Technology overload: 8 ways to avoid this state

With the products technology is constantly churning out from new gadgets to social media bants, it's easy to get overwhelmed.

No doubt the gains of technological advancements cannot be ruled out, they help our lives become a lot easier.

But it’s a two-edged sword in this sense that it can as well easily overwhelm the user. Trying to stay on top of the latest trend via emails, social media, blogs, videos and so much more can get daunting fast.

Research reveals that constant access to technology diminishes our attention spans, impairs our ability to learn, and requires distracting and continuous task switching.

 

Kittie Watson, former Chair of Tulane University’s Communication Department and Founder of Innolect explained that “our dual-sided positive and negative response to technology comes from our biology; more specifically, from high dopamine levels.

Because we get a spike in dopamine when we receive a text or check our devices, we have become addicted to doing so.

“There’s something about checking our devices that ties us and makes us want to participate in some way. We want more and more…if dopamine is a pleasure signal for us, then we are letting technology dictate what we do and how we do it.” Kittie explained further.

Here are some practical steps you can follow so as not to experience an ‘’information overload’’.

Intentionally log off

You can set break intervals to step away from your desk, turn off or silent phones and keep in your pocket when having lunch with colleagues, spending time with friends and family. When off on vacation if you can, leave your workstation (laptop) at home if you won’t have to be working remotely.  

Turn off needless notifications

You can turn off all push notifications from social networks and websites that you may have otherwise subscribed to earlier. If it’s not necessarily tied to your means of livelihood, then it’s probably not worth getting your attention at every turn of the hour or so. This singular act could make a lot of difference in getting some peace of mind.

Delete worthless apps

If there is any app that truly won’t add any value whatsoever to your life, and is instead already turning into some form of addiction, best delete it. You have to be brutally honest to yourself about this.

Moderation

Learn moderation in all things for even the holy books says so.  The important applications you do need and use in your daily tasks doesn’t have to control your entire time. Learn to work around them giving time breaks as appropriate and practicable.

Get a 'detox buddy'

You can go an extra mile by getting a close friend whom you can be accountable to. This can help you in your journey to freedom from technology excesses.

 

The art of scheduling

This applies to checking emails and posting on social media. With social media, there are tools you can use to automatically schedule content. For emails, you can set up a pre-determined reasonable interval break to check and respond to emails. If you can, avoid looking up emails out of your work environment.

Face-to-Face still kicks ass

Some colleagues still email one another even when sitting next to each other or in the same room. Well, that’s fine depending on the nature of the mail content.

But where it involves back and forth messages, which could involve talking to a group, face-to-face communication would be a welcome break away from the desk. But if all participants are not readily on ground, a video conference setup may be the next best option.

Don’t be a victim of ‘feature fatigue’

When making the decision to purchase a smartphone, don’t let the wave of new features sway you, get down to the nitty-gritty of what these features really offer and weigh their benefits against the cost to see if it’s going to simplify or make life more complicated for you.

Which other ways do you think the demands of technology can be checked to ensure man’s peace and wellbeing?

Share with us.

ALSO READ: 3 ways technology is destroying relationships

SOURCE - PULSE.NG posted by Campus94