--- title: Digital Distraction: Cell Phones Distract Even When Not In Use description: Even if you go all day without touching your cell phone once, just having it visible nearby may distract from complex tasks canonical: https://time.com/3616383/cell-phone-distraction/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-04T13:00:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:32:40.962Z article:section: Health og:title: How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You're Not Using It og:description: Even if you go all day without touching your cell phone once, just having it visible nearby may distract from complex tasks og:url: https://time.com/3616383/cell-phone-distraction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50834366feb08478/69876c725f570f4bb7b13f28/cell-phone-table-desk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5199 og:image:height: 2924 og:image:alt: cell phone table desk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You're Not Using It twitter:description: Even if you go all day without touching your cell phone once, just having it visible nearby may distract from complex tasks twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50834366feb08478/69876c725f570f4bb7b13f28/cell-phone-table-desk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You're Not Using It > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8a3d7e1f-a9cd-4ad4-97be-3f8602366ff4&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 4, 2014 1:00 PM UTC  Wireless keyboard, mouse and cell phone on table Wireless keyboard, mouse and cell phone on table Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 4, 2014 1:00 PM UTC Even if you go all day without touching your cell phone once, just having it visible nearby may distract you from complex tasks, according to new [research](http://www.psycontent.com/content/51j42850r7x76012/?p=2296949e66be40d1bc4fffaae49166db&pi=0) in the journal _Social Psychology_. In the first part of the study, which looked at a group of more than 50 college students, participants were asked to complete different motor tasks with the study leader’s cell phone visible. In the second, participants completed motor tasks with their own cell phones visible. Performance on complex tasks suffered in both conditions when compared to control groups with no visible cell phone. The sight of a cell phone reminds people of the “broader social community” they can access via texting and the internet, says study author Bill Thornton. **MORE:** [Why People Text And Drive Even When They Know It’s Dangerous](http://time.com/3561413/texting-driving-dangerous/) “With the presence of the phone, you’re wondering what those people are doing,” says Thornton, a University of Southern Maine professor. “Even if it’s just mental, your focus is not on the task at hand, whether it be trying to write an article, get this spreadsheet set up, or just socializing; your mind is elsewhere.” While performance on complex tasks suffered, the presence of cell phones did little to keep people from successfully finishing easy tasks. Thornton says the same applies to [texting while driving](http://time.com/3561413/texting-driving-dangerous/). “You could probably text and drive somewhat safely if you’re on a straight road, and there’s no traffic, and you take your time,” says Thornton. Of course, those conditions rarely exist. The study builds on previous research that suggests that having your cell phone out reduces the quality of social interaction, even if you don’t engage with your phone. Having the phone out stifled “interpersonal closeness and trust” and kept study participants from feeling empathy for one another, a 2012 [study](http://spr.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/07/17/0265407512453827.full.pdf+html) in the _Journal of Social and Personal Relationships_ found. “Mobile communication devices such as phones may, by their mere presence, paradoxically hold the potential to facilitate as well as to disrupt human bonding and intimacy,” it concluded. Cell phones play a significant role in today’s social engagement, but Thornton nonetheless suggests that people just put the device away for awhile. “I’m not sure how many people’s text messages are that important,” he said. “Unless you’re an advisor to the president and we have a national emergency, you can wait an hour to get a text.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3616383/cell-phone-distraction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3616383/cell-phone-distraction/"},"headline":"How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You're Not Using It","datePublished":"2014-12-04T13:00:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:32:40.962Z","description":"Why you might want to get it out of eyesight","url":"https://time.com/3616383/cell-phone-distraction/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","Psychology","Mental Health","cell phones","smart phones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50834366feb08478/69876c725f570f4bb7b13f28/cell-phone-table-desk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50834366feb08478/69876c725f570f4bb7b13f28/cell-phone-table-desk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cell phone table desk","caption":"cell phone table desk","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3616383/cell-phone-distraction/","name":"How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You're Not Using It"}}]}] ```