MENTAL BREAK

The habit is highly distracting and depletes our mental energy.

Using a smartphone to take a mental break does not work, new research finds.

In fact, glancing at a phone as a form of mental relaxation may have the opposite effect — slowing the brain down by over 20 percent.

Even looking at a large computer screen or scribbling a list on a piece of paper has a greater restorative effect on cognitive functioning.

People taking breaks on their phones showed the greatest mental depletion, researchers found.

This may be because just the sight of a phone engenders thoughts of social media, messages and never-ending information.

In comparison, a piece of paper is calming and even a larger computer screen is not as detrimental as a phone.