The first day I looked at my screen time, the number was not my first thought. My first thought was, is this what being hooked looks like? Chasing that question, I found that the official scales measure something much simpler than I expected. Here are their criteria, unpacked into ten questions.
Official surveys judge problematic phone use by three things: whether you can control it, whether it occupies your thoughts, and whether it causes real problems in your life. Answer yes to half or more of the ten questions below and you lean toward overdependence, and if the life-impact questions are among your yeses, it is worth talking to a professional. This list is for self-reflection. A formal assessment uses validated scales through health services and professionals.
Large national surveys of smartphone overdependence never sort people by hours. They look at three criteria. Control failure: not being able to stick to the amount you decided on. Salience: the phone rising to the top of your thoughts ahead of everything else. And problematic consequences: real trouble showing up in your health, your relationships, or your work. Five hours a day without those three is not overdependence, and two hours a day with all three clearly present leans toward it.
| Criterion | What it means | What it looks like day to day |
|---|---|---|
| Control failure | Cannot stick to the amount you set | Ten minutes becomes an hour, you go to turn it off and turn it back on |
| Salience | The phone sits at the center of thought and action | Free hands reach for it first, it tugs at you even when you are not looking |
| Problematic consequences | Real disruption to daily life | Short sleep, postponed work, friction with the people close to you |
The three criteria, unpacked into everyday language. Think about the past month and answer only yes or no. This is not a scored test. It is a list that shows which criterion you are touching.
My own first pass: all three control questions were yes, and number 7 from the impact list. That is when the practice of the 9 p.m. drawer began.
This list is not a validated scale, so there is no official cutoff to hand you. Read it this way instead. Yeses only in the control questions: it is a habit problem, and deciding a time and a place is often enough. Yeses reaching into the salience questions: the phone has taken up residence in your thoughts, and distance is what helps. Two or more yeses in the impact questions: better to talk it through with a professional than to carry it alone.
For a formal assessment, look for validated screening scales through health services in your country. Versions exist for adults, teens, and young children.
Sumbi doesn't measure your usage or hand out scores. You set a time, 10 minutes or an hour, and do one dive with the phone down. The screen can stay off, and your remaining breath shrinks only while another app is open. Losing control is often not a willpower problem. It's a no-set-time problem.
Try your first 10-minute dive →There is a reason official surveys reach for words like overdependence. Addiction is a clinical diagnosis, and smartphone use is not classified as one. The word also makes people shrink, and shrinking helps nothing. Overdependence means a matter of degree, and degree is something you can move.
Try to fix every yes at once and nothing changes. Pick the single one you run into most often. Mine was number 3, short-form before bed. I left everything else alone and held onto that one for a month.
A month later, read the ten questions again. You are not looking for a score. You are looking for which question flipped to no. Even one flip means the direction is right.
One line from a phone-down day. It took two months for question 7 to flip to no. That night I put the phone in the drawer after nine, and just slept.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If sleep or daily life stays disrupted, talk to a professional.
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