Research Hit: Techno-Stress in the Workplace
New review shows the causes of techno-stress in the workplace
Aren’t we using technology seamlessly now?
Well, yes, we all use technology, but techno stress refers to others factors around technology such as being hyper-connected and not being able to shut down from the workplace and the negative impacts this has.
Ok, and how bad is this?
Well, according to this piece of research from the end of last year it’s not great. The study by Elizabeth Marsh et al. of the University of Nottingham was only small study but they conducted in-depth interviews with employees to find out the causes and themes of technology stress in the workplace.
What did they find?
Though many of these technologies bring positive aspects such as working remotely and ease of communication, there was a very real burden also. These can be grouped into five areas:
Hyperconnectivity: being constantly connected and answering work messages out of business hours (which is pretty normal now) but also at random times such as Sunday evening or pinging short message while at a social event with friends. This becomes self-perpetuating.
Techno-overwhelm: being constantly bombarded by content and messages from multiple channels. This creates overwhelm and attentional conflict while working but can also be at all times of day or night.
Digital workplace hassles: such as when you misplace a password, or a website is down, or a critical software crashes or freezes (or updates at the wrong time). This causes additional stress often at critical moments.
Fear of Missing Out: is also linked to number one and two, though many feel overwhelm, there is also the fear that when we disconnect that we may be missing critical information or that something important will fall through the cracks. This also perpetuates one and two.
Techno-strain: this refers to generalised health impairments of the above but also specific aspects of this such as strained neck and eyes from staring at screens all day, or working on screens that are too small - or only using the thumb to swipe content.
That’s a bunch and I can relate to all of them!
Indeed. This study didn't aim to quantify the severity of the impacts but rather get to grips with the themes. There has been plenty of research into individual impacts of technology but it is nice to see the overview.
It does also show that with every upside, there is a downside.
What can we do?
Well the old advice it still the best. I once ran a workshop for a company on effective email usage many years ago but my advice still holds true. It was basically, use each communication channel intentionally (and thoughtfully) for its correct purpose. In fact I did once write a book about it - maybe I need to review that for the modern world!
Classic time management advice, which still holds true, and is supported by research, is also single task - break down the day into chunks and engage consciously with technology.
Sometimes easier said than done, I know, but if you can single task more often you will feel less techno-stress. I guarantee. And just put your phone away or turn it off while engaging in concentrated work - like writing this article.
Good advice!
Reference
Elizabeth Marsh, Elvira Perez Vallejos, Alexa Spence.
Digital workplace technology intensity: qualitative insights on employee wellbeing impacts of digital workplace job demands.
Frontiers in Organizational Psychology, 2024; 2
DOI: 10.3389/forgp.2024.1392997