How to keep balance in virtual life

In theory, technology should increase both working flexibility and productivity, but, unfortunately, the habit of using the Internet also entails work evasion and carries a serious threat to the balance of working life. In this article, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic will tell you how to reduce Internet addiction .

Much of the recent debate about the imbalance of the balance of working life concerns our relationship to modern technology, namely our inability to disconnect from the Internet, that is, to go offline.

In the US, for example, almost 50% of working adults are “hooked up” to e-mail, which, according to estimates, costs the national economy at least $ 900 billion a year in the form of productivity losses. According to the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, professionals spend 28% of their working time reading or responding to emails. These statistics explain the international success of best-selling books such as The Four Hour Work Week (the four-hour work week).
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Moreover, even those people who manage to control their craving for constant checking of mail are overly enthusiastic about other sites or applications, for example, Facebook or Twitter. The number of people trying to undergo a special course of treatment for addiction caused by social networks is growing, freeing them from this excessive cravings for several months. Needless to say, excesses in using the Internet can harm not only our productivity , but also personal relationships with other people, especially if they require exceptional attention.

So, how best to maintain harmony in virtual life? Below are four practical tips you can use:

1) Keep the amount of information you enter into the network

The principle of “everything is good in moderation” stems from the field of architecture, but can also be applied to the handling of information. The handling of large amounts of data is usually determined by three V: velocity, volume, variety (speed, volume, and diversity). You can minimize the amount of information from the Internet by keeping these three Vs as low as possible: do not respond too quickly, do not write too much, and use as few channels as possible to communicate. Thus, you can centralize the source of information. Remember that the intensity of your communications is self-fulfilling: the less you produce, the less you get.

2) Take your free time

Mark Zuckerberg described the Facebook newsletter as the modern equivalent of television, and he is probably right. But TV cannot be carried around with you, and you successfully replace it with networks like Facebook (and Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr). Probably, there is no better proof of the addictive and addictive essence of social networks than the fact that we spend a large amount of potentially offline time on them.

Here are some standard actions that can help you enjoy your free time: read a book, get a notebook to record your thoughts and ideas in it, listen to music or just watch the real world around you, it also exists for something.

3) Optimize your entertainment

The main reason why the Internet successfully competes for our attention with the real world is that the real world is often quite boring. People are hostages of their habits and, so that we do not speak, we always strive to make the environment as safe and predictable as possible. (We recommend reading a helpful article on how to turn self-improvement into a habit. )

Then come to the rescue of social networks that can help overcome the boredom caused by a sense of security and predictability. But imagine really exciting moments that you can experience only in real life: meet friends you haven’t seen for a long time, go on a date, visit places that you always wanted to see. By experiencing such moments, you are tempted to be minimal online. So why not arrange them as often as possible?

4) Learn from those who are better.

As part of a recent study, we identified the key features of those people who really do a good job with an excess of mail and the “burnout” associated with modern technologies. It turned out that these people are easy-going, more conscientious and optimistic. They all plan ahead and appreciate in-person contact with others. They love to meet new people and are able to maintain confidence and calm even in tense conditions.

Of course, some of these points are easier to implement than others. Self-coaching can help (the process of managing oneself, one's abilities and resources, which allows a person to achieve the intended goals). Remember, the more closed, emotional and disorganized you are by nature, the higher your risk of being burned out.

Ultimately, it all comes down to unreasonable demands of others. This applies to colleagues and personal relationships. For example, a colleague who expects readiness for work 24/7 from you is also irrational, like a friend who expects you to be completely disconnected from work during a very important project.

It is obvious that other people can greatly contribute to our unsustainable balance in virtual life, and we tend to underestimate how to effectively manage the expectations of others. Trying is definitely worth it.

PS We recommend another article on the topic - How successful people cope with their toxic opponents.

Translated by Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult