Dec. 24, 2025 — Look around at your next holiday gathering: How many people are on their phones?
Maybe it’s your niece. Maybe it’s your brother-in-law. Maybe it’s you.
Or it could be all three. An estimated 37% of people worldwide have problematic smartphone use, meaning their phone habits interfere with their personal, professional, or school life.
A new analysis suggests mindfulness — the practice of intentionally focusing on the present moment in your body and your surroundings — may help people disengage from their phones, and that the relationship works both ways. The less mindful we are, the more we tend to scroll; the more present we become, the easier it is to put the phone down.
“Holiday time is an opportunity for connecting with family and friends, but for many people smartphones are a tool to manage difficult feelings,” said Susan Holtzman, PhD, lead author of the study published in September in the journal Mindfulness.
From that perspective, phone use at a party may be less about disinterest and more about coping. Problematic smartphone use is often linked to underlying issues such as anxiety, and keeping that in mind “can help us respond in a more compassionate way to those family members that may seem disengaged or uninterested,” said Holtzman, an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Canada.
For those who struggle to ignore a ding or buzz — especially during the holidays — mindfulness exercises can help make it easier to put the phone down and fully engage with the people around you.
First things first: How do you know if your phone use has crossed a line? Common signs include frequent conflict over screen time or repeated reminders from others to put your phone down.
- Try this: Unsure or curious about someone else’s habits? Holtzman recommends starting with the Healthy Screens quiz, developed by University of Toronto researcher Jay Olson, PhD.
Ride the wave and learn how to “urge surf.” Just like ocean surfing, this is a practice-makes-perfect approach. “The word ‘surfing’ is used because cravings or urges to engage in a behavior — like checking your phone — are similar to emotions in that they are like a wave. They can build and build, but they do reach a peak,” Holtzman said.
- Try this: Notice your urge to check your phone. Don’t judge it. Don’t feel like you have to act on that urge. “Remember, we can have all sorts of thoughts and not act on them,” she said. You let the urge pass. With practice, letting the urge pass becomes easier — just like surfing.
Holiday eating mindfulness exercise. In a separate study on mindfulness and phone use, participants were given a dried cranberry and asked to close their eyes, take a deep breath, and focus on how it felt, smelled, looked, and even where it came from. They then mindfully tasted it for 10 seconds before slowly chewing and swallowing. Brain imaging later showed that this mindfulness exercise boosted cognitive control in the participants, even when smartphone notifications appeared, compared with a control group.
- Try this: At your holiday buffet, pick your own snack and practice the same mindfulness exercise. You may find it easier to keep your phone in your pocket for the rest of the festivities.
What to do if someone at your holiday party is stuck in their phone. Don’t complain to other guests about their phone use, Holtzman advises. Instead, consider that the person may be struggling — whether in the moment (feeling uncomfortable at the party) or in a larger context (such as depression or anxiety). “Go up to the person and engage with them,” she suggested.
- Try this: Start with small talk, like, “Seen anything good on Netflix lately?” Some people are sensitive to criticism about their smartphone habits, so another approach is to be curious: You might say you’ve been looking for a new game on your own phone and wonder if they have any suggestions.
Phone mindfulness tips to help kids and teens. Kids and teens are often used to being told to get off their phones, Holtzman noted. One key tip is to model healthy phone behavior yourself, which also gives extra incentive to practice urge surfing or mindful eating.
- Try this: Offer fun screen alternatives, like decorating cookies, playing a board game, or making slime. “Rather than saying ‘don’t do that,’ instead try saying ‘How about this?’” Holtzman suggested. And ditch the guilt — it’s perfectly fine to let kids watch a show or use a tablet to help facilitate an uninterrupted visit with out-of-town guests, she added.
