Why We Check Our Phones 100 Times a Day?

I catch myself doing it all the time. Unlock, scroll, lock. Two minutes later, unlock again. Nothing new, but somehow I keep reaching for my phone. At first, I thought it was just boredom. But then I realised there’s an actual psychology behind this little habit that all of us share.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Studies show that the average person checks their phone 96 to 150 times a day. That means once every 10 minutes we’re awake. Some people even pick it up more than 200 times. It’s not just “checking messages”, it’s reflex, like scratching an itch.

Dopamine: The Brain’s Reward Trick

Every time we unlock our phone, our brain expects a reward. It could be a message, a like, a funny video, anything that feels new. Psychologists call this a dopamine loop. Dopamine is the chemical that makes us chase pleasure. The catch? We get more dopamine from the anticipation of a reward than from the reward itself.

That’s why even when there’s nothing new, we keep checking. It’s not about the notification, it’s about the hope that there might be one. Just like gamblers pulling a slot machine lever, we’re hooked on the “maybe.”

Notifications = Pavlov’s Bell

Those little pings and buzzes are more powerful than they look. Experiments show that just hearing a notification sound increases our heart rate. Our brain reacts as if something urgent is happening even when it’s just a random app update. Over time, we don’t even need the sound. We start unlocking our phones automatically, expecting something to be there.

It’s the same principle as Pavlov’s dogs. The bell rang, and the dogs started salivating even before food arrived. For us, the screen lights up, and our brain starts craving attention before we even see what it is.

Comfort in the Pocket

There’s also a psychological comfort. Researchers call it the “security blanket effect.” Just having our phone nearby lowers stress and anxiety. That’s why we panic when we forget it at home; it feels like losing a lifeline. In awkward silences, in waiting rooms, in lonely moments, the phone fills the gap. It doesn’t fix the feeling, but it numbs it.

The Habit Cycle

Habits form when a behaviour repeats with a trigger and a reward. For phones, the trigger could be boredom, stress, or even just a pause in conversation. The behaviour is checking the phone. The reward is the tiny hit of novelty, even if it’s just a meme or a random scroll.

Do this hundreds of times, and your brain wires it as automatic. That’s why you sometimes open WhatsApp, close it, and reopen it five seconds later, without even realising.

Why it Matters?

Some psychologists call this “variable reward conditioning.” It’s the same mechanism that makes gambling addictive. You never know when the next notification will come, so you keep checking. The randomness keeps us hooked more than a guaranteed outcome ever could.

And this isn’t just about addiction. Studies show constant checking shortens our attention span, disrupts sleep, and even creates “phantom vibrations”, that weird feeling when you think your phone buzzed, but it didn’t.

Can We Break This Habit?

Most advice online says “just use your phone less”, but that doesn’t work because the habit is tied to our brain’s reward system. To really break it, researchers suggest a few surprising strategies:

1. Change the Colour Settings: Studies show that switching your phone to grayscale mode (black and white) reduces screen time. Bright colours are designed to trigger excitement and dopamine. Remove them, and the apps instantly feel less tempting.
2. Move Your Apps Around: Neuroscientists found that habits are partly muscle memory. If you shift your social media apps into folders or change their position every week, your brain doesn’t get the same automatic trigger. That pause forces you to think before opening.
3. Use “Friction” Instead of Force: Behavioural psychology says adding small barriers works better than self-control. For example, log out of apps after each use or add an extra password. That extra 5 seconds breaks the instant-reward loop and lowers mindless checking.
4. Track “Urge Moments” Instead of Screen Time: A study from the University of Bonn suggested that people should note when and why they feel the urge to check their phone. Is it boredom? Stress? Silence? Identifying the trigger helps you replace the behaviour with something else (like stretching, doodling, or even just deep breathing).
5. Leave Your Phone Out of Reach:  But Visible Oddly, research shows that when phones are completely hidden, anxiety increases. The trick? Keep it visible but not within arm’s reach (like on a table across the room). You’ll still feel secure knowing it’s there, but you won’t keep grabbing it unconsciously.

So breaking the habit isn’t about quitting phones altogether. It’s about rewiring the brain’s reward loop with small tweaks that disrupt the automatic checking. Over time, the reflex weakens, and you finally get those few minutes of peace back.

We don’t check our phones a hundred times a day because life is so exciting online. We do it because our brains are wired to crave possibility, not certainty. It’s not about what’s on the screen right now. It’s about the tiny, constant hope that this time something new will appear.

That’s the psychology behind it. And honestly? Knowing it doesn’t always stop me from unlocking my phone every few minutes. But at least now, when I catch myself doing it, I know it’s not just “me.” It’s science.