Technology can be a wonderful thing if applied properly, but it can also be a destructive force if you don’t manage your habits appropriately. This can be especially problematic at work, where tech addiction is becoming a serious issue, particularly now that Apple Music has the best music videos in its library. Fortunately, there are ways to be technologically healthy while on the job.
Being technologically healthy can mean a lot of different things, but the main points worth considering is the management of your tech and gadget use, and your outlook on technology, in general. It means using electronics in the right amount and having a healthy respect for what they represent.
Let’s start our discussion with smartphones. While it’s true that technology has changed everyone’s lives, no other gadget has made such a big impact on daily life than mobile devices. Smartphones have become particularly influential in modern society, where practically everyone has one. Even little children now have smartphones or tablets of their own, which speaks to the major role that mobile devices have taken on.
As a result of this rapid spread in adoption, there is also now a rise in an epidemic of smartphone addiction. This is basically where people are incapable of not using their devices numerous times a day to check for messages or enjoy various forms of entertainment media. Children have become particularly vulnerable to the trend.
In terms of work, it has become commonplace to see employee productivity dropping because of how rampant smartphone addiction has become. So now, the question is how people can overcome such debilitating conditions so that they can perform their best while on the job.
Apps
On their own, smartphones are not really the cause for addiction. Rather, it is the various apps and software that are installed in the devices. With this being the case, one of the most effective ways you can manage your addiction to technology is simply to avoid the main source of that addiction. In the case of smartphones, simply avoid installing apps that could have you addicted.
As to how you can even determine which apps are worth avoiding, a little research goes a long way. On that note it’s actually fairly easy to tell when an app can be addictive or not. If it’s super popular and you hear about it all the time, you would do well to avoid it. The same goes for social media apps such as Instagram or Facebook.
The safest apps to install are the boring ones that are intended to be functional rather than engaging. Apps meant to make you more productive can be particularly helpful in making you more effective at your job and they have a very low chance of making you addicted.
Time Management
If avoiding addictive apps is not an option for you for some reason, the next best thing that you can do in order to have a healthy relationship with your smartphone is time management. Just as you can’t work all the time and have fun all day long, you also shouldn’t be on your phone for an extended period of time.
You need to make sure that your use of your smartphone is only to the absolute necessary amount that is needed to accomplish the task you wanted to achieve. If you need to do some social media marketing, for example, you can use your device for a few minutes to post on your various platforms. Afterwards, you need to exit the app right away.
Don’t spend hours browsing the posts of your friends or watching YouTube videos. This is a sure way to make your relationship with technology less healthy than you would want it to be.
Appreciating Technology
Being appreciative of technology is not about being thankful that you can use the internet or that you have easy access to all of your contacts in various form. Rather, it’s about understanding what it is, what its role is, and what your relationship with technology should be. For the most part, technology is intended to make life more convenient, not more complicated.
As such, if you encounter technology that is causing more of a mess than it is cleaning up, you should avoid it at all costs. Not every piece of technology needs to be used and not every new gadget is worth your attention. Services that help you on your hobbies like Gaming Club are worth considering, but they are more the exception than the rule.
Avoiding Overreliance
Most companies and even countries, these days, have become reliant on technology. This has led to the problem of overreliance where leaders and businesses seem to believe that throwing every new form of tech at a problem will make it go away. Suffice it to say, this is just not how technology works.
It’s perfectly fine to depend on useful technology, but it shouldn’t do your job for you. At most, technology should only ever assist you so that you can accomplish tasks more easily. This can ensure that you will still know how to do the job at the end of the day and that you don’t become rusty, as a result of overreliance. Apps and services are replaced all the time, but the basics of any job remain the same.
Embracing Technology
Finally, forming a healthy relationship with technology means not fearing what its effects are going to be on the world. The march of progress has always been a source of anxiety for a lot of people, especially those who have more traditional dispositions. Unfortunately, this also led to a lot of workers losing their jobs.
By embracing technology, you basically prepare yourself for the inevitable sweeping changes that corporations would have to make in order to accommodate new means of making money. If you want to remain employed, you will need to keep up with the ever changing technological landscape. Learning new skills to make you more valuable is a good start.
