People often spend idle moments checking phones and repeatedly viewing the same notifications, a habit described as consuming time without real value.
Screen-time tracking apps can show total phone usage and time spent in each app, helping users recognise that their perceived light use is still significant.
Some experts recommend stopping phone use for three full days to break bad habits, then gradually reintroducing calls and texts before adding other functions.
Suggested practical steps include using a separate alarm clock, charging the phone in another room overnight, and scheduling a fixed time to check it in the morning.
Turning off notifications and using built-in settings to silence calls and alerts during periods such as 5pm to 9pm can also reduce interruptions.
Creating phone-free times at home, such as an hour before dinner or Friday afternoons, and spending them walking, talking with friends or family, reading, or taking a pet to the park is recommended.
Psychologists say short breaks of about one hour without a phone can lower stress and improve focus, and may bring calm, creativity, and stronger personal relationships.
The guidance warns that constant phone use is reducing human contact and harming personal relationships and mental health, with particular concern about young people.