By using technology, it will be really easy for people to contact us, regardless of our position. We can now contact everyone from all locations, using any kind of connected device. Technology is often see as trigger of stress and anxiety. However, there are different ways for technology to reduce our stress as well. This is an important fact, because we need to make sure that technology can really give us comfort in our lives. As an example, smartphones are among the most influential advancements in recent decades. With those small devices in our pocket, we don’t only make calls and send text messages, but we can also literally do thousands types of tasks, by downloading apps for Android and iOS devices. Smart mobile devices are so versatile that can really be distractive. They can invade both our work and personal time. If we become less productive and less relaxed, stress can start to emerge. We are often compelled to pick up calls and check messages, because we think that it could be a matter of urgency. Stress may also emerge when bosses also call their employees during their personal time.
Not everyone can maintain a degree of consistency by not choosing those calls. In this case, you can use voicemails to reduce stress. As an example, someone may attempt to have casual talk with you when you have important work tasks. It means that you can respond to voicemail and return these calls at appropriate times. It is better to switch your smartphone into Airplane Mode. All voice calls will be rejected and text messages will be deferred, until you are connected with the network again. Switching off the smartphone may not be a good idea, because turning it on again will take time. Smartphones in Airplane Mode are efficient and doesn’t require much power. If you want to save power further, you can also close all apps, so little will run on the background. You can reconnect the phone every 90 minutes during your short breaks to check whether there are emergencies. In the time of emergency, people will still be able to connect you through other means. In the end, by disconnecting yourself during working and relaxation hours, you will be less affected by stress.
Another way to reduce stress with technology is by properly managing the social media and instant messaging. This cause that the use of smartphones are banned in the workplace. Both could cause us to get distracted and our productivity will be reduced significantly. In many cases, you need to do something that is very important and we can’t afford dealing with social media. When we have an active social media and instant messaging presence, we could get more than a few updates in each second. If we want to get less distressed, we should be able to cut down on the social media activity at specific time. Many people could actually spark conflicts in social media and instant messaging. This could cause us to become distressed. During an online conflict or heated debate with someone, we will be very eager to respond to each if his/her reply. This can cause us to become very distracted. We will feel much easier if we are able to finish all of our tasks sooner. We will feel relaxed when all of our tasks for the day have been completed.