Mini magnet claims to curb phone addiction

The first step is admitting you have a problem. The second step is something I have been trying to figure out since completing the first years ago. Hi, I'm Annabel and I am a smartphone addict. I'm not alone in my woes — rather I'm one of an estimated 25 per cent of people worldwide who fall into this vaguely embarrassing category.

- Annabel Nugent, The Independent

The average Brit spends an approximate three hours and 21 minutes on their phone a day, but my Apple Screen Time clocks in at a frankly mortifying five hours. (Sometimes, more often than I'd care to admit, it's over six...) It wasn’t always this way. Only a few years ago, my phone was a tool for connection, a means of communicating with friends and family, catching up on the news, and finding inspiration in unexpected places.

And sure, some of that is still true — but of the 203 (!) times that I picked up my phone on average each day last week, I doubt even 20 of them were productive. Or even enjoyable. My biggest vice is Instagram, where I waste oodles of time coveting and comparing, coveting and comparing. My steadfast refusal to get TikTok, it turns out, is also pointless given the number of hours I spend on Reels. I come out of each scrolling session much the same way I do after a busy, indulgent holiday: soporific, guilty, and disgusted.