16 Aug 2019

How to use technology to manage stress in a highly pressured work environment

Far from removing all the stress from our lives, like the utopian adverts of the 1950s, you could argue that technology has added to the pressures of work. We’re always-on, our laptops and smartphones merrily chirping away with each alert – whether or not we’re at our workplace.

Maybe technology hasn’t been the glorious work-saver we thought it might have been? Or, maybe, it depends on what your priorities are, what your focus is and how you use that technology?

Stress is necessary – it sharpens our senses, gets the adrenaline pumping and helps us achieve our best. But too much stress is detrimental, and not everyone handles it the same way – or has the same level of resilience.

However, there are ways to use always-on tech to relieve stress. Try a few of these tips, and see if your daily life is made a little easier:

Get organised

You likely have a pretty good idea of where you need to be, what you need to do, who you need to talk to and when you need to do these things. But are you absolutely certain?

Not being a 100% sure of your tasks and obligations can cause you to miss appointments, deadlines and meetings. And that’s not something you need in your life. It’s definitely a stressor.

Luckily, there are countless apps and programmes available to help. Your smartphone can use apps like Outlook, Google Drive and Calendar to effortlessly synchronise your plans. Now you don’t need to keep a head full of dates and times, and your phone will tell you when you have somewhere to be. Simple.

Make your home a smart one

It seems only a few years ago that voice recognition was limited to a few word processing apps – and they didn’t work especially well. Now it’s possible to kit out your entire house with devices that can listen to your commands, and act on them immediately.

This might not seem like such a big deal to many – why have a computer turn out the lights when I could do it myself? But the time you save adds up. And when you’ve got everything connected to the organisers that we mentioned above, you’ll find life gets ever more efficient. Less pressure, less stress.

Move about more

You don’t need tech to exercise, just a pair of running shoes or a yoga mat. And that’s fine. But sometimes, you need a little motivation to get up and go for that 6am jog.

Wearable tech – smart watches, pulse monitors, step counters – are great for this. It’s possible to gamify your exercise, and turn it into an achievement. There are apps available for every level of exercise, and almost every scenario. You can listen to motivating speeches from trainers customised to your route, you can track your progress, you can even turn your morning run into a daring escape from a horde of sinister zombies, if that’s your thing. The trick is to keep the brain occupied as much as the body, and increase that rush of achievement as much as possible.

Sleep more, and better

You can’t handle pressure so well when you’re exhausted. It’s vitally important to get the right amount of sleep. And it has to be quality sleep, not just fitful naps. This isn’t easy when you’re stressed and pressured – sleep is often the first thing to suffer (then diet, then exercise. It’s a bit of a vicious cycle).

There are plenty of smartphone apps that can help. Most smartphones actually come with sleep monitoring software, but the best apps do so much more – they play relaxing white noise, use gradually increasing tones to gently awaken you, and even record your sleep-talking for playback in the morning (you’ll be surprised by some of the things you say!).

None of these ideas on their own will make your life stress-free. That’s a lofty goal, and one you probably won’t ever achieve. But try each of them, and see how much easier you can make your daily routine – the technology is there for you. Use it.

This article is provided by Health Assured