I stopped looking at my phone every time I was waiting for something – this is what I learned | Emma Beddington

We all do it: waiting in queues at the shop or the bus stop or for a class to start. But is it making us miserable?

It's hard not to feel personally attacked by some research (does that make me a raging narcissist? Probably). With crisps and now sitting down recently ruled empirically bad, it seems science is coming for everything I hold dear. Now, my one true love is being targeted: staring at my phone.

A new study, discussed in the excellent Techno Sapiens newsletter, explored how using your phone to avoid stranger awkwardness makes you feel worse than if you didn't". For the research, 395 strangers were split into groups and asked to wait together for a (pretend) test. Half had phones, half not, and participants assessed how they felt at five-minute intervals. The researchers' theory was that non-phone people would enjoy their time more, but that the digital comfort blanket would feel better in the short term. That was wrong. Phones failed to confer any detectable benefits." Even in the first five minutes, non-phone users were happier. People may be acting against their own best interest when they use phones in social situations," the study concluded.