Does It Matter Hbr Opinion

In the midst of the technology world, there are so many devices that allow for a decreased workload or a potential increased workload (depending how one wants to look at things). For some, technology can increase stress, while for others in can decrease stress.

In grammer school, I would type reports on my mothers typewriter. If a substantial mistake was made, there was a possibility that I would have to retype the entire paper over again. Fast forward a few years later, and I remember seeing huge telephones that looked like they belonged in a telephone booth, plugged into cars. Years after that, I am ordering groceries online through a company called web-van. I remember laughing when more and more people started buying brick sized cell phones and thinking how pretentious, unnecessary, and clumsy they were, and scornfully claiming they would never catch on because no-one in their right mind would want to be constantly contactable.

Now, as soon as I lose connection to the outside world, whether it be my cell phone running out of batteries or my cable internet connection goes down, I feel a strange sense of insecurity. Technology is what I know. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is grab my phone and check my email and the stock market. I've become so proficient at texting, I can send messages without looking. I find myself eating while I'm sitting in front of my computer researching information.

New technology allows us to work faster and more efficiently. It facilitates flexible and remote working options, but also means we can never really get away.

I consider myself a savvy business person, I'm driven, ambitious, time-urgent and tetchy, and predisposed to stress related illness. I would consider myself a workaholic. I have a difficult time differentiating between work and play. Of course, this is not a problem if well matched with the work, and also because I love what I do. For me, work is play. I also consider myself a perfectionist. But, I also love my job so much I have a difficult time walking away. And, this is possible because of technology.

In one company that I provided consultancy services, I noticed many of the employees struggled with the open plan offices and could only concentrate in the relative