Phone Addiction Calculator
Enter your daily screen time, years ahead, and hourly value to see how many years of your life you'll spend on your phone — and what that time is really worth.
At 4 hours/day, you'll spend over 6 years of your life on your phone over the next 40 years. Check Screen Time to see your real number.
4.25 hr
daily average US smartphone screen time
~6.5 yr
of life spent on a phone at average US rate over 40 years
86×
times per day average users check their phone
What your phone habit is really costing you
The attention economy
Every app on your phone employs teams of engineers and psychologists to maximise the time you spend on it. Your attention is the product being sold to advertisers. The more you understand this, the more intentional your usage can become.
Compulsive checking vs deep use
It's not the total hours that correlate most with negative outcomes — it's the frequency of checking. Checking your phone 86 times a day fragments attention in a way that 3 hours of deliberate use doesn't.
The identity shift
Research shows that saying 'I'm not a heavy phone user' (identity framing) is more effective than 'I'm trying to use my phone less' (willpower framing). Behaviour changes more reliably when it's tied to how you see yourself.
How the phone time calculation works
Lifetime hours = daily hours × 365 × years. Years of life = lifetime hours ÷ (24 × 365). Opportunity cost = lifetime hours × your hourly value.
This calculator shows future projection at current usage rates. Check your phone's Screen Time settings for your actual daily average to use as the input.