We will all agree somewhere that the digital revolution has made our lives easier to a great extent. But the brunt of this technological progress is coming in the form of digital overload. A research conducted by Lancaster University found that women are falling prey to digital overload more. This conclusion has been drawn on the basis of a study conducted in 29 countries. Digital platforms like Zoom and WhatsApp are used a lot to complete everyday tasks and household tasks. Actually, the use of various technologies takes a lot of time and effort, so it has been termed as a new labor, which affects women 1.6 times more than men. This research also found that women are 31 percent less likely to have digital workload related to office work than men, but family-related digital load can be 2.6 times more.
What is digital overload?
This is a condition in which a person experiences mental, physical and emotional fatigue due to excessive use of digital devices and information. Constantly watching social media updates and breaking news throughout the day blurs the line between work and personal life. The collective effect of all this comes in the form of digital overload, which has a greater adverse effect on the physical and mental health of women.
Work-life imbalance
Excessive use of digital devices for everything from children’s education to office work creates an imbalance between work and personal life for women. For example, they often have to respond to work emails or messages even after office hours, which keeps them busy with their office work even during their personal time. Similarly, monitoring children’s class WhatsApp groups and viewing homework-related sites increases their physical and mental fatigue.
side effects of social media
The increasing use of social media sites like Instagram and Facebook has put immense pressure on women. The desire to get more and more likes on their posts is actually detrimental to their self-esteem. When they see the posts of others, they start feeling the pressure to maintain their image, compare their lives with others and live up to social standards, which gradually results in mental stress and low self-esteem.
Adverse effects on personal relationships
Digital overload also affects personal relationships. Time spent with family and friends starts decreasing and distance starts coming in relationships. Staying in front of the screen for a very long period of time also has an adverse effect on physical health, due to which problems like eye irritation, weak eyesight, lack of sleep and headache can also occur.
(Based on a conversation with mental health expert Deepti Gupta)
The solution is in your hands
Adopt digital detox: Instead of using your smartphone or laptop for a very long time, make it a rule to take breaks from digital devices at short intervals and include this rule in your daily routine. Stay away from mobile, laptop and other devices for some time and do some other work, which will give you mental freshness and peace.
Time management should be good: It would be better if you set a time limit for the use of digital devices. Try to limit office work to that time so that clear boundaries can be set between work and personal time. Similarly, after completing your daily tasks, try to reduce the use of digital devices at night while sleeping.
Not every notification is necessary: The constant notifications from social media sites increase digital overload to a great extent. It would be better if you go to your phone’s settings and turn off unnecessary notifications. This will control the habit of looking at the phone repeatedly and the chances of getting distracted will also be reduced.
Self care is important: It is very important to take care of yourself. Activities like yoga, meditation, walking, aerobics and physical exercise will not only keep you physically fit but also help in improving mental health.
Take help from others: To avoid digital overload, women should not hesitate to seek help from their family, friends and colleagues because the support of close people is very important in this work. If work requires using digital devices for a long time, then family members can be asked for help for this, like if you have to search something then someone else can help you in this work. Similarly, make a rule that no one is allowed to look at the phone during family time.