How to outsmart your mind

Try these tactics to protect yourself – and the people around you.

• Make the decision to ignore your phone before you get on the road. Thanks to all those urges that prompt us to pick up our phones, Atchley says the only time we are equipped to make a smart decision about using them is before we start charging down the street. Try switching to airplane mode so you won’t be tempted to pick up when you hear a ping.

• Spend time without your devices. Odds are you sometimes pick up the phone because you’re bored or anxious, says Gazzaley, so it’s important to practise being comfortable when those feelings come up.

• Multi-task strategically. “Look at the task in front of you, decide whether it needs your undivided attention, and make a decision about how you’ll use your technology from there,” Gazzaley says.“We need to make these decisions to have control over how we interact with technology, because it will demand all from you – if you let it.”