Measuring Screen Time in Miles: A New Way to Look at Scrolling

We all talk about screen time — how we want to cut back, the number of hours we spend staring at our little glowing rectangles and what we can do to change our habits. Recently, I heard about a new perspective on measuring screen time that I had never considered: measuring scrolling time in distance. Turns out, our thumbs are pretty extensive travelers, without our bodies ever leaving the couch. 

How far do we scroll? 

According to a study conducted by TollFreeForwarding.com, the average American spends 2,403 hours looking at their phone each year (about 6 1/2 hours per day), which equals 85.97 miles of scrolling per year! If you walked an average of 3 miles per hour, it would take almost 29 hours to walk that far (without stopping).

The study looked at individual states’ scrolling distance, and it turns out, we have some of the worst habits in the country here in Washington. Washington residents average 8 hours and 17 minutes of screen time each day, which equals about 108.18 miles of phone scrolling per year — about 26 percent more than the average American (Yikes!). It would take about 36 hours to walk that far (at 3 miles per hour with no stopping). For a little perspective, that means that every year, the average Washingtonian scrolls:

• The distance from Seattle to Ellensburg, Washington
• About 20 percent of the Pacific Crest Trail’s Washington section
• About three trips between T-Mobile Park and the Tacoma Dome
• The distance from the Space Needle to Paradise at Mount Rainier
• Riding the entire Burke-Gilman trail 5 1/2 times 

The only state with a worse record is Arizona, where residents spend 8 hours and 50 minutes on their phone each day, equaling about 115.37 miles (about the distance from Phoenix to Tucson) per year. The chart below illustrates the top states with the farthest scrolling distances:

Take back your time 

Not only are we on our phones for many hours (or miles) a day, we are checking our phones almost constantly. On average, Americans check their phones a whopping 58 times a day, with over half of those checks happening during work hours, and many within three minutes of each other!

We know phones can interrupt sleep, reduce our productivity, and keep us from being able to focus on the people and things around us. Jason O’Brien, the chief operating officer of TollFreeForwarding.com, said of the findings:

“Excessive screen time isn’t new but seeing it translated into miles really puts into perspective just how connected to our phones we really are. … To cut back, we recommend turning off nonessential notifications, using focus apps or website blockers and keeping your phone out of reach during deep work.”

Here are a few other ways to try and take back your time, and miles:

• Complete a scroll audit. To get a sense of your own scrolling habits, it might be interesting to see how far your thumbs are walking. Track your scrolling time for a few days to find your average. Then buckle in for some math as you convert your scrolling habit into miles according to the methodology used by TollFreeForwarding.com:
  
  1. Convert your daily screen time from hours to seconds by multiplying the number of hours by 3,600 (the number of seconds in an hour).
  
  2. Multiply that number by 6.3 inches (the length of an iPhone 16 Pro Screen).
  
  3. Divide by 10 (frequency of a scroll, in seconds).
  
  4. Divide that by 12 to get feet scrolled per day.
  
  5. Divide by 5,280 to get miles scrolled per day.
  
  6. Multiply by 365 to find your total miles scrolled per year.
   
• Set small goals. While giving up scrolling entirely might feel a bit extreme, try some smaller steps to decrease — rather than eliminate — your scrolling time. Small goals can include: Have phone-free meal times; pick one social media app to skip each day; keep your phone plugged into the wall away from comfy chairs or your bed; or wait an hour after you wake up before you pick up your phone.  

• Use tech tools. There are many different tools — hardware and apps — that are designed to help people of all ages cut down on their scrolling use and screen time. If you are looking for a physical barrier to mindlessly using your phone, consider something like Brick, a device you have to tap in order to lock or unlock your phone. The new app Focus Friend helps you leave your phone alone by introducing you to your new friend (a little smiling bean) who just wants to work on their knitting. After setting your “focus time” (essentially a timer), your bean will start knitting. If you try to use your phone before the timer ends, you will interrupt your bean and they will drop their knitting and look sad. I recently added this app to my phone and have found it surprisingly effective. Never underestimate the power of a cute anthropomorphized bean! 
  
  If you don’t want to buy or download anything, try simply setting the timer on your phone for 15 minutes when you sit down to scroll. While nothing will force you to stop when the timer goes off, it can at least help you realize how long you have been scrolling.
• Use those miles to reconnect off-screen. Let’s say you are an average Washington phone user and you scrolled for 108 miles last year. What else can you imagine doing with those 108 miles? Sit down together as a family and come up with a plan. Can you go for a 2-mile walk every week? Set a goal to hike or bike for 9 miles each month? Be creative with your miles!

Thinking about screen time in miles really put my daily thumb workouts into perspective, and inspired me to take a few extra steps instead of extra swipes. Let’s use this newfound knowledge to take back our time and miles!