‘Cut yourself some slack’: How to avoid technostress

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed or anxious about new technologies sometimes—in fact, it’s to be expected. Muireann Bolger reports on a conference session looking at how we can achieve healthier digital lives.

Our working lives have transformed dramatically in just a few, short years.

Rewind to March 2020: countries went into lockdown to mitigate the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new era of remote working made technology essential and ubiquitous.

As lockdowns receded, the ‘new’ way of working stayed. Despite the efforts of some to turn back the clock and reinforce office working—X founder Elon Musk springs to mind—a huge chunk of the global workforce is sticking with remote, or more commonly, hybrid working.

But what impact has this upheaval had on our mental health?

Overwhelming change

We’ve all heard about the scourge of burn-out, anxiety and depression, and their debilitating effects—April is National Stress Awareness Month in the UK.

And technological advances have added yet another word to our ever-expanding mental health lexicon.

Enter ‘technostress’—or the anxiety, tension, or distress caused when a person is overwhelmed by new technology, which tends to occur when they are unable to adapt and learn to use technology in a healthy, productive way.

But given that our 24/7 culture looks here to stay, what steps can we take to protect our digital wellbeing?

This a question often posed to both Elizabeth Rimmer, chief executive of mental health charity LawCareand Penny Aspinall, consultant at Jonathan’s Voice—a wellbeing trust set up in memory of attorney Jonathan McCartney who died by suicide after experiencing acute depression.

Both women joined forces to share insights on how to develop better, more positive, digital practices in the session, “A healthy digital life—practical tips for managing our relationship with technology,” during the Chartered Institute of Trademark Attorneys’ (CITMA) spring conference last month.

Reflecting on the seismic shift of recent years, Rimmer told delegates that the issues posed by technostress are only just beginning.

“We've seen anxieties and concerns about the rapidly changing landscape in the legal sector in how we work and how technology is going to impact that,” she explained.

“In this post-pandemic world, people are grappling with that change, and it is still a wild west that everybody is trying to navigate. But the horse has bolted; the hybrid workplace is here to stay and that brings both challenges and opportunities.”

Technostress, it seems, can become a deep-rooted problem for those who do not—or cannot immediately adapt to new systems and procedures.

Technostress affects young people too

Aspinall has also encountered apprehension about emerging technologies from those who reach out to her.

“A lot of anxiety stems from the fear of not being able to use these technologies,” she explained.

“It's very easy for us to take it for granted that everybody can do it, is competent, and is ‘joined up’. Some people obviously can't understand how us ‘lesser mortals’ couldn't possibly understand how a ‘perfectly clear’ system works,” she added, ruefully.

“But often we don't. And that can raise huge amounts of anxiety, and it seems that the more we use new technology, the more anxious we become.”

She is quick to point out that it's not just members of older generations that find themselves increasingly befuddled: young people can become overwhelmed or anxious about new technologies as well.

Added to that is the fear stoked by the explosion of artificial intelligence.

Aspinall points to the much publicised writer strike in Los Angeles, which saw protests against the potential threat posed by generative artificial intelligence to the livelihood of many creatives.

“Such uncertainty can generate a lot of fear. We've had strikes in Hollywood, because of actors and writers being afraid of AI taking over their work.”

In a quick online survey of attendees during their joint CITMA session, delegates shared their perceptions of some of the negative implications to arise from an increasingly digital world.

An inability to switch off, the pressures imposed by a 24/7 culture, and feelings of isolation swiftly emerged as the predominant drawbacks.

After all, as Rimmer pointed out: one advantage about the mandatory daily commute of yore was: “you went through a ritual at the end of the day where you had to down tools, log off, disconnect and go home.”

How things have changed.

“Now, most of us have about five seconds to disconnect from work and the computer's always sitting there, reminding us that there's a lot of emails that we might still need to be checking on,” Rimmer continued.

Then there’s the dearth of regular face-to-face contact that’s becoming the norm for many.

“Human beings are social animals; we like being around other people, and so we can end up feeling quite isolated,” noted Rimmer.

Not only that, the nature of hybrid teams and the task of managing both remote and office workers simultaneously can provoke challenging questions.

For example, some members of staff who work regularly from home may worry that they’re going to be eclipsed professionally by a colleague who finds it easier (or prefers) to spend more time in the office.

