The impact of technology on work- life balance

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   seatle67posted 13 years ago

   These days, we have so many potentially labour saving technological devices, but to how great an extent do such advances increase rather than decrease workload and stress?
   
   I remember the days when typists used carbon copies and had to retype a whole page when they made a mistake. I remember being gobsmacked that a work colleague had somehow ordered his week's shopping over this mysterious thing called an internet. I remember laughing when City boys started walking around with massive mobile phones and thinking how pretentious, unnecessary, and clumsy they were, and scornfully claiming they would never catch on because no-one in their right mind would want to be constantly contactable!
   
   How many of you feel now feel strangely insecure and cut off when your mobile is out of action or your internet connection goes down? How many of you habitually go to check emails first thing when you wake up? How many of you are so proficient at texting you can send messages without looking - and do so constantly throughout the day! ? How many eat meals at your computer? How many families spend hours in separate rooms at the computer, (although, on the plus side, my son has just been commended for his excellent general knowledge, which given his tendency not to read books or watch TV actually must come from the 'building civilisations' type computer games he favours).
   
   New technology can clearly enable us to work faster and more efficiently, and it facilitates flexible and remote working (fitting in with childcare or avoiding a distasteful commute), but it can also mean that we cannot ever really get away and switch off.

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