Dealing with Tele-pressure & FOMO
As a correctional
officer or employee, your typical duty day is long enough as it is especially
if you are volunteering for overtime or working on special projects. Today’s
technology has extended the work day even more so than before, as the
organization you work for expects more with less and that puts a big burden on
your mind and body.
One can only imagine the
fatigue you feel when you walk through the front door of your home and your
cell phone rings or an email catches your eye, and either asks you come back to
work or come in early the next day. Drained of energy as you may be, you need
to respond to matters brought to your attention. More importantly, the boss
expects an immediate response whether you are available or not.
It is almost impossible
to disconnect your relationship from work at home. Technology has attached your
mind forever as a lifeline or as long as you carry a Smartphone that delivers
your calls and emails 24/7 creating a phenomenon called Tele-pressure (stress).
A study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that more
than 50% of us check work email before and after work hours, throughout the
weekend, and even when we’re sick. Even worse, 44% of us check work email while
on vacation.
Mobile phones are rarely
turned off. Even while on the charger, it is on. Sometimes, we take the time to
silence the ringtone but phone’s power is on. You and your phone are collaborators in you
life – it’s either going to be a positive relationship or a bad one. One of the
most obvious signs you are suffering from Tele-pressure is the phenomenon
called FOMO.
Better known as the
“Fear Of Missing Out” syndrome, FOMO is a relatively new term associated with
today’s high-tech millennial generation which includes those born after 1980
but has grabbed those before this time as well. These people fear that
they’ll miss out of something important, fun and interesting. FOMO is a
powerful force and it correlates to people’s tendency to avoid loss of
information in their lives. You can almost call it an addiction as there are
many people who rely on their phones too much and too often.
This constant connection
cannot be a good thing if not balanced between your off duty time and your
on-duty commitment. Tele-pressure ensures that you are never able to relax and
truly disengage from work. This prolonged state of stress is terrible for your
health. Besides increasing your risk of heart disease, depression, and obesity,
stress decreases your cognitive performance.
In order to deal with
the Tele-pressure whether personal or professional, we need to establish clear
lines or boundaries between those dynamics that motivate or guide us daily. If
we don’t do that, we are subject to fall victim to poor health, extreme stress
and anxiety and deprived relationships.
Whenever you are faced
with a busy schedule that intrudes on your life in all directions, you need to
prioritize your needs or values and put them in some kind of order so you
remain healthy, happy and balanced.
Easier said than done,
it is important you take the time to do this is you are to sustain a long and
happy relationship and career – those two works hand in hand and need a sound
balance in order to get along with each other. Learning how to say no to the
boss may not be an option - however, setting you priorities can help you
achieve a measurable value to allow a balance between work and play. Set your
values in order; don’t give them away without first evaluating what is
important and where it is on your continuum of life and the pursuit of
happiness.
Shape your character to
fit your values and allot your time spent for those things to be reasonable and
necessary in order to remain fit and mentally alert. Taking short cuts can only
hurt you in time as stress and other ailing symptoms take time to show up or be
detected and often that is a case of being in dire straights and in need of
treatment or rest.
Based on my own
evaluation of my service record, I prioritized my life in the following order –
physical health, family, mental health wellness, as well as my ethics,
contacts, activities. Certainly, there are more activities in your life than
those mentioned above and you can add them to the list as you see fit or
proper. The key here is to sustain the long hard traveled road and career as
well as taking care of yourself and family.
You cannot let bad things
sneak up on you, and the way you do that is by keeping a consistent routine.
Think about what you need to do to keep yourself active and healthy (taking brisk
walks during lunch, skip working weekends, taking your vacations as scheduled
making it more remote than ever, etc.), make a plan, and stick to it no matter
what.
If you don’t, you’re
allowing your