The world around us is changing quicker than we ever could have imagined.Whilst there is no doubt that the growth of technology is a wonderful thing, I can’t help asking how much it has affected our day to day living.
The Queen is having her Diamond Jubilee this year and the event will be watched by the world, but when she had her coronation in 1952 only a privileged few had TVs in their houses. People crowded round little black and white screens to watch the Queen take her place on the throne. That was only 60 years ago, which in the grand scheme of things isn't a long time.
A telephone was the thing in your house that you had to sit down to talk into because the chord would only stretch so far, forcing you to pay more attention to the conversation you were having.
For a lot of us we still remember the advent of the internet and we had previously felt privileged to use one of the few old BBC computers the school had. We also remember the mobile phone arriving with its cumbersome battery pack.
Nowadays the phones are so small that the manufacturers have had to introduce bigger versions for the elderly who may otherwise struggle with the little buttons and keys. Even our phones are in full HD colour and now of course we can send and receive emails on them and even surf the web. All of a sudden the office is no longer confined to work and we can work truly anywhere.
Amazing stuff, but...
Whilst the advancement in technology has had a wonderful effect on our life. We haven’t kept up with the pace of adapting our lives to it.
We no longer de-stress through conversation in the same way as before. We will send a quick text to someone rather than talking to them and some people are even suggesting that the younger generation are losing the ability to conduct smalltalk and communicate with people. We don’t feel the need to keep in touch through verbal conversation as much because we can follow so much on social networks, feeling like we have spoken to the person when we have merely kept tabs on them through a status update. We know what is going on in people’s lives, even if we haven’t taken the time to let them know that, other than a small “like” on their post or a quick comment.
We take the dog for a walk and whilst before this would have been precious time to unwind it is now a good opportunity to make that call or send that email.
We can be hundreds of miles away sitting on a deserted beach and our phone buzzes; all of a sudden we are back in the office and all the stress floods back.
We need to learn how to live in this world of technology. We need to discipline ourselves not to look at work emails when we get home. We have created an expectancy that we will reply to emails within half an hour, no matter what time of day it is. We are no longer working just at the office but everywhere else too.
You can manage your stress levels.
Hypnotherapy,
CBT & NLP can help you to challenge your beliefs and work in a calmer more productive way, allowing yourself to have that precious down time you need. Then you can recharge your batteries ready for the next working day.
Sometimes we can feel so lonely; even though we are the most connected society there has ever been we are also the most lonely generation. I am not for a second saying that technology shouldn’t continue to grow and get better, quite the opposite. Technology has allowed me to do my job well, being able to work from the different clinics I am in each day. But we need to learn how to work with technology, rather than becoming a slave to it.
By
Erika Keat
Erika offers
Hypnotherapy,
CBT & NLP at
Waterloo Therapy Rooms on Wednesdays all day, please
contact Erika for more information.
© EKTherapies
