{"id":1672,"date":"2013-10-23T17:50:11","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T17:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/creativelifechanges.com\/?p=1672"},"modified":"2017-11-17T06:06:44","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T06:06:44","slug":"is-tech-stress-driving-you-screaming-mad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quietbrillianceconsulting.com\/is-tech-stress-driving-you-screaming-mad\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Tech Stress Driving You Screaming Mad?"},"content":{"rendered":"
The leaves are turning brilliant colors of gold, orange and red, and soon will be dropping from the trees. In contrast, my life feels as if it were blossoming as in a particularly jubilant Spring.<\/span><\/p>\n This week truly feels like the first week of the rest of my life. Soon the print copy of my book, The Confident Introvert,<\/em> will be released.<\/span><\/p>\n The delay has been due to collecting the wonderful endorsements I have been getting from pre-readers, including Dr. Philip Zimbardo, leading expert on shyness (\u201cthis book can help millions of people\u201d) and Dr. Nancy O\u2019Reilly (\u201cequips [introverts] with practical skills to turn their personality into a winning asset\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, I\u2019m off to California to discuss speaking engagements in the Bay Area, my former home.<\/span><\/p>\n Altogether, a satisfactory end to the year, and a promise of even more exciting things to come in 2014!<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s official (in case you hadn\u2019t already noticed): technology is raising our str<\/strong>ess lev<\/strong>el pre<\/strong>cipitously.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In fact, Mike Kushner, co-owner of a computer solutions company in Palo Alto, California, has paramedics ready to respond to calls from what he calls the \u201cdigitally desperate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Some of that desperation is created because the hardware malfunctions.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since stress tends to make us stupid, we react as if we\u2019re helpless, lost in a futuristic world of technology where we don\u2019t even speak the language. Recently, I was without a printer for three weeks. At first, I panicked, then realized I could put everything I needed on a flash drive, go to the nearest Office Max, and get it printed out. Encountering another desperate business owner a few weeks later who was in the same panicked state, I suggested my solution. It hadn\u2019t occurred to him, but he welcomed it.<\/span><\/p>\n Then there are the unintended consequences of using the technology that we once welcomed as a way to make our lives easier:<\/strong><\/span> Connected to more people digitally, we\u2019re actually losing human connections.<\/strong> A Stanford University study found that the amount of time people spend on the internet comes out of time they would have spent with family and friends.<\/span><\/p>\n Computers and smartphones can keep working tirelessly, and never feel pain.<\/strong> We can\u2019t, and we try to do so at our peril.<\/span><\/p>\n How do we keep our lives from being taken over by machines?\u00a0 Here are some suggestions:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n So\u2026pick up the phone, scrawl a hand-written note, walk down the hall, reconnect with the human race, and calm your mind and body.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another myth I have encountered recently is that introverts are fine with no outside contact whatsoever. No, we enjoy contacts and stimulation that we get outside of our own nests; we just need to control\u00a0how much<\/em>\u00a0we get all at one time.<\/span><\/p>\n A great party with lots of people may be very enjoyable for a confident introvert \u2013 for a limited time. We\u2019re the ones who leave early when we\u2019ve had enough stimulation, just as some people quit eating when they\u2019ve had enough.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not a reflection on the host. It\u2019s a reflection of the fact that we recognize and pay attention to our inner needs, always a healthy way to live.<\/span><\/p>\nIs Tech Stress Driving You Screaming Mad?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n We\u2019re driven by the \u201calways on\u201d syndrome: computers don\u2019t have to rest, and they can multi-task endlessly without taking notes or developing \u201cbrain buzz.\u201d We do need to rest.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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The Confident Introvert<\/span><\/h2>\n