Most of us know we are wasting time looking at our phones. But is it just time we’re losing? Are we aware that we are actually re-training our brains? During a recent MPR show discussing screen time, it was noted that ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) may now be divided into two categories: inherited and acquired. Like diabetes, one is the result of genetics and one is the result of lifestyle.

I acquired ADD through a brain injury ten years ago. One day I did not have ADD and the next day I did. The difference in my ability to focus was shocking. I had to relearn to drive a car. I became easily distracted by the next thing and the next thing, constantly leaving a trail of unfinished tasks in my wake. I can be overloaded by stimulation and veer into migraines if I don’t take breaks. Listening to the MPR story I had to ask myself: do I really want to encourage more focusing trouble in my life??

I began to look at my phone in a different way. Scrolling invites mere seconds of attention on any one thing. Those short reels of babies and basketball that I find so entertaining? Each one is just a quickly flipping blip, like a strobe light, on the screen of my mind. You Tube videos use visual and emotional hooks to keep us watching––we don’t do much thinking for ourselves.

I decided to try changing what I looked at on my phone for a few days. Instead of watching, I engaged. No more videos or social media. I limited myself to reading––something that slows me down and enriches my brain through self-generated imagery. After those few days I felt better. I slept better. My mind was sharper. I felt more present and aware.

Ben Sasse is a former senator with stage 4 cancer. Knowing he is terminal, he’s combining his public platform with what little time he has to clarify what matters. He had this to say about phones: “These super devices in our pockets allow our consciousness to leave the time and place where we actually live––the places where we break bread, the people who are living next door to us, the people that you can physically touch and hug, the small platoons of real community––and we allow our consciousness to go really far away.”*

Disconnect from consciousness? No thank you.

*Article by Andy Brehm, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 05-05-2026, p. A7.