3 Tips for Tackling Tech Addiction at Work
It can be a struggle to stay productive in an internet-based work culture where your communication and tasks are dependent on the use of email, social media, texting and more. But it’s a fine line between appropriate usage and tech addiction, which is a serious problem in today’s workforce. However, your business has a chance to set the precedent for your entire staff by helping to encourage appropriate and healthy tech boundaries. Though tech addiction can often start at home, it’s not discouraged at work where there’s a significant emphasis on staying connected with the constant barrage of emails at all hours of the day. Here are some simple strategies from this NYC Professional Office Organizer to help support your staff as they develop new habits to overcome tech addiction and to improve their productivity.
Shut off at night. The need to constantly be “on” and tuned in to work is a major cause of increased stress. If you aren’t able to temporarily step away from work so that you can rest, relax, and reset, you won’t be physically able to start the next day refreshed and ready to stay focused. Start by giving yourself a clear end time to your work day. At that point, stop checking emails, turn off your email alerts, and walk away from your computer. If there’s an important project that requires you to be monitoring email after hours, shut everything down once you get that email – and try to avoid making late night monitoring an every night habit.
Encourage tech-free lunch breaks. One specific problem with tech addiction is that it isolates people, making them feel less connected on a personal basis and involved with their coworkers. One strategy is offering lunch to your team – encouraging them to eat together, tech free, so that they can communicate and enjoy each other’s company. Even if you aren’t offering lunch to your team, encourage them to put their devices away and avoid eating at their desks. Make sure your management team leads by example.
Support screen-time boundaries during the workday. Obviously, it’s near impossible to have a company go back to completely screen free, but there are some things you can do to make it easier on your team. Encourage them to block out time during their work day that is distraction free. You can support this endeavor by offering a template auto-responder email they can make active during tech free time. Another strategy is to have tech-free meetings, enforcing a no device rule will not only get their heads out of their phones, but you’ll see an immediate improvement in focus resulting in shorter meetings.
You won’t be able to keep your staff off their phones at home, but by encouraging tech free time at work and providing them with tools and opportunities during the work day will only help to increase their productivity and focus. Changing habits on a company-wide level and creating a company culture that supports its workers and encourages healthy tech boundaries is an incredibly wise choice for productivity improvement in the future.
For more hands-on office organizing strategies, reach out to this NYC Professional Office Organizer today.