Modern life has given us a tool that can connect us instantly to news, loved ones, and even the Word of God—but it can also be a trap for our time, attention, and prayer life. A recent study highlights just how much time and distance we travel with our thumbs alone, and it’s a wake-up call for Christians who want to live more intentionally.
According to The New York Post, researchers found that “the average American [spends] 6 hours and 35 minutes a day on screens, adding up to 2,403 hours annually” and scrolls “an average of 86 miles per year.” The study warns that such habits have a steep cost—not only in productivity but in focus and presence. “Constant task-switching can slash productivity by as much as 40%,” the analysts said, adding that distraction “costs the global economy an estimated $8.8 trillion each year.”
The researchers, working for Toll Free Forwarding, calculated scrolling distance by converting daily screen time into seconds, estimating the number of scrolls, and then converting those into inches, feet, and miles per year. Their findings reveal that Arizona tops the nation at 115.37 scrolling miles annually, followed by Washington (108.18) and Kentucky (105.18). Even New York, with “an average daily screen time of 6 hours and 12 minutes” and 81.14 miles of scrolling per year, didn’t crack the top 10.
For Catholics, the implications go deeper than lost productivity. We are called to “redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:16) and to be present in prayer, family life, and acts of charity. Yet the Post notes that “people check their devices an average of 58 times a day, with over half of those interruptions happening during work hours,” and half of those checks occur within just three minutes of the last. That kind of digital habit can easily spill into our spiritual life—shortening prayer, distracting us during Mass, or replacing Scripture reading with endless scrolling.
Technology itself isn’t the enemy. In fact, Catholic ministries use phones and social media to share the Gospel with millions. But as Pope Francis has often reminded us, we must be “masters of our devices, not slaves to them.” The data from this report gives us a reason to pause and ask: Is my phone helping me grow closer to God—or pulling me further away?
Making small changes—like setting prayer reminders, turning off nonessential notifications, or choosing to read the daily Mass readings before checking social media—can help us reclaim those miles of scrolling and offer them back to Christ in the form of time well spent.
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