How Mindfulness Can Beat Your 'Technostress'
We all know how it feels when your inbox pings with a new email but you're already very busy. It's one of the things psychologists say can make life stressful in a high-tech office.
"Technostress" is how scientists describe the anxiety people can feel in a modern office. The anxiety comes when workers find it hard to cope with high-tech change and the pressure it brings.
But researchers have found mindfulness can help stressed-out office workers feel less anxious.
Mindfulness focuses on being consciously aware of what's happening both inside and outside of ourselves, as it is happening, in the moment. While mindfulness can be learned and improved, we also do it naturally.
A team from the University of Nottingham asked British office staff how they felt while at work. The researchers focused on what they called the "dark side" of digital workplaces, including stress, anxiety and burnout.
They also asked the workers various questions to find out how naturally mindful they were, and how confident they were using digital technology.
And it was found that people who were naturally more mindful were less likely to experience burnout and other "dark side" digital effects.
Reporting some of the simple mindful actions they took to protect their well-being, participants noted things like "checking in" with their own mental and physical condition, taking breaks from technology, or even just taking a breath.
"Digital workplace technologies like email, instant messaging and mobile devices have been shown to contribute to perceptions of stress by employees," said Alexa Spence, one of the study authors. "Employees may experience stress when having to adapt to a constantly evolving digital workplace, which can lead to burnout and poorer health."
Those who were more confident with technology were also less likely to experience burnout and digital workplace anxiety.
As another of the study authors, Elizabeth Marsh, said: "We found that being mindfully and confidently digital should be considered important elements of living a healthy digital working life in the 21st century."
