Technology radically transformed people’s lives and the functioning of organizations. Today it is unthinkable to survive without it. In Mexico, more than 97 million people over six have a cell phone, mainly used to communicate, access social networks and consume entertainment.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, its benefits were unquestionable: it allowed to maintain communication in confinement, gave continuity to remote work, guaranteed that millions of students continue to learn and that doctors and mental health specialists attend to their patients immediately. How lucky that the internet arrived before pandemia.
But in parallel an increasingly visible risk arose: hyperconnectivity, understood as constant access to digital devices. This practice not only affects daily habits, but increases the probability of developing digital addiction, characterized by internet dependence, social networks or communication platforms to perform basic tasks.
Although there is still no universal clinical diagnosis, the American psychiatric association identifies clear symptoms: inability to control the time of use, difficulty to limit the places where technology and persistence are used in its use even in the face of negative consequences.
Examples are left: an executive who cannot silence his phone at a strategic meeting, or a collaborator who sacrifices sleep hours to meet a report, because during the working day he dedicated excessive time to review social networks.
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Digital addiction at work
In the workplace, digital addiction is expressed in two very different but equally problematic profiles:
1. The hyperconnected employee
- Answer emails and messages at all hours, even on weekends.
- It reaches productivity peaks, but at the expense of your mental health, your family life and your personal balance.
- It generates work stress, a problem that affects 75 % of Mexican workers. According to the ILO, this stress costs between 5,000 and 40,000 million dollars a year in loss of productivity, disabilities and rotation.
2. The distracted employee
- Dedicates a good part of the working day to personal activities on the Internet.
- This phenomenon, known as cyberfing or “cyberpereza”, can represent up to 28 % of work hours.
- It directly affects the results of the company, the cohesion of the equipment and the quality of the deliverables.
Both profiles show the same background: hyperconnectivity impacts the integral well -being of collaborators and, consequently, the results of organizations. The worrying thing is that many leaders are not yet fully aware of this silent cost.
Strategies to prevent and manage
The first step to face this challenge is to accept it as a business management problem and not only as a “bad individual custom.” From there, leaders can implement clear policies and well -being practices:
- Policies for responsible use of technology that favor the balance between personal and work life.
- Education programs to sensitize collaborators about the risks of digital addiction.
- Periodic self -assessment, which helps identify risk behaviors in the equipment.
- Support protocols for employees already show signs of technological dependence.
In parallel, it is convenient to add initiatives that improve both productivity and mental health:
- Brief and frequent breaks during the day.
- Defined schedules to check emails and messages, avoiding constant multitasking.
- Indispensable joints, with an order and time limit.
- Direct communication between colleagues: one day without WhatsApp or Slack.
- Digital disconnection after the working day.
- Welfare programs (mindfulness, yoga, exercise).
- Time flexibility and one day a week without meetings.
- Deep Work: Concentration sessions without interruptions, with clear objectives and delimited time.
- Team Building activities without devices, to strengthen real collaboration.
Balance as leadership
Hyperconnectivity and digital addiction pose a complex dilemma. Hyperconnected employees are usually perceived as very productive, although at the expense of their health and sustainability. On the other hand, moderate cyberpereza – user for brief entertainment – can even be beneficial, allowing a mental pause similar to that of coffee.
The solution is not completely disconnected: that would be unfeasible in a digitalized world. True leadership consists in teaching to use technology consciously. Leaders must preach with the example: establish disconnection schedules, respect the personal time of the team and demonstrate that the balance between work and personal life is possible.
In the end, the challenge is not technological, but human. The future of companies will depend on their ability to integrate the digital without losing sight of the essentials: health, well -being and sustainable productivity of their collaborators.
The author is the founder of the Monte Fénix Center for Higher Studies, a pioneer institution in the training of addiction professionals in Latin America. International reference in prevention, research and treatment, has promoted academic and health programs recognized in Mexico and abroad. With more than three decades of experience, he is a lecturer, author and leader in Public Health and Corporate Welfare, committed to transforming education and attention around addictions.
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