Carol Vorderman claims an unusual phone habit has helped her avoid burnout – now science says she’s right [Video]

08:44 EDT 19 Oct 2024, updated 09:24 EDT 19 Oct 2024

If you’re struggling with the demands of a modern digital lifestyle, the solution may have just arrived from an unlikely source.

TV presenter Carol Vorderman, 63, has revealed that she turns her smartphone off for 12 hours a day to help her avoid ‘burnout’ following a health scare. 

Turning the device off helps her mind disconnect from professional commitments, because she ‘can’t work seven days a week anymore’. 

Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, she said: ‘I now switch my phone off for 12 hours a day. Like physically off. Tends to be over the night time hours.

‘But it’s quite a good thing, you know when you just have it by the bed and you just reach out. I’ll just have a little look… Ahh, two hours later.’ 

So, does this ‘half-and-half’ method – 12 hours on and 12 hours off per day – really improve wellbeing?

As …