Hyperconnected: the brain at risk

The Wild West of technology

Every day, more than 281 billion emails (excluding spam) are exchanged for 3.8 billion internet users! Not counting messages and notifications on mobile devices.

We can speak of the Wild West, because it is chaos. Bad practices, hyper-connectivity and “digital noise” generate unchecked nuisances that attack the health and well-being of individuals.

We are witnessing an unprecedented deluge of daily data and unprecedented levels of permanent stress. Too much information, arriving too quickly, in volumes too large to be processed calmly.

Weapons of mass distraction

It's 8:00 AM, you start working on a topic. At 8:06 AM an urgent email interrupts you. Then an SMS, a phone call, a chat and other emails. It's 10:30 AM when you return to your file, you've lost your train of thought. In less than 3 minutes, you will be interrupted again.

The management – or rather the handling – of this avalanche of information encroaches on the core business, leading to a feeling of deskilling, of being distanced from real tasks. The workload has become denser and more intense with a permanent race against urgency – 50% of emails are marked as urgent! – , where the law of instantaneity reigns.

Email management alone represents on average 30% of an employee's day. One in two managers does not allow themselves to disconnect from work in the evening, considering it an implicit rule if not an injunction.

Between emails, phones, SMS and other messaging services, these are all incessant solicitations that require processing and a response. An employee is interrupted by a distraction every 3 to 6 minutes. The cost of a distraction is equivalent to its duration plus a minimum of 12 minutes for the brain to re-focus on an engaged task.

According to a study by the University of California, it takes 12 to 23 minutes to shift cognitive focus and return to an adequate state of concentration.

The excessive intrusion of smartphones and professional life at home also causes problems – arguments, tensions, estrangement.

Digital stress

Permanent cognitive overload leads to a state of mental fatigue, a fertile ground for professional exhaustion – burnout. This trendy term emerged precisely with the sudden evolution of the work environment due to new technologies.

In Switzerland, a quarter of the active population is exhausted and stressed, for an estimated economic cost of 5.4 billion francs.

Email is the primary cause of stress at the office. A University of California study shows that the more time spent on emails, the more stress increases and the more productivity decreases. This, regardless of the position held.

It becomes imperative to learn to better manage tools to limit the impact of distractions and the avalanche of information.

The myth of multitasking

Valued, if not implicitly required, multitasking ability is nonetheless an illusion. All studies prove it. While people have been doing several things at once for a long time, access to much more information and at a much faster speed multiplies task changes and interruptions.

In multitasking mode and given the increase in demands, the brain must keep and manipulate a multitude of elements simultaneously. Chronically, this leads to cognitive overload: fatigue, irritability, feeling unable to think, memory loss.

Every task change – that is, mental focus change – costs in attention and fatigue. It results in cognitive overload and stress. The University of California study reports that after only 20 minutes of interrupted work, the test group shows significant stress, frustration, workload, and pressure.

Who has never been on the phone while writing an email? Are you able to perfectly follow the conversation and what you are writing? In a dual-task situation, the same neural network is used, leading to saturation.

In 2004, the average concentration span per activity was 3 minutes. In 2012, it dropped to 1 minute 15 seconds. It is even 45 seconds for… the 2000 generation, born with digital technology.

In addition to saturation, the dual-task situation disrupts the inhibition mechanisms of selective attention: noise, office hubbub, clicks are no longer filtered by the brain.

Young people less good than their elders

It is expected that younger generations will mechanically lower stress levels. Born with digital technology, they would be natively multitasking (comforting them in compulsive channel surfing which will nevertheless do a lot of harm). Surveys are surprising as it is exactly the opposite.

A European survey of 30,000 employees conducted by the GFK institute shows a higher stress rate among young people compared to their elders regarding information technologies.

Toxic habits

At 6:30 am the alarm rings, you check Whatsapp in bed then while eating. You continue on your device on the train or you read a free newspaper – mostly composed of anxiety-inducing, sensationalist, or useless information. It's not 8 am and your mind has only been engrossed by external stimuli. And now your email inbox is overwhelming you with information to process. At 10 am, a break, mobile phone in front of your eyes. The day continues on this momentum. It's 11 pm, you're still checking Facebook in your bed.

Can we constantly stimulate the brain without it suffering? According to Francis Eustache, a researcher in neuropsychology, it is essential to allow the brain opportunities to disconnect. There is a neural network for which these breaks are vital: the default mode network.

The default mode network activates when the brain is at rest, when thoughts wander, when one appears not very active. This neural network plays a fundamental role in memory construction, synthesis work, creation, and projection into the future. It is essential for well-being and good health.

Who hasn't found a good idea or solved a problem in front of the mirror while brushing their teeth, in the shower, or sitting on a bench? These are moments of pause where the default mode network is at work. It synthesizes, reflects, shielded from external stimuli.

Knowing how to protect oneself

Being able to protect oneself against this “digital noise” and the intensity of our daily demands becomes more crucial than ever. By creating an adapted routine and imposing a change of habit, it is possible to effectively combat nuisances and significantly increase one's well-being and satisfaction.

The key to good attention is to manage to sequence tasks by setting one goal after another. Although this is seemingly easy, it is more difficult to stick to it. You also need to set aside time for yourself, to allow your brain to take breaks.

Here are some simple actions to implement, but whose results are immediate:

• Turn off notifications sound and visual on your mobile and from your email client (What?!? But you're crazy!).
• Check your emails at fixed times (e.g. 3 times a day, or even less!)
• Apply the “less than 2 minutes, I do it. Otherwise I plan it” rule”
• Impose your “airplane mode” moment”, a time slot without interruptions (no emails, no phones, no colleagues) to work on your priority task of the day. Often an hour is enough.
• On foot, on public transport, out for a walk: offer your mind some rest to let the default network do its work.
• Practice heart coherence 3x 5 minutes a day: inhale for 5 seconds then exhale for 5 seconds.
• Banish your mobile from the bedroom (otherwise in airplane mode, as an alarm clock)
• Choose your “sacred hours”, where you forbid yourself from touching your mobile (e.g. in the morning until the end of breakfast and in the evening from 8 PM).
• All mobiles have a configurable “do not disturb” mode to filter interruptions (only favorite contacts for example).

Disconnection is a legitimate and necessary need. By creating for yourself a strategy adapted to your lifestyle and professional imperatives, you reduce stress and fatigue. And you offer calm to your brain.

Sources

The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress, Gloria Mark, University of California

Communication practices of executives: intensive use of ICT and psychosocial issues, Cindy Felio, University of Montaigne Bordeaux III

The cost of stress in Switzerland, SECO, Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

Job Stress Index 2016, Health Promotion Switzerland