The start of the New Year has a lot of us thinking about what we can improve and do better in our lives, and that includes the way we use our phones. Most of us have some bad phone habits, whether we want to admit them or not, and a new survey uncovers the ones we want to break most in 2026.
According to the poll of 2-thousand smartphone owners, 47% really want to spend less time on their phones in general this year. That shouldn’t be too hard, since the average person spends three hours a day on theirs, and for Gen Z, that jumps to over five hours.
- Nearly a third of respondents (31%) admit they check their phone within 10 minutes of waking up every day and another 30% do it most days.
- Almost a quarter (23%) have already tried to do a digital detox, but that lasted less than a day for 18%.
- We rely on our phones so much, 62% confess they couldn’t live a day without their phone.
- Over a third (36%) say they’d struggle to take photos or videos without their phone, 23% wouldn’t know what time it is and 22% wouldn’t be able to pay for anything.
- Scrolling social media takes up a lot of our phone use time, as 37% of all respondents - and 77% of Gen Z - admit they spend too much time on it.
- The apps people would most like to take a break from are Facebook (26%), Instagram (18%), and TikTok (14%).
- To cut down on time spent on their phone, one in 10 have already switched to a “dumbphone” with no Internet access or apps, or they plan to soon.
The Top 10 Phone Habits People Hope To Kick in 2026
- Taking up storage with duplicate or un-needed photos
- Taking their phone to bed and scrolling until they fall asleep
- Never cleaning their phone
- Constantly checking for notifications even when none are there
- Opening social media as soon as they wake up
- Forgetting or taking a long time to reply to messages
- Downloading apps they never use
- Checking their phone during conversations
- Scrolling on the toilet
- Using their phone to check the time, then getting distracted, instead of just wearing a watch
Source: Talking Points
Scott's Thoughts:
- Just think of all the stuff we could’ve gotten done last year in the time we spent on TikTok!
- I try really hard to put down the phone close to sleep time.
- I am on my phone way less than I used to be, but still too much in my opinion.