This page updated March 2022

Syllabus 

The impact of digital technologies on work/life balance;              11 ATAR, 12 GEN

Background

• Working in an office or workplace has been the norm for many centuries. Digital technologies have led to a change in the workplace that now makes it possible with excellent connectivity to work from home.

Work/Life Balance

• Covid-19 has prompted many organisations directing workers to work from home.
• This has led to benefits of efficient 'work at home' practices, but has also caused the inability for some to 'get away' from work.
• The need for some to respond to the large volume of emails, messages and face to face meetings using Zoom, Teams or WebEx has caused an imbalance in their lives.
• If this worker is continually meeting the job needs of the workplace, this can lead to breakdown of mental health for that worker or their family members.

Consequences

• family breakdown
• mental health issues
• physical issues such as eye strain, headaches, neck pain, wrist pain and more.

Overcoming this Impact

• Workers need to set aside a work routine based on timings that work for them and their employer.
  • This ensures the work tasks get done.
• They also need to set aside specific timings to have time away from work.
  • This ensures leisure time is planned for and can actually happen.
• If a work/life balance still can't be achieved, then some individuals may need to consider 'digital detox'. This means spending time away from all digital devices for a set amount of time.

 For You To Do

1. Make a list of your use of digital devices (screen time) at particular timings as below.
   1. weekday 
   2. evenings
   3. nights
   4. Weekends.
2. Next to each of these record your 'screen time' in hours.
3. Compare your results with those of a friend.
4. Describe your work/life balance considering the possibility of your over-use of technology? If yes, how can it be fixed?

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