Amid the talk of young people struggling to regulate their screen time, here’s a challenge for us, the adults, this April.
April is Stress Awareness Month, a time for us to reflect on the everyday habits that can either ease stress or add to it without us even noticing.
For many adults, one of the biggest mood influencers is our smartphone. It keeps us connected, informed, entertained and organised, but it can also leave us feeling distracted, frustrated and overloaded.
Teachers and smartphones
Smartphone stress is especially relevant for teachers. The school day is demanding enough by itself, but smartphones have blurred the precious boundary between work and personal time. Messages, emails, planning apps and social media can make it harder to switch off and give your brain the break it needs. And, over time, that constant connection can contribute to stress rather than reduce it, whether you’re aware of it or not.
Self-regulation
We aren’t proposing a ban on phones for Stress Awareness Month, don’t worry! But what we can do is make the effort to use them more intentionally. Small changes can make a big difference – which you’ll hopefully see at the end of the month!
Turn notifications OFF
A good place to start is by turning off non-essential notifications. Every alert pulls your attention away from what you’re doing in the present moment, such as interrupting conversations with your partners and children. They create a sense of urgency, even when, in reality, nothing is actually urgent. By turning off notifications and checking them periodically, it becomes easier to focus on those all-important conversations, as well as feel more in control.
Commit to phone-free moments
Another useful habit is to create phone-free moments in the day. This might mean leaving your phone out of reach at meal times or putting it aside for an hour before bedtime. Evening screen use can affect our sleep, which then sometimes increases stresses the next day. Is it worth it? You decide!
Conscious check-in times
It can also help to set clear check-in times for messages and emails. If you can resist responding the moment something arrives and instead choose specific times to look at work-related communication, you’ll feel less hassled. For teachers, this is extra important , as it can protect personal time and reduce the feeling that work is always there.
Focus on intention
Finally, try this. When you pick up your phone, ask yourself why you’re doing it.
If you’re specifically looking for information or entertainment, fair play. But if there’s no immediate purpose and you’ve picked the thing up out of habit, check yourself and put it down! That’s when time-wasting doomscrolling begins and precious hours of your evening just get lost. If you can find a substitute activity instead of handling your phone at these times, that can help establish a new ritual.
Be stress aware
Stress Awareness Month is a great time to remember that we do have some degree of control over our wellbeing where device use is concerned.
By using smartphones more deliberately, we – especially as teachers – can hopefully be successful in creating more space to rest, de-stress and reclaim the time as our own, so we are better equipped to help our students do the same.
References
- Stress Awareness Month. Available at: https://www.thereisadayforthat.com/holidays/united-kingdom/stress-awareness-month (Accessed 01 April 2026).
