A woman who once spent eight hours a day glued to her phone has shared a straightforward trick that significantly reduced her screen time.

Caitlin Begg, a 31-year-old sociologist from New York, USA, didn’t recognize her dependency until one morning when her phone’s battery died, and the charger was inconveniently located across the room. This led her to pick up a book instead.

Since that September morning in 2022, Caitlin has made it a habit to read every morning before reaching for her phone. This change has dramatically cut her daily phone use to just about an hour.

“Every morning, without fail, I start my day by reading non-fiction before I even turn on my computer,” she explained.

“Some days it’s just a single page as I’m rushing out, while other days I enjoy an hour of reading,” Caitlin shared.

She noted, “That first morning, I noticed a change in how my mind felt. My screen time has dropped by more than 65% since, and this morning ritual has truly helped me ground myself.”

She noticed that before she would experience a phenomenon which she dubbed ‘phone brain’, with her brain feeling ‘heavier’, and now in contrast she feels ‘present’ in the morning.

‘Your brain feels like it needs to be doing a million things at once, and that you need to be checking and communicating constantly,’ she said. 

A US-based sociologist has revealed a simple way to reduce how often you use your phone

Caitlin Begg [pictured] says she didn’t realise she had problem until her phone was out of charge one morning and she had to pick up a book

‘My number one rule is no phones in the bedroom. If you live in a studio apartment, put your phone on the other side of the room or leave it in the bathroom,’ said Ms Begg.

‘What went away that morning was that feeling. I was present in one place.’

If you’d like to lower your screen time, her top tip is to not have your phone in the bedroom and work out what activity you can do during that time instead, whether that’s reading or going for a walk. 

‘Also look at your everyday screen time to see how many hours a day [you are using it]. Say you are spending two hours a day on TikTok, find an activity you can do in those two hours, whether that is going out with a friend or going for a walk.’

The key, she says is something she calls ‘Progression to Analog’ – the title of her podcast – which involves engaging in any direct and unmediated experiences which she explained in a TikTok video.

‘Direct unmediated experience could mean brushing your teeth and washing your face and showering and having breakfast without going on your phone. It could mean looking out the window. It could mean doing 10 jumping jacks,’ she said.

She added: ‘What I say to people is, even if you don’t like reading, you can just sit there and look out the window for a minute or you can just shower and brush your teeth before you go on your phone.’

In her journey to reducing screentime, she also took three years off of TikTok until recently, because she said she disliked the ‘contentification of everyday life’.

‘It was actually really easy for me to give up. Because I was starting my day with a book, I never really looked back,’ she said. 

Alongside this, she also stopped wearing headphones in public eight months ago and has been turning her attention to observing the public’s relationship with technology. 

Ms Begg stopped using the social media app TikTok for three years because disliked the ‘contentification of everyday life’

She also stopped using headphones in public eight months ago and has been tracking smartphone noise on the subway

For the past year she has been tracking every instance of smartphone noise – sound from continuous video or music, a notification or speakerphone – during her subway journeys.

She said: ‘I have tracked every instance of smartphone noise since January 1, 2025. It was interesting because it showed 70 per cent of all subway rides that I logged have smartphone noise.’

And worryingly, she adds that it’s harder for people to unplug themselves, as people use technology to escape it. 

‘It is something that plagues us because people are then putting in their headphones to make it quieter,’ she said.

‘Phones are making us more atomised, more individualistic – it is interesting to see the effect it has on our everyday environments.’

On average UK adults spend four and a half hours online, according to a report by OFCOM, the regulator for communication services like broadcasting, the internet and telecommunications.

The majority of this time was spent on a smartphone, with adults using on average 41 apps a month, and WhatsApp, Facebook and Google Maps being the most commonly used in this age group. 

Meanwhile, evidence in a parliamentary report said there’s been a 52 per cent increase in children’s screen time between 2020 and 2022, and nearly a quarter of young people use it in a way consistent with behavioural addiction.

It called for tougher mobile phone bans in schools in England due to the harms of screen time such as learning disruption as well as worsening memory, processing speed and attention levels.

Research has also shown that lowering screen time isn’t just important for children – it can also have benefits for adults too.

A study published earlier this year in the journal BMC Medicine found reducing screentime can lower depressive symptoms, improve sleep quality and reduce stress.