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We are living in a time of rapid progress in the world of technology. We have learned to love and appreciate technology, but we have also learned to crave it incessantly when we go without it. The negative of effects of technology is commonly known as technostress. A textbook definition of technostress—from dictionary.com, actually—is, “a feeling of anxiety or mental pressure from overexposure or involvement with (computer) technology.”
To help you better grasp the concept of technostress, think of technology as coffee. You drink it because it allows you to remain efficient and productive throughout the day, but drinking too much will incur some serious consequences. The serious consequences of the overuse of technology is technostress.
What is surprising is that though studies on technostress have been going on for over 20 years, not many people seem to be fully aware of it’s existence. At first glance, technostress may sound like a ridiculous myth, but it is most certainly a very serious reality for many, possibly including yourself. This article will address the causes, symptoms, and preventative methods of technostress.
A simple and straight forward answer to this question is the overuse of technology causes technostress. We see this develop from our interaction with technology both in the workplace and in our own personal lives.
There are numerous causes of technostress in the workplace, some of which are a quick pace of technological change, lack of proper training, and an increased workload. The moment we arrive at work and sign on, there seems to be a ridiculous inflow of messages that are labeled as “important,” and need to be answered immediately. We have 8 voicemails on our office line, 23 e-mails, and 17 text messages from different avenues of our life that all have to be handled. According to Allegra Learning, the average American sees, hears, or reads 34 GB of information every day. This is equivalent to 100,000 words and this number grows every single year. Naturally, this results in people feeling overwhelmed by everything and a strong sense that they need to remain connected at all times so as not to miss out on anything and to get back to everyone about everything in a reasonable amount of time.
We carry this with us into our personal lives. At home, we no longer enjoy time to ourselves doing things that involve little to no technology at all. We now continue the office work and do “just one more” project simply because we have the tools that will allow us to do so. We operate in a mindset which believes that because, in theory, we can accomplish it all, we do. But this results in us getting burned out.
Furthermore, technostress comes from us subconsciously or consciously being intimidated by technology. We being to feel that we are not nearly as intelligent as the newest and biggest improvements to the machine world, and thus second guess ourselves. We fear that technology we being to replace us and that we will be deemed useless. This intimidation and fear is huge driving force that creates technostress within us.
According to Wikipedia, there are also five classifications of technostress creators: techno-complexity, techno-insecurity techno-invasion, techno-overload, and techno-uncertainty. Techno-complexity is when complex computer systems at work force people to spend time and effort to learn how to use new applications and develop new skills. Techno-insecurity is the fear of losing one’s jobs to people who have a better understanding of technology. Techno-invasion is when someone can be reached anywhere and at anytime and always feels the need to be connected. Techno-overload is the use of computers forcing people to work more and faster. Finally, techno-uncertainty comes from the short life cycles of computer systems. The constant upgrades do not allow people to get used to the latest software and stress people out because they constantly have to learn new things and accumulate new skills.
According to the American Bar Association, signs you may be living with technostress are: spending more time doing sedentary work, an increase in multitasking, feeling anxiety when an e-mail or voicemail has not been checked in 12 hours, having a hard time knowing when Internet research is sufficient and complete, aways feeling you have more tasks to complete despite how much work you have done, and feeling information overload/fatigue, which is when more information than can be read and digested in a lifetime seeming to come at you through technology every day.
Symptoms include anxiety, loss of temper, irritability, frustration, poor job performance, and an inability to get a restful night’s sleep because the technological stimulation keeps our brains working in overtime. Furthermore, Wikipedia identifies four key categories of technostress’s symptoms and examples of them:
Physical – eye strain, back aches, headaches, neck pain, chest pain, difficulty breathing
Emotional – irritability, feelings of indifference, depression, guilt, paranoia, negative attitudes
Behavioral – insomnia, uncooperativeness, overspending on computers, alcohol consumption
Psychological – information overload, insecurity of job role, professional jealousy
If left unattended, techno stress can cause memory loss, diminished concentration, decreased productivity, stomach discomfort, and decreased job satisfaction. Technostress also effects our family lives. In the words of Allegra Learning, “How often is ‘family time’ simply multiple members in the same room, with parents chatting on the phone with friends or catching up on e-mails from the office, and the children texting or playing video games?” Simply sitting in the same room is the only requirement for family time. We are no longer developing interpersonal relationships with one another because we are too busy staring at our screens.
There are multiple ways to fight technostress in both the workplace and our personal lives.
Within the workplace, employers should have periodic assessments to see how employees are doing, train employees to be able to use all technology, utilize user friendly software, maintain training of new and old technologies. Managers should also hire IT specialists that will be responsive and easy to reach, conduct stress management activities, and encourage a working environment in which coworkers share their technological knowledge with one another.
On a personal level, you can combat technostress by avoiding technology, communicating your knowledge and need for help in regard to technology, and experiment and innovate with computer use. Even further on the personal level, you can practice deep breathing, yoga, and tai chi, exercise, listen to music, take frequent breaks, maintain a sense of humor, stay calm, maintain a healthy and proper diet, and understand technostress is natural. Exercise is extremely important because it allows you to clear your mind and bring back the concentration you need to get your work done.
You can also seek counseling, provided yourself with personal pep talks, counter your negative thoughts with positive ones, and one of the most important, give yourself technology time outs. Whether it be a full on long term vacation or a dinner outing, get into the habit of leaving behind all of your technological devices. Give yourself a break.
Make sure that before you combat technostress, you identify where and how the stress personally affects you because that is exactly what you want to be targeting. Be sure to decrease and fight urges to multitask. Not everything actually needs to be done and you certainly don’t have to do everything all at once. Remember to slow down because there is no need to rush, you will complete everything you are meant to complete. It is okay and natural to not be able to get to everything on your list, but it is important that each task is completed with you putting in your best effort. Finally, start back up on old hobbies of yours that don’t involve technology. Pick up that novel you never finished or start training so that you can finally run that marathon. Staying committed to your hobbies will help you change your perspectives on the pressure you feel at work.
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Technostress is, as Wikipedia defined it, “a negative psychological link between people and the introduction of new technologies.” It is a “result of altered habits of work and collaboration that are being brought about due to the use of modern information technologies at office or home situations,” causes people to “feel compelled to work faster because information flows faster,” which then results in people having “little time to spend on sustained thinking and creative analysis.”
It is easy to get lost in the world of technology without realizing the tolls it may be taking on your health. If, however, you have made the discovery that you may in fact be suffering from technostress, it is extremely encouraged that you do something about it starting now. There are few, if any, things more important than your health, and it is important you understand and act upon that.
