Why We Check Our Phones Without Realising It

What Happened When I Asked Corporate Managers Not to Check Their Phones for One Hour

Person checking their smartphone while distracted, illustrating the habit of constantly checking phones.

I recently ran a mindfulness session for a group of corporate managers. At the beginning of the session, I invited them to try a simple experiment.

For the next hour, the invitation was not to check their phones or smart devices, and to be fully present to the session. If anything urgent came up, they could assign someone to manage it during that hour.

What happened next was interesting.

Despite agreeing to the experiment, half of the participants found themselves checking emails, work messages, or notifications during the session. It wasn’t that they consciously decided to do it,  it seemed to happen almost automatically. Many of them reported they didn’t even realise they had picked up their phone until after they had already unlocked it.

It highlighted something important: for many of us, checking our phone has become a deeply ingrained habit.

If we pause to reflect, many of us may recognise the same pattern. A moment of silence appears. A slight pause in activity. A small flicker of boredom, curiosity, or uncertainty. And almost instantly, the hand reaches for the phone.

It happens so quickly that it can feel almost reflexive.

I remember a time before mobile phones were everywhere. If we were waiting in a queue, sitting on a train, or taking a break between tasks, we simply waited. Sometimes we watched what was around us. Sometimes we daydreamed. Sometimes we just sat quietly.

Today, the phone often fills those small spaces automatically.

I’m not suggesting this is inherently good or bad. Smartphones are extraordinary tools and have transformed how we communicate and work. But mindfulness invites us to ask a different question: are we choosing to check the phone, or are we being pulled by the habit?

During the session I invited the managers to do something simple. Whenever they felt the urge to check their phone, instead of immediately acting on it, they were asked to pause and notice the experience.

What did the urge feel like? Was there a sense of restlessness, curiosity, or a subtle anxiety about missing something?

For many people, the urge appears first as a small wave of sensation in the body — perhaps a tightening, a sense of mental pressure, or a flicker of anticipation. Normally we act on it immediately, but when we pause and observe it something interesting happens. We begin to see the habit clearly.

An impulse arises. The mind produces the thought, “I’ll just check quickly.” The hand moves toward the phone.

Mindfulness slows this process down enough for us to notice it happening.

When we begin to observe these patterns more clearly, we also notice something else. Each time our attention is pulled away, it takes a small amount of energy with it. When this happens dozens or even hundreds of times throughout the day, our attention becomes scattered and fragmented.

By noticing the impulse before we act on it, we begin to gather our attention again. Instead of our energy being constantly pulled in different directions, it starts to settle and collect.

This is also how we begin to change negative behavioural habits. When we become aware of an impulse as it arises, we interrupt the automatic pattern. Instead of reacting unconsciously, we can pause, observe, and choose our response more deliberately.

One of the reasons we practice mindfulness is to become more aware of these patterns, to see them more clearly. When we become aware of an impulse as it arises, we create a small but important space.

In that space, choice becomes possible.

Instead of reacting automatically, we can decide whether we really need to check the phone right now, or whether we can stay with what we are doing.

Sometimes we may still choose to check. That’s perfectly fine. But when the action comes from awareness rather than habit, our relationship with technology begins to change.

You might try a small experiment yourself. For the next hour, place your phone nearby but out of reach. If the urge to check it appears, simply pause and notice the experience. What does the urge feel like? How long does it last? What happens if you don’t act on it immediately?

Often you may notice that the urge rises… and then fades, just like many other experiences.

In many ways, mindfulness practice is simply about returning to what is happening now. The conversation in front of us. The task we are working on. Simply being present.

Technology itself is not the problem. The challenge arises when our attention is constantly pulled away without us even noticing.

By training our mindfulness skills, we become more fully present.

And as we observe our habits more clearly, we begin to understand ourselves better. This points to one of the deeper reasons we practice — insight.

---

If you’re interested in learning more about mindfulness, or would like support in changing unhelpful habits and developing more positive behaviours, feel free to get in touch at contact@mindfulnessskills.com