Hello World Health Day! Stressful careers, constant communication and screen fatigue. We all suffer the consequences of these three things.
But there is something more serious that you are suffering from. And you probably don’t even realise!
We spoke to Dr. Pablo Vandenabeele, Bupa’s Clinical Director, about the link between technology and stress with illness. You don’t want to miss this on World Health Day.
“Technological advances have created an ‘always on’ work culture, where people are expected to be on call and responding to emails day and night,” explains Dr. Vandenabeele. “It is impacting work-life balance, which unsurprisingly affects physical and mental wellbeing.”
You are suffering from this…
“Work aside, Apple recently revealed that iPhone users unlock their phones around 80 times a day on average,” says Dr. Vandenabeele. “This level of usage is known as ‘hyperconnectivity’ – the feeling of needing to be ‘in the loop’ at all times. This can often leave people feeling anxious when they are disconnected from online conversations or instant information.” Sound familiar?
What can we do to battle hyperconnectivity?
Dr. Vandenabeele has three top tips to help you overcome digital exhaustion.
- Leave your phone at home: Try leaving your phone out of reach or in another room. The effort to go and get it is likely to help you stay away for the time being. Put your phone away and enjoy the moment.
- Turn notifications off: Getting a notification is distracting. Fact. One study shows that it can take almost 25 minutes to get back to the task in hand once you’ve been interrupted. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb instead.
- Buy an alarm clock: Don’t allow your phone to be the first thing you see in the morning, and the last thing you look at at night. Buy an alarm clock instead and leave your phone in another room. Tablets and smartphones also emit blue light. This light is something which suppresses the body’s natural sleeping hormone – melatonin – and can make for a disruptive night’s sleep.
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