Two Hours You Didn't Know You Spent on Your Phone
Picture a fairly ordinary scenario: you’re out for dinner, your friend heads to the bathroom, and you’re sitting there alone for a few minutes. Before you know it, your phone’s out. It doesn’t feel like a big deal in the moment — but moments like this happen more often than most of us realise, and they add up.
The “Just Checking” Habit
These aren’t long, deliberate scrolling sessions. They’re the small, almost automatic checks that fill in gaps — waiting for a friend, standing in a queue, a lull in conversation. Individually, each one feels harmless. It’s the frequency that changes the picture.
How Small Checks Add Up
If a 10-minute check happens even 10 times across a day, that’s close to two hours of phone use that can easily go unnoticed, because it’s spread across small moments rather than one obvious block of time. Most people would guess their daily phone use is far lower than it actually is, largely because these small check-ins don’t register the same way a long session would.
Why This Might Matter for Brain Overstimulation
Constantly filling every idle moment with phone input means your brain rarely gets a genuine break from stimulation throughout the day. Some research suggests that frequent, fragmented engagement with phones and screens may contribute to a general sense of mental overstimulation or restlessness for some people, though this is a developing area of research rather than a settled conclusion. It’s a reasonable thing to be mindful of, without needing to treat it as a certainty.
Why We Reach for Our Phones in Idle Moments
Part of what’s happening in these moments is genuinely psychological — many people find it uncomfortable to sit with nothing to do, even for a few minutes, and the phone offers an easy, automatic way to fill that gap. Recognising this pattern is often the first step to changing it, rather than trying to force willpower in the moment itself.
A Simple Way to Notice Your Own Pattern
Before trying to change anything, it can be worth simply noticing how often these small check-ins happen over a day or two — many phones have built-in screen time tracking that can make this visible without much effort. Awareness on its own often shifts behaviour more than any strict rule would.
When to Get It Checked
If you’re dealing with ongoing brain fog, restlessness or difficulty switching off, and want a broader look at how lifestyle factors might be contributing, our Maidstone clinic offers thorough assessments. You can book an appointment or call us on (03) 9318 7758.
Frequently Asked Questions
This isn’t something that’s been definitively established. What’s more consistently discussed is that frequent, fragmented phone use may contribute to a sense of overstimulation for some people — it’s an area of ongoing research rather than settled fact.
There’s no single number that applies to everyone. What matters more is whether your current habits feel automatic and hard to control, versus intentional and comfortable.
For many people, simply seeing the data is enough to prompt a change, even without setting formal limits. It turns an invisible habit into something concrete.
No referral is needed. You can book directly with our team, and we recommend bringing any relevant medical reports to your first visit.
About the Author
Dr Trevor Chetcuti, B.Chiro.Sc, B.App.Sc (Clin), DIBAK, CNET
Dr Trevor Chetcuti is Clinical Director at Spinewise in Maidstone, holding dual degrees in Chiropractic and Clinical Science from RMIT University and a Teaching Diplomate in Applied Kinesiology through the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK). He is chairman of ICAK International’s Board of Research and Standards and has spent over 20 years helping patients work through complex health, neurological and pain-related concerns.