This, noted Rimmer, is problematic in a sector that's been traditionally dominated by a sense of presenteeism—“you got to be in it to win it, you've got to be seen, to make that next step up the ladder.”

The upside and positive benefits

But it’s not all bad news. In the anonymous quickfire survey held during the conference, delegates flagged the advantages of this new way of working, including enhanced productivity and efficiency, greater flexibility and more work-life balance.

Further, Rimmer points to the obstacles that, in many cases, no longer exist for those who may have found it difficult to physically travel to the office.

“The ability to work flexibly and remotely has removed some of those barriers that people may have had if they had a physical disability or other issues that made it hard for them to travel or to commute—or not want to travel at certain times of the day.”

According to Rimmer, the new landscape also offers unprecedented ways to untap the vast potential of the legal workforce across generations to achieve more in their professional lives.

“It's a real opportunity to think about how we upskill people, how we keep people abreast of new technologies, give them new opportunities, inspire them and motivate them to do things in a different way,” she said.

What’s more, the internet offers a vast wealth of mental health resources that would have been unheard of even just five years ago.

“If you're worried about something, there's lots of online groups and forums for people where concerns can be shared,” said Rimmer.

“So it builds a sense of community sometimes, and a feeling that we're not alone. If we're feeling anxious or nervous, we may not have the confidence to speak up. But we can go online and find lots of reliable information, and online counselling.”

Self-compassion and boundaries

Aspinall urged people to practise “self-compassion” if they are feeling particularly disheartened about their lack of technological nous.

That doesn't mean self-pity, she swiftly added.

Rather, she explained that self-compassion “lowers our stress levels, and enables us to deal with difficult distressing feelings much more effectively.

“So if you are feeling a bit apprehensive, nervous, fearful, overwhelmed about what's coming along down the road, or what might already be around, just cut yourself some slack.”

That said, both emphasised that the onus is on organisations to ensure the effective implementation of digital wellbeing policies.

For Rimmer, it’s a question of respecting boundaries. Providing an example, she referred to an instance where a junior lawyer sent an email to a client at 2am in the morning—with an undesirable outcome.

“The firm lost the client as a result of that, because they looked at it and thought, ‘what on earth is this person doing working at this time?’”

But, she warned, it's not as simple as just issuing a blanket warning: “You can't send any emails after six o’clock in the evening”.

“You’ve got to think about people's needs, and what their expectations are, and work around those. Respecting boundaries is really important.”

Essentially, workers take their cues from how the people above behave in hierarchical sectors such as law.

“If we see our boss, or managers or leaders sending emails at 10pm, or on a Sunday morning,” said Rimmer, “we think that's what needs to be done. So it's really important to think about the behaviours that we show, and how we model those.”

It’s also vital to check-in on teammates on hybrid teams to ensure that they are in good spirits, or whether they need some extra support or even just a friendly ear.

“In our hybrid working world, it's very easy now to disappear digitally: people can turn their camera and sound off, and you don't even know if they're there. So it’s really important that there are mechanisms built in for checking in with people,” urged Rimmer.

“For example, if you notice that someone seems disengaged on a remote call, pick the phone up, or arrange to see them face-to-face and find out what's going on. It's about creating a positive healthy culture, where we support our people to help them navigate this vastly changing landscape that we're in.”

Jonathan’s Voice: ‘You’re not alone’

While the rise of AI prompts a plethora of questions, Rimmer argues that it also presents us with an opportunity to think about our own unmistakably human traits—and their value.

“We tend to look at soft skills as unimportant compared to our hard legal skills.

But as we’re moving towards a world in which technology is going to be doing a lot of the routine work that we used to do, it gives us a chance to think about what a human being brings to this scenario—and to value skills such as trust, empathy, and judgement.”

Aspinall concluded optimistically, offering some words of solace for those in the throes of technostress.

“You're not alone, there'll be other people in exactly that same place; it's completely normal and you can have two feelings at the same time as well. You can be immensely excited by something and see its potential, but you can still feel a bit unsure about it.”

“Human beings are usually very adaptable and resourceful. Look at how far we've come—even in the last decade. And we are all different, and we all deal with things in different ways.”

“And it's also okay,” she added, “to prioritise your own wellbeing, both mental and physical. Because without that, you can become very unstuck.”