Productivity
The rise of technology in the 21st century has been largely attributed to the vision of two individuals – Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai. While technology has had an undeniable impact on our lives in countless ways, its own success has become a source of worry for these tech giants due to productivity concerns. As technology becomes ever more integrated into our daily lives and digitalization accelerates, there are fears over the impact on our mental and physical health. Studies have shown that technology has had a negative impact on our productivity, so what can we do to address this?
The Evidence
Several studies have highlighted the perils of too much technology usage. Harvard Business Review reveals that 62% of professionals have suffered from “technostress”, with the biggest source of stress coming from the increasingly lengthy hours people spend at the screen on a daily basis. Additionally, research conducted by the BBC has seen company executives across Europe report that instead of increasing efficiency, technology has reduced the number of hours worked. There are many theories as to why this might be, but the impact of distractions on our productivity is something that we’re all going to need to consider as tech integrations become part of daily life.
Expert Insight
In interviewing tech executives and productivity experts, there’s a common consensus that it is possible to use technology in a way that will benefit productivity and mental health. Ben Lueders of The Productivity Pro states that in order to be successful, we need to learn how to embrace technology in a mindful way, acknowledging the downsides and establishing sensible limits for ourselves around technology. Charlotte Douglas of FuseHub echoes these sentiments, arguing that time spent online should be used actively – setting goals and targets, planning and prioritizing task, and tackling key challenges to accomplish more.
Analysis & Insights
The truth is that technology will play an increasingly important role in our productivity and efficiency, however there is a need for balance. Developing productivity Systems will be key to ensuring technology works in our favour, and tools such as Pomodoro, Trello and RescueTime can help to establish rules and boundaries around our technology use. Zuckerberg and Pichai understand the importance of productivity, and are both striving to make technology and productivity world-leaders.
Productivity Tools
The use of productivity tools and tips will help us to become increasingly reliant on our own focus and proactive approach to technology. Smartphones can be set to Dark Mode, notifications can be switched off and email overload can be avoided by adhering to a “tech-free” agenda where possible. Additionally, by changing the way we work, we can reduce our engagement with technology – opting for work environments to produce better results and greater productivity over extended periods of time.
Striking a Balance
The bottom line is that striking a balance between our technology needs and work requirements is essential in order to be as productive as possible. It is also important to recognize that technology is not the only source of our stress, and instead we must take a holistic approach to managing our mental and physical health. By taking the lead from Zuckerberg and Pichai, and adopting our own “tech-life balance”, we can move toward improved productivity, wellbeing and a better environment to work and live in.
Distraction Management
One of the most important things we can do to maintain our productivity levels is to manage our distractions. This means understanding how technology can be used to help or hinder our productivity, and also how to use technology to ensure we are getting the most out of our day-to-day tasks. Challenges such as email overload and competing notifications can be addressed by developing a personal system that helps us to stay on task and avoid any unnecessary distractions.
Optimizing Technology
Rather than resisting the rise of technology, embracing it within the realm of productivity could be the solution to our concerns. Optimizing technology to help us across our personal and professional domains could be the answer to increasing our productivity. As suggested by tech experts and productivity professionals, focusing on the positive impacts that technology can have and leveraging this for our own benefit is the best approach.
Self-Regulation
Finally, in order to achieve our productivity goals it is essential that we learn self-regulation, understanding how our use of technology can affect our performance. Self-regulation is a skill that takes practice, and can require us to be mindful and aware of our own behaviour. However, once the skill is developed it can be used to help us reach our goals and increase our productivity by utilizing technology to its fullest potential.
