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Anyone who spends more than two hours a day on their phone will notice their brain change over time, and not in a good way. Unfortunately, one study found that the average American spends over five hours a day on their phone, so most of us are feeling the effects.

Even those who are the best at setting their devices aside to get things done have experienced that feeling that says you simply need to pick up your phone. It’s great at distracting us when we desperately need to focus on something else. Research shows that the desire to hop from one app to another is actually affecting your brain in a pretty deep way.

People who use their phone for over two hours a day are likely experiencing a phenomenon called ‘popcorn brain.’

The first person to use the term “popcorn brain” was University of Washington computer scientist David M. Levy, PhD. He defined that as “being so hooked on electronic multitasking that the slower-paced life offline holds no interest.”

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While Levy obviously had some deeper insight into this because of his profession, it can happen to anyone. The Mayo Clinic noted popcorn brain is a “mental state” that makes it impossible to concentrate. Instead of starting one task and seeing it through to the end, you switch from one thing to another.

It makes sense when you think about how phones work. If a notification pops up, most of us will feel like we have to address it immediately, even if we’re in the middle of doing something else. The Mayo Clinic likened it to Doug, the talking dog in “Up” who gets completely sidetracked every time he sees a squirrel.

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Contrary to popular belief, our brains aren’t equipped to handle this level of multitasking.

When I first learned about multitasking in elementary school, it was presented to me as a good thing. That probably had something to do with teachers wanting us students to get as much done as we possibly could.

Although being able to work on a few different things sounds great in theory, research has shown that multitasking is bad for us. It can lead to a decrease in productivity as well as more time lost. As the American Psychological Association said, “Mental overload can result in catastrophe.”

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An article published in the journal Cerebrum argued that multitasking isn’t even possible in the first place. Researchers said that our brains don’t have “the cognitive and neural building blocks and systems” necessary to do more than one task at a time.

Despite its apparent futility, technological advancements have made multitasking more popular than ever. About 29% of the time young people spend on digital media involves multitasking.

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Spending so much time on our phones, especially while multitasking, is ruining our attention spans.

Using digital devices like your phone has a tendency to make you feel like you’re actually getting more done, which makes sense. Now you can do research, see what your friends are up to, and learn a language without having to get up from the couch.

However, having access to more information isn’t necessarily a good thing. One study concluded that just having their phone nearby was enough to distract someone to the point that they didn’t perform as well on neuropsychological tests, even if they never looked at it.

We’ve all gotten used to tapping a screen a few times and seeing exactly what we want. It’s great that we have the technology to do that, but we can’t ignore the way it impacts our brains and destroys our concentration.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.