMO2 network last year”. At the same time, 27% of those interviewed do not trust that they will fulfill their goal of reducing consumption by 2025 this year.
75% of Brits rely on mobile phones and tablets to carry out everyday tasks, and two thirds (65%) fear they will miss out on something or become socially disconnected if they reduce their screen time. Social networks are the most difficult to reduce (78%), ahead of messaging applications (75%) and video streaming (68%).
Pathology of the new century
In this new course, nomophobia (fear of leaving the house without a cell phone) has established itself as one of the most worrying new pathologies of the moment. For now, it is estimated that the growing dependence on the smartphone will cause More than half of the world’s population will suffer from myopia by 2050 due to digital devices. Among other problems, the eye muscles will tend to make less and less effort to see from a distance, since most of the attention will be focused on a small display, generally smartwatches. These smart watches avoid turning on the smartphone to see notifications, but with the problem that the messages are diverted to the wrist device.
A Rastreator study from 2023 pointed out that 40% of the population claims to use their cell phone for work, 44% for entertainmentwith 75% of time consumed on social networks. It also indicated that “40% of Spaniards spend between two and four hours a day using their mobile phone, with young people being the ones who use it the most, with an average of between four and six hours a day.”
The experts consulted by this newspaper also have perceived a deterioration in the time spent reading books and ebooks due to the demand of social networks and applications phone messaging. This habit, traditionally concentrated before falling asleep in bed, has given way to mobile devices, with the consequent progressive deterioration in the quality of rest.
#users #intend #waste #time #mobile
