What technology item can’t you live without?
Addictions not only place unnecessary stress on our bodies, they also cause stress when we do not have access to the substance or object to which we are addicted.
Have you ever experienced anxiety when out of mobile phone contact with your friends, family or colleagues?
If so, you are not alone – you are showing signs of a growing worldwide stress syndrome. The fear of losing mobile contact has become so common that experts have created a new term to describe the state of anxiety it creates for millions of people around the world- ‘nomophobia’. This phobia is not just a fear of being out of mobile contact, it is also an addiction to your mobile phone.
The advent of email revolutionised our lives: we no longer had to wait days for important documents to arrive by post or send faxes. Many people are suffering from the growing problem of ’email stress’ as they struggle to cope with an unending tide of messages – we feel tired, frustrated and unproductive after constantly monitoring the electronic messages that keep interrupting us as we attempt to concentrate on our work.
People on a computer typically switch applications to view their emails as many as 30 or 40 times an hour, from anything from a few seconds to a minute.
Often we find ourselves under pressure to respond to emails more quickly to meet the expectations of the senders. This is where tech-stress can cause time stress.
Control email stress
A lot of people have their email inbox open all the time – not just when they are sat at their desk, on their phone also. This will inevitably cause constant distractions and breaks to your concentration and will also distract from more important work, takes you in all sorts of directions and causes a lot of totally unnecessary tech-stress.
Many people look at their email first thing before starting work or after being away from their desk for a while. Don’t. It’s more efficient and less distracting to do something first that requires your concentration. Otherwise you might feel that your attention is pulled in many different directions right when you’re at your most rested and effective.
Neil Shah, Chief De-stressing Officer, The Stress Management Society
