How to Stop Scrolling While Studying

The short version: To stop scrolling while studying, put the phone in another room before you open your notes, and study in short timed blocks with a planned break at the end of each one. Turn notifications off for the session, and block your feed apps during your usual study hours with a schedule (Screen Time Schedule on iPhone with iOS 27, Downtime on iOS 26 and earlier, Focus mode on Android). Research suggests that notifications break concentration even when you ignore them, and some studies find that a phone simply sitting on the desk takes a little of your attention. Distance is the most reliable fix.

The highlighter is uncapped. The textbook is open at the right chapter. You are going to start at 7:00. At 7:02 you check one message, and at 7:48 you are watching a stranger rank every cereal in a supermarket, and the highlighter has dried out.

We have all been there, including the people who built Unglue. One of us once spent most of an evening "researching study techniques" on video apps, and studied nothing. So this is a guide from people who know exactly how good a feed looks when the alternative is a chapter on organic chemistry.

Why studying makes the phone so tempting

Studying is hard in a quiet way. Reading a dense page or working through a problem set gives you nothing back for a long time. A feed gives you something new every second. When your brain hits a hard paragraph, the phone offers an easy way out.

The first few minutes are the worst. Getting started is often harder than keeping going. A quick check before you begin is one of the most common ways a study session disappears.

Your phone is also your study tool. Group chats about the assignment, the class portal, the calculator, the flashcard app. Every legitimate reason to pick up the phone sits one swipe away from an endless feed.

You are tired. Many students study in the evening, after a full day, when it is hardest to resist the easy option. Our guide on why you can't stop scrolling explains how unpredictable rewards and a feed with no last page pull hardest on a tired brain.

That says more about the setup on most desks than about you: the phone is the easiest thing in the room to pick up.

What the research says about phones and studying

Notifications pull your attention even when you ignore them. In a 2015 study at Florida State University, Cary Stothart and colleagues gave students a task that needed steady attention. Some of them received calls or texts during the task and did not answer. They still made more mistakes, and the drop was similar in size to what other studies have found in people who actually used their phones. The researchers think a buzz sets off a chain of thoughts about who it was and what they wanted.

A phone in the room may take some of your focus. In 2017, Adrian Ward and colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin asked nearly 800 people to take tests of attention and memory with their phones on the desk, in a pocket or bag, or in another room. The people whose phones were in another room did best, even though nobody used their phone during the tests, and it did not matter whether the phone was face down or switched off.

That finding has been debated since. A replication by Ruiz Pardo and Minda at Western University found no difference between the phone locations. A 2024 review by Douglas Parry in Media Psychology pooled the research and found a small effect on working memory only, smaller than first claimed. A 2023 review by Böttger, Poschik and Zierer in Behavioral Sciences also found a small negative effect, mainly on memory. So the honest summary is that the phone sitting nearby probably costs a little, and the phone that buzzes costs more. Moving it to another room deals with both, and it costs you nothing.

Devices in class showed up on the exam. At Rutgers University, Arnold Glass and Mengxue Kang followed 118 students through a psychology course in which devices were allowed in some lectures and banned in others. Students understood the lectures equally well in the moment, but scored lower on the exam questions from lectures where devices were allowed. That included students who did not use a device themselves, which suggests other people's screens distracted them too.

These studies looked at lab tasks and lectures, not a student alone at a kitchen table. They point the same way, though: the less the phone can reach you, the more of your attention stays on the work.

How to stop scrolling while studying

1. Put the phone in another room

This is the step that matters most. When the phone is charging in the kitchen, checking it means getting up and walking away from your desk. That small effort is often enough.

  • Give the phone a study-time home outside the room where you work.
  • If you need to be reachable, turn the ringer on for calls from a few people. You will hear it if something is urgent.
  • If you study in a library, leave the phone in your bag, zipped, under the desk, or in a locker.

2. Move the useful parts off the phone

The more your studying depends on the phone, the more often you will pick it up. Use a basic calculator, a paper planner or a timer on the desk. Print the reading list. Do flashcards on a laptop or on paper. Save the group chat for the end of a block.

3. Study in timed blocks with planned breaks

Long, open-ended study sessions invite scrolling, because there is no clear point to stop. Short blocks give you one.

  • Pick a block length you can manage, such as 25 minutes of work and a 5 minute break. This pattern is often called the Pomodoro Technique. If 25 minutes feels like too much right now, start with 15.
  • Write down what the block is for before you start: "finish questions 4 to 9" beats "do maths."
  • Make the break something away from a screen. Fill your water bottle, stretch, look out of a window. A five minute scroll has a way of turning into thirty.

4. Turn notifications off for the session

Given what the Florida State study found, a phone that stays silent is worth more than willpower. On iPhone and Android you can use a Focus or Do Not Disturb mode that lets through only a few people during your study hours. Turn off notification badges for social apps too, so a red dot is not waiting for you at the break.

5. Block your feed apps during study hours

If the same apps always win, close them for the hours you study, so the decision is already made when you sit down.

iPhone with iOS 27. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Screen Time Schedule, turn on Schedule, then tap Add Schedule and choose the days. Add your study hours and leave out the Time Allowance categories you want closed, such as Social Media and Games. Apps and contacts in Always Allowed stay available. Apple explains the steps in its Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances guide.

iPhone with iOS 26 and earlier. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Downtime, tap Scheduled and set your study hours, as described in Apple's iOS 26 guide. You can cap a single app with App Limits in the same menu.

Android. In Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Focus mode, choose the apps to pause and tap Set a schedule, as Google's Digital Wellbeing help page explains.

Our guides to blocking apps for certain hours and limiting time on specific apps go through each option in more detail.

Built-in limits have one weak spot: the person who set them can switch them off in a few taps, usually at the hardest paragraph of the night. That is why we built Unglue. It keeps the apps you choose blocked until you earn minutes with something in real life, like a short walk, a glass of water or a finished study block, and it can block on a schedule so your study hours are covered without a decision. On iPhone it uses Apple's Screen Time framework. If you know you will talk yourself out of any rule, Selection Lock with a Buddy Code lets a friend or study partner hold the key: you can add apps to the blocked list freely, and removing them needs their code. Yes, it is an app to help you use apps less. We are aware.

6. Study next to someone

Working beside another person who is also working makes it easier to keep going. A study group in the library, a friend at the same table, or a video call where you both keep your cameras on and your microphones off. Agree on the rule together: phones in bags until the break.

7. Notice when the urge comes

For a few sessions, every time you reach for the phone, make a small mark on a piece of paper and note what you were doing. Most people find a pattern. It is often the start of a session or the moment a problem gets hard. Once you know your moment, you can plan for it: start with the easiest task, or write down the question that stumped you before taking a break.

When it feels like more than a phone habit

If you cannot get started on anything, not just studying, or if studying makes you feel anxious, low or overwhelmed most days, the phone may be where the feeling goes rather than the cause of it. Talking to someone you trust, your school's counselling or student support service, or a doctor can help. Our guide on ADHD and doomscrolling may also be useful if focus has always been a struggle for you.

For the rest of the day, our guide on how to reduce screen time as an adult has a longer plan.

Common questions

How do I stop going on my phone while studying?

Put the phone in another room before you start and study in short timed blocks, checking the phone only in planned breaks. Turning notifications off and scheduling your feed apps to close during study hours removes most of the remaining temptation.

Does having your phone nearby affect studying?

It can. Notifications break concentration even when you do not answer them, as a Florida State University study found. Whether a silent phone on the desk matters is less clear: a 2017 University of Texas study found people did better with the phone in another room, and later reviews found a smaller effect, mainly on working memory.

Is it okay to use my phone during study breaks?

You can, but short breaks have a way of stretching once a feed is open. A break away from screens, like getting a drink or stretching, is easier to end on time. If you do use the phone, set a timer for the break first.

How long should I study before taking a break?

Many students use 25 minutes of work followed by a 5 minute break, often called the Pomodoro Technique. There is no single right length. Pick a block you can finish, and make it longer as the habit gets easier.

What apps help you stop scrolling while studying?

The tools built into your phone are a good start: Screen Time Schedule or Downtime on iPhone, and Focus mode on Android. Apps like Unglue add blocking that is harder to switch off on impulse, with the option of a friend holding the code.

Why do I procrastinate on my phone instead of studying?

Studying gives you little back at first, and a feed rewards you instantly. Starting is often the hardest part, so a quick check before you begin is a very common way to lose an evening. Making the phone harder to reach at that moment helps more than trying harder.

Sources

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