Technology Addicts - Get Help!

First Cigarettes, then Blow, now Gizmo! Are you addicted to technology?

The avalanche of technology that has rolled down the dusty hills towards us, may prove to be our greatest addiction yet. There are growing fears that people are becoming overwhelmed and overcome by their gadgets and gizmos.

Our 24 hour fascination and utilization of technology has become all consuming to many of us! How many cell phones can you remember seeing at someone's ear today alone? I wonder if every one of those conversations was a necessary as putting on a blinker signal or even petting the stray dog at the curb. Our interdependence on technology in business, at home and for entertainment has ballooned to epic proportions. Employers now have access to employees around the clock and employees email bosses dozens of times per day. We are left with questions about actual productivity, efficiency and the general well being of communication as a whole.

Some experts worry that a person's decision making powers can be adversely affected by this "hyper-technology." Other researchers think that the barrage of communication can actually enhance a person's ability to process information.

According to an article I found at BBC's Click, studies have been conducted to evaluate the symptoms of addiction. Nada Kakabadse of Northhampton Business School suggests that judgment and decision making can be impaired with over use of information technology. Professor Kakabadse also pointed out that many people addicted to gizmos can even take their addiction with them in sleep, to the movies or to a dinner party.

The symptoms of gizmo addiction are the same as for any dependence problem. People essentially spend more time and effort using their technology than socializing or with family. The subject was highlighted at the LIFT 07 Technology Conference in Geneva earlier this year. One of the conclusions reached by the experts at the conference was that "tech overload" will cost the individual who blurs the lines between work and play.

In an article last year at TechNewsWorld, Jennifer LeClaire makes some very good points in an in depth discourse on the subject. Most significantly the article makes it clear that technology addiction becomes evident when there is no rational explanation for the over use of technology. I like to think that most of what might be considered addiction is either obsession or instant gratification. Face it; some of us sit in chat rooms waiting for people to arrive! Technology can be hip and trendy too, and I have found that peer pressure can play a big role particularly with school aged people. one simply is not "cool" if he/she does not have a cell phone growing from one ear.

Well, everyone operates at a different level on any given gizmo. The responsibility of the individual has to come in to play when battling possible addiction. Employers and friends have a responsibility to look out for their peers too. Executives 20 years ago must have been hard pressed to do business at all without a tool belt full of messaging devices. A construction contractor feels naked now without a phone in each hand, it is a wonder we are not still in the stone age! If you are waiting for this post at Profy, you could be a victim of technology addiction, please seek help soon!