Reducing the time we spend on our smartphones outside of work could help improve satisfaction and motivation in the workplace, according to a new study. Spending less time on our phones doing non-work tasks like scrolling social media or watching videos could also have an impact on our mental health, researchers said. A research team from Germany wanted to find out about easy ways companies could improve the motivation and well-being of their employees. Almost 280 volunteers were put into four groups. For one week, people in the first group reduced their daily smartphone use by one hour. People in the second group didn't change their smartphone use, but did 30 minutes more exercise per day. Participants in the third group did both of these things. And the fourth group didn't make any changes at all. The volunteers took surveys about their work satisfaction, motivation and mental health before starting the experiment. They took the surveys again after the experiment ended, and then again two weeks later. The researchers found that participants in both of the groups that reduced their smartphone use saw significant improvements in their mental health and workplace satisfaction. People in these groups also felt that their work-life balance was better. And those in the first three groups — including the exercise-only group — all said they felt a greater sense of control over their lives. The researchers said companies could think about encouraging employees to make small changes like these to their daily lives. When employees are happier at work, they're likely to be more productive, they added. And the good thing for companies is that there's no cost to encouraging changes like these!