Jul 3, 2026 · 6 min · 6 segments
Practise your listening with this real conversation in easy English about phone habits – how we spend our time on our phones. Learn to talk about screen time, notifications and doomscrolling with Neil…
Today, we're talking about phones.
Now, Becca, how much time do you spend on your phone every day?
Yeah, I spend probably a lot of time [laughs] on my phone every day, and I'm not really happy about that, um, because I think it's a waste of time, but I do it like millions of other people.
Yes, this is true.
[laughs]
So they are also really handy, of course, for finding out information quickly, um, and you can do loads of things that used to be quite hard to do.
Yeah, one of those things that we can probably do better with phones is to connect with people and to have contact with people.
Because I don't like spending too much time on my phone, I turned off my notifications.
Now, notifications are the little messages that you get from apps when people or the app wants to tell you something.
Okay, so that's a good tip really, if you want to reduce your screen time, is to turn off your notifications.
Mm.
Yeah.
I also, uh, try not to doomscroll.
Today, we're talking about phones.
Now, Becca, how much time do you spend on your phone every day?
Yeah, I spend probably a lot of time [laughs] on my phone every day, and I'm not really happy about that, um, because I think it's a waste of time, but I do it like millions of other people.
Yes, this is true.
[laughs]
So they are also really handy, of course, for finding out information quickly, um, and you can do loads of things that used to be quite hard to do.
Yeah, one of those things that we can probably do better with phones is to connect with people and to have contact with people.
Because I don't like spending too much time on my phone, I turned off my notifications.
Now, notifications are the little messages that you get from apps when people or the app wants to tell you something.
Okay, so that's a good tip really, if you want to reduce your screen time, is to turn off your notifications.
Mm.
Yeah.
I also, uh, try not to doomscroll.
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3 of 3
Why Doomscrolling Hooks You
Ever wonder why scrolling feels endless?
Everyone’s Phone Addiction
Are we ignoring life for our screens?
Turn Off Notifications Tip
One simple tweak to curb phone overuse
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