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Technology is contributing to stress – time to learn how to switch off

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People don’t know how and when to switch off anymore, when we need to put away our digital appliances.
People don’t know how and when to switch off anymore, when we need to put away our digital appliances.

Are you addicted to your computer or your smartphone. You may just be suffering from the pandemic of imbalance.

This is the name coined by Professor Johann Coetzee, industrial and consulting psychologist, for the burnout suffered by employees and top managers in the business world, which is being worsened by the digital era we live in.

A clear indication that all is not well, is the panic he sees when he asks managers when last their lives were up to date.

This makes them realise they’re “still not done” because there are always more emails or more figures which need attention.

“Everyone takes their computers or tablets home to catch up and so we’re increasingly becoming a society of people who stare at monitors.”

Coetzee, author of the books It’s About Time and Take your Time, has counselled more than 27 000 managers and inspired them to stay positive.

These days he’s also giving part-time classes at USB – management development.

Arianna Huffington, former executive editor of the news website Huffington Post, recently said at the Discovery Leadership Summit in Sandton that the digital revolution was worsening burnout.

“We don’t know how and when to switch off anymore, when we need to put our digital appliances away. We take better care of our smartphones than we do of ourselves.”

Adrian Gore, chief executive of Discovery, said the worldwide pandemic of stress and burnout is responsible for 75% of healthcare costs.

According to Huffington, the world suffers from a “collective delusion” that to achieve success you have to burn yourself out.

The idea has taken hold because some business leaders boast about how little they sleep, despite the fact that they show typical symptoms of sleep deprivation like instability and incoherence, she said.

She has since started a wellness programme which will focus on people recharging their batteries.

According to Coetzee the digital era has contributed to a pandemic of curiosity, and old and young are addicted to information.

“How many times have you seen people – even in church or during a concert – grabbing their phones to see who has been looking for them?

"The time that we are supposed to rest, to spend with loved ones or build meaningful relationships, all suffer as a result.

"The structure of the modern family has collapsed and the household’s rhythm has been disturbed because people almost always have their noses in their screens,” he said.

Another problem is the mobility of your workplace as a result of everything being on your tablet, creating anxiety when people are not at work.

The extent of internet addiction among young children has been widely reported on.

In South Korea, laws were even implemented a few years ago to prevent children younger than 16 from paying online video games between midnight and 6am.

Reuters has previously published government data that nearly one out of every 10 South Korean children between the ages of 10 and 19 are addicted to the internet.

Dr Lee Jae-Won, a neuropsychiatrist in Seoul, said in an interview that online video games are responsible for 90% of addiction cases in South Korea, www.businessinsider.com previously reported.

However, Coetzee said this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy your child a tablet.

“Buy the best, because this is the contemporary equipment which is needed in today’s society.”

But discipline in relation to the responsible use of technology begins at home.

He said nobody in the world had the cure for it and people only do something about it when it is too late, when the damage has already been done to their health, families or loved ones.

He believes in educating people about compromises. Be prepares to sacrifice the top position in the company, rather than forfeiting the responsibility and also the joy of being the best spouse, best father or best friend.

And be conscious about working less.

According to Huffington successful leaders and the world’s leading companies recognises that employees need rest and have to undergo a “digital detox”.

Aside from proper eating habits and exercise, sleeps is a highly underestimated commodity. Sleep is when your mind gets rid of impurities that built up during the day, and when it recharges itself for the next day.

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