Your phone battery: Another thing you’re apparently doing wrong

Okay, gather ’round, because I’m about to give you yet another thing to feel mildly guilty about while you’re scrolling through Target’s app at 11 p.m.

You know how we all have one friend that keeps telling you leaving your phone plugged in overnight is “ruining it”? Well, plot twist: they’re… kind of right? I know. I’m as annoyed as you are.

Some very smart man named Chao-Yang Wang (who has a much fancier job title than “household chaos coordinator”) says that charging your phone to 100 percent all the time makes your battery age faster. Apparently, keeping your phone topped off at 100 percent is like keeping your stress levels at 100 percent—it causes chemical aging. Your battery degrades about 10-15 percent faster over its lifetime. So, it’s not catastrophic, but it’s noticeable.

Here’s the good news, though:

Your phone’s battery will probably outlast everything else on your phone anyway. You’ll need a new phone because your kid cracked the screen throwing it at their sibling or because the camera makes you look like a potato way before the battery gives up on you.

The “rules”:

·         Big day? Charge to 100 percent. Travel day? Important meeting? Soccer tournament where you need GPS to find Field 47B? Top that baby off.

·         Regular Tuesday at home? Maybe stop around 85-90 percent. Your battery will thank you, even if no one else in your house does.

·         Don’t let it hit 0 percent. Plug it in around 20 percent. Letting your phone die completely is apparently as bad for it as letting your kids survive on chicken nuggets alone. (We’ve all been there. No judgment.)

·         The sweet spot is 20-80 percent. Which is honestly more attention than I give to most things in my life, but sure, let’s add battery maintenance to the list.

So, there you have it. Charge your phone like you pour your wine: not quite to the top, but enough to get the job done.