Be honest. How much screentime do you clock each day?

Americans are averaging around seven hours a day on their devices, and that may just be setting us up for some extremely negative cognitive effects.

Grey Matter

One analysis showed that increased screentime (six hours a day or more) can lead to decreased grey matter. Grey matter is where information processing happens. About 40 percent of the brain consists of grey matter. It’s where most of the neuronal structures are, which means it’s where the most important brain functions take place. The Cleveland Clinic explains, “Grey matter is the place where the processing of sensation, perception, voluntary movement, learning, speech, and cognition takes place.”

The same study found that too much screentime also decreased the amount of white matter, which is where a lot of the communication between brain regions takes place. It’s white because it’s made of a fatty substance called myelin that helps speed communication throughout the brain.

Dementia

Even if I didn’t explain why, I hope you’d be encouraged to reduce your screentime based solely on the fact that it’s shrinking our brains.

Reduced grey matter is linked with dementia. The abovementioned study shows a possible link with screentime and the development of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The CDC predicts that the prevalence of dementia will increase twofold in future generations as a result.

IQ

The paper also pointed to possible decreases in IQ and increases in mental illness and cognitive impairments as a result of too much screentime. Recent studies show a similar phenomenon with people who are overly reliant on AI chatbots. Screens are literally shrinking our brains and making us dumber.

Taking Extreme Action to Prevent Extreme Cognitive Decline

If there’s even the slightest chance that screens are going to make it more likely that I’ll get dementia or lose some of my cognitive ability, I’m going to take some drastic steps to limit my screentime.

1. Ditch Social Media

One way to reduce screentime is to get off social media. Americans spend around 2.5 hours scrolling through social media feeds, so leaving those platforms altogether would likely significantly reduce your total screentime.

Some people say they need social media for work or to stay connected to distant friends and relatives, but I’d like to challenge both those points.

If you need social media for your business, try deleting it from your phone. Do most of your posting from a computer and aim to automate it and not check it throughout the day. Schedule time to “do social media for work” and then leave it alone after that.

If you’re using social media to stay connected with friends and relatives, just ask people for their phone numbers and start texting them instead.

I’ve been sans social media for a year now, and I don’t miss it at all.

Try temporarily deactivating accounts if going full turkey feels like too much for you right now.

2. Ditch the Smartphone Altogether

If you want to reduce screentime even more, try ditching the smartphone altogether. Switch to a flip phone or a dumbphone that doesn’t allow for any apps.

It’s an extreme solution, but dementia, cognitive impairment, and mental illness are extreme concerns.