Why You Should Never Look At Your Phone When You're On The Toilet

Take your phone to the bathroom? You're not alone. While reading in the bathroom has always been a favorite pastime, a survey conducted by BankMyCell revealed that three out of four Americans bring their phone with them to the bathroom.

If everyone does it, it can't be all bad, right? Wrong. Turns out, there are some pretty compelling reasons not to bring your phone into the bathroom with you. The first one is — you guessed it — germs. Cell phones are extremely high-touch objects, yet they don't get sanitized nearly as often as toilet seats. In fact, according to PCMag, only one in seven Americans clean their phones often. So when you bring your phone into the bathroom, you expose it to the same germs as your toilet (including E. coli, staph and strep) but only sanitize it a fraction of the time. Those same devices often end up in our kitchens, pressed against our faces, or even in our mouths (via TechRepublic).

Taking our phones to the bathroom also encourages us to spend additional time in the bathroom, which isn't always a good thing. Sitting on the toilet for extended amounts of time actually places additional strain on the rectum, which can lead to hemorrhoids and bleeding (via Healthline).

Since our phones are connected to email, work, and social media, taking your phone to the bathroom could encourage you to stay connected during what should be biological downtime. Allowing your brain to take a break while you take a... trip to the bathroom allows deeper, more creative activity (via Thrillist). It also allows your eyes to take a much-needed break from the screen, reducing the chance of potential eye strain effects like those cautioned by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

So the next time you're tempted to bring your phone with you to the bathroom, consider skipping it — or at least, if you do, make sure to disinfect it before your next call.