While there has been a movement to ban smartphone use in school — for a myriad of reasons, including students’ mental health and being distracted — an opinion piece in The Telegraph suggests employers should do the same for grown-ups.
The article cites a crash in worker productivity in the U.K. compared to the early 2000s, before smartphones and social media were a thing, as well as research that showed 95% of employees checked their phones at work.
A recent study showed the average person spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone every day — that’s approximately 70 days a year — and conceivably some of that time is work time.
There are jobs where cellphone use is prohibited, the article points out, including McDonald’s employees, who, according to research from Duke University cited in the piece, are “happy” and “focused” because of it.
“To address the financially painful impacts of our addiction, smartphones should be banned during work hours,” the piece opines, “with access allowed only during official breaks, similar to how nicotine addicts can only get their fixes during smoke breaks.”
So, would you log off during the day if your employer banned cellphones — or would you log out of that job?
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