Expert Urges Digital Breaks to Reduce Anxiety: 'The Longer We Can Take Breaks, the Better Our Brains Will Be'

Author and professor Jonathan Haidt’s bestselling book The Anxious Generation continues to fuel a growing public health movement addressing the impact of smartphones and social media on mental health. The book, and the initiative it inspired, highlight the connection between digital habits and rising rates of anxiety and depression, particularly among younger generations.

The Anxious Generation Movement, led by Haidt and his team, works to “change policy, culture, and behavior,” according to its website. The organization tracks legislation concerning children’s phone use and produces documents offering policy recommendations. But the issue, experts say, extends far beyond Gen Z. “We all feel it,” said Alexa Arnold, the movement’s managing director and Haidt’s chief of staff.

Arnold shared several strategies for reducing anxiety linked to technology use. Her primary advice: take intentional breaks from phones. She recommends turning off notifications, disabling text message syncing with computers, and leaving the phone in another room “for hours at a time.”

A distressed man | Source: Pexels

“I think the longer we can take breaks and have longer periods of deep work and deep focus,” Arnold said, “the better our brains will be.” She also suggests using phones in scheduled batches—such as setting aside 20 minutes a day for news—rather than checking apps repeatedly.

Arnold’s second piece of advice is to “do something that scares or challenges you,” whether in the workplace or social settings. “Doing hard things makes you more confident and capable and creative,” she said, adding that such efforts can also ease anxiety.