Should Gen Z reduce smartphone use to achieve their New Year’s resolutions?

Are you planning to cut time spent on screens, social media, and/or your smartphone in 2024? You’re not alone. Research on New Year’s resolutions among the Dutch showed that especially Gen Z’ers (63%) mentioned aiming for less crowded agendas, more social contact, and less time on their screens in 2024.

Remarkably, the youth especially seem to wish for the things in life that were common in our pre-smartphone era, before they were born. We analyzed how the excessive smartphone usage of Generation Z might stand in their way of achieving their resolutions.

Resolution 1: A less crowded agenda.
Tech improvements have reduced the time it takes to clean, to get from A to B, to arrange something, and this list goes on, freeing up lots of time. However, it hasn’t led people to feel they have more time. On the contrary, our smartphones allow us to feel always-on; 24/7, we can arrange something, order groceries, contact someone, or reply to an email. This makes many feel busier than before, even though we don’t actually have more things to do.

Read along on our short blog post to get a grasp of how excessive smartphone use might hinder New Year’s resolutions.