The 21st century has brought about a rise in technology innovation and this has led us into a phenomenal digital revolution. However, with the introduction of technological advancements that has created a high level of efficiency in the way we live our lives, we now find ourselves living in a world that has blurred the boundaries between the ‘online’ and ‘offline’.
Technology invades life outside of work
While the products of technology innovation such as the internet and mobile devices play an pivotal role in making our lives more efficient in many ways, it has become an addictive influence in its own nature. With the never-ending developments in technology, and our human nature to habitually adapt to our surroundings, we seem to have developed a dependency on technology as it seamlessly integrates into our every lives.
For some, the need to balance the time invested in their professional lives and personal lives, may not be an issue. However, a staggering 70% of respondents (Accenture survey) answered that technology is causing “work to creep into their personal lives”, confirming the popular belief that technology, especially mobile devices, can disturb the harmony of the work/life balance.
Furthermore, the extensive use of mobile devices outside of business hours for work related matters means that many end up putting in between 13- 18 working hours a day; for some, it may be even more.
The need to feel connected...
It doesn't take human interaction to make you feel anxious, frustrated or even socially disconnected. Sometimes a simple act of leaving your mobile phone at home whilst you’re on your way to work or worse, losing it, can evoke those exact same emotions.
With technology making the internet accessible anytime, anywhere, we now find ourselves addicted to our devices, feeling like we need to connect to the online world at any given time. Mobile devices, according to a recent post by Wall Street Journal, may have the ability to play on many of our anxieties and also make us feel our work is a “race to the bottom”. Fearfully, not only do mobile devices such as smartphones fuel other addictions, they exacerbate our underlying emotional problems.
Technology affects Family time
Technology has played a fundamental role in redefining family time. Between school, work, home, and their social lives, parents now rely heavily on communication, information, and transportation technology to make their lives faster and more efficient.
Entertainment technology (TV, Internet, video games, iPads, mobile phones) has advanced so rapidly, that families have barely noticed the significant impact and changes to their family structure and lifestyles.
The advertising campaign by Dolmio’s Pepper Hacker which went viral on social media, touches on the message of how technology can in fact be disruptive to family time. The campaign proceeded to feature a simple yet effective solution to address this problem which is a rare task in today’s ‘addicted’ nation.
With many parents carrying their work matters home, children too are inevitably exposed to the isolating effects of technology.
We have read many articles that addresses how"play-time" for children has evolved over the years. Creative thinking has taken on a whole new spin in today's day and age. Years ago, children's creativity was reflected in their ability to create imaginary games to pass their time. With the help of technology, kids nowadays are able to create their own apps; as in the case of Thomas Suarez. While this form of creativity is not negative, it does make us question how creativity is really measured in today's day and age.
Time for change?
Technology is not going to slow down any time soon. In fact, it is evolving at a much faster rate than anyone can expect. We continue to use technology in many forms to maximise the efficiency in many aspects of our lives. It has enabled a practicality of working out of the office, the ability to engage socially anywhere across the world and access information at any time of the day. On a more macro scale, the advancements of technology have shown people a more adequate way of doing things. For example, agricultural processes that once required hundreds of human workers can now be automated, and medicine discoveries are occurring at a much more rapid rate that before.
However, we cannot deny that it has created an unforeseen dependency, enabling technology to be welcomed into our lives without any questions. At what point do we wake up and change the way we accept and embrace technology’s authority over us?
After all, a piece of technology cannot govern our thoughts and actions if we simply do not let it.
So why are we letting it?
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