3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 22, 2026 04:02 PM IST For many of us, checking our phones has probably become an unconscious reflex, similar to breathing or blinking. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO Glancing at your phone can begin to compromise your cognitive skills once it passes a certain threshold. Studies from Nottingham Trent University in the U.K. and Keimyung University in South Korea found that checking your phone about 110 times a day may signal high risk or problematic use. S Giriprasad, Psychologist, Aster Whitefield, Bangalore explained that when we check our phone again and again, it breaks our focus. “It’s like every time we look at the phone, our brain stops the current work and then has to start again. So this switching makes the brain tired. Over the time, the brain gets used to short attention and quick breaks instead of focusing for a long time,” he told indianexpress.com. That’s why frequent phone checking slowly reduces our ability to concentrate on things. Giriprasad clarified that it’s not only about how long we use …