A mother-of-three from Lancashire has admitted to spending up to eight hours a day on her phone, describing herself as addicted to scrolling. Charlotte Graham, 41, who runs a social media and marketing company, said she feels “a bit sick” when she sees her screen time statistics.
Ms Graham confessed to having a “meltdown” when she realised there would be no WiFi during a family caravan holiday, and has even considered skipping networking events due to lack of internet access. “I'm not very good at putting my phone on ‘do not disturb’, that gives me anxiety. I have this whole thing about needing to be contactable,” she told The Independent.
Her confession comes as a year-long study by Virgin Media O2 of 6,000 people found that UK adults spend an average of 1 hour 26 minutes per day doomscrolling or using their phone without intention. This adds up to roughly 523 hours per year, or 41,000 hours across a lifetime – equivalent to 4.7 years.
An estimated 14 million people in the UK spend more than half of their phone time without a clear purpose, affecting sleep and ability to switch off. More than four in ten (41%) say willpower alone is not enough to change their behaviour, while 37% say they are addicted to their devices.
Dr Eleanor Drage, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, said screens are designed to capture attention. “We must have these statistics so that we can go and make technology better. Policies we’ve had around children started with those statistics, and we need to do the same for adults,” she said.
Dana Haidan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Virgin Media O2, added: “The digital debate has centred on screen time alone, with a focus on parents and children. But increasingly the evidence suggests we’re looking at only part of the picture... The answer isn’t blaming individuals or abandoning technology altogether. It’s recognising that healthier digital habits are something we all need to work towards.”
