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Smartphones cause fatigue

A study revealed a link between smartphones and poorer performance.

Researchers from Rutgers University, USA, found that using a cell phone during breaks resulted in even greater fatigue and poorer performance, reports ScienceDaily.

Smartphones carry increasing levels of distraction that make it difficult to return focused attention to work tasks.

During an experiment, 414 college students were given sets of 20 word puzzles. One group of students was required to solve them non-stop, while the others had a chance to take a break and use either a mobile phone, a computer or a notepad.

The participants who took phone breaks performed slightly better than those who took no break at all but much worse than all the others.

Also, those who used mobile phones during the break took 19% longer to do the rest of the task and solved 22% fewer problems than those in the other break conditions.

According to the researchers, smartphones carry increasing levels of distraction that make it difficult to return focused attention to work tasks. This might be linked to the fact that interacting with a phone makes people think of checking messages and connecting with people.

Mental depletion is lower when using a computer, the study says.

Natalya Barkhatova

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