Digital technology is an ever-present presence in our working lives, and whilst it undoubtedly has many benefits, a recent study also reminds us of the risks involved.

The research, conducted by Middlesex University, reveals the difficulties employees have switching off, even when on holiday or readying themselves for bed.  Indeed, it found that many employees can check their phones 150 times per day, and subsequently suffer from extreme information overload.  Such an ‘always on’ lifestyle make it very hard to find time to reflect and think.

“The irony is employers want technology to boost productivity but such constant monitoring and pressure to be available by mobile or email ultimately leads to high turnover and undermines the very productivity they want to improve,” the authors say.  “We are heading towards a place where employee health and safety are secondary to lean logistics and speed of work. A review of the legal position of digital surveillance in the workplace is urgently needed and until that time responsible employers should develop robust policies or code of conduct.”

The worst offenders

The paper outlines a number of processes and technologies that lead to poor outcomes, including electronic performance monitoring (EPM) and surveillance, employee post experience performance rating (ie how did we do? please rate us) and wearable tracking technologies.

The authors suggest a more acceptable environment for technology can come about via things such as openness, consent, consultation, private spaces, and proportionality.

Such findings should perhaps come as little surprise however.  A recent survey from cloud-based meeting vendor Teem found that digital technology can have a huge impact on our happiness when not used appropriately.

“New technologies are rapidly overhauling everything about how we work. Business must remain flexible to keep pace. Our data shows that employees associate these tools with happiness, and by extension productivity,” the authors say. “It also shows the value of having proper  equipment, usage guidelines and training to avoid burnout.”

Breaking the addiction

So how can you break your addiction to technology?  The first thing is to accept that we have one.  A famous study revealed that 46% of us would rather break a bone than have a broken smartphone.  Our devices now are so central to our lives, both professionally and socially, that it’s an incredible wrench to do without them.

If you want to detox however, there are a number of ways you can do so.  For instance, you might try and make your phone less attractive.  Turn off the sounds you get for new emails and other forms of push notifications.  Do all you can to limit the ways in which your phone tries to get you to pick it up.

You can also change how you approach social media, so that rather than ‘like hunting’, you can use something called the Demetricator, which takes the quantitative aspect out of social media feedback.  For instance, it might say “you have likes” rather than “you have ten likes”, with the aim being to reduce our need to constantly check.

Of course, technology could be a useful scapegoat for a much darker problem, which is addiction to work itself. I’m sure you are familiar with the signs of being a workaholic, whether in yourself or someone close to you.  If you’re unsure, a test was created by a team of Norwegian researchers a few years go.

The team developed a tool to measure addiction to work called the Bergen Work Addiction Scale.  This tool borrowed heavily from tools used to measure drug addiction, and analyzed symptoms such as change in mood, levels of tolerance, salience and so on.  They used this to draw up seven criteria against which they could directly measure workplace addiction:

• You think of how you can free up more time to work.
• You spend much more time working than initially intended.
• You work in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness and/or depression.
• You have been told by others to cut down on work without listening to them.
• You become stressed if you are prohibited from working.
• You deprioritize hobbies, leisure activities, and/or exercise because of your work.
• You work so much that it has negatively influenced your health.

“If you reply ‘often’ or ‘always’ to at least four of these seven criteria, there is some indication that you may be a workaholic,” the researchers say. “This is the first scale to use core symptoms of addiction found in other more traditional addictions.”

Workaholism as mental illness

When this scale was tested on the Norwegian population, it emerged that around 8% of people were classified as workaholics.  A recent study by the same set of researchers suggests that these folks may be suffering from many of the symptoms of other mental illnesses, such as ADHD and OCD.

“Workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics,” the authors say.

The study examined over 16,000 adults whereby each participant was quizzed for things such as ADHD, OCD and their workaholic score using the scale above.

When the numbers were crunched, the results revealed a clear link between workaholism and a number of psychiatric disorders.  Among those who showed signs of workaholism, rates of anxiety, depression, OCD and ADHD were significantly higher than their non-workaholic peers.

Indeed, some 32.7% of workaholics met ADHD criteria (20% higher than normal), 25.6% showed OCD behaviors (17% higher than normal) and 34% showed signs of anxiety, which was a whopping 22% higher than normal.

It’s difficult to tell which causes which, but the authors suggest that workaholism may well be a sign of much deeper psychological or emotional issues.  What’s more, the digital tools that pervade our workplaces, and which make work possible from anywhere, can help to drive such bad habits.

The challenge now is how to go about eradicating workaholism from our workplaces.  I suspect that may be somewhat easier said than done.