How much of our daily lives revolve around using technology? In my opinion– too much. I’ve begun to notice that even for completely mundane tasks, such as asking you co-worker across the office a question or submitting a paper for school, people have reverted to using technology as opposed to the human approach. Technology in general is designed to make our lives more efficient, but it comes at the cost of more of a disconnect between people and “technostress”.
Kathrine Walz from Johnson and Wales University wrote an article titled “Stress Related Issues Due to Too Much Technology: Effects on Working Profession”(1) where she addresses the issue of “technostress”. In her study, interviewees were asked about the levels of stress they experience due to workplace technology. Data collected from 52 surveys showed that all 52 people own cell phones, pagers, BlackBerrys, laptops, etc. and that 38% of them always experience anxiety when they are separated from their devices while 37% only experience separation anxiety some of the time. Walz goes on to describe the issues that people have, such as excessive scratching or over eating, and how they link back to the levels of stress and anxiety we experience due to technology.
Her data could not be more accurate in my opinion. I have experienced and witnessed technology related stress on many levels. As a student, my life revolves around all the work I do for my classes on my laptop. I would almost be confident in saying that you could not attend university in this day and age if you did not own a computer. For me, “technostress” is experienced when I actually go to hand something in because there is no human confirmation that my teacher has received my assignment. In my brief experience working in an office, I noticed that people who needed to get into contact with me would email me rather than walking down the hall to where my desk was located or even phoning me. This was a source of stress for me because I had to always be up to date on my emails or I might miss something. On another level, I have witnessed teenage girls cry and become inconsolable at the loss of their phone. I found Walz’s article interesting because she mentioned the connection between stress from technology and excessive scratching. I am guilty of excessive scratching at times when I become too stressed about events in my life. Her article has made me realize that even though stress from technology does not affect me on a level that I notice every day, it does contribute to the overall level of stress I feel. If I could cut out all the unnecessary ways I use technology every day and revert back to an in-person approach, my overall stress level would decrease.
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(1) http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=mba_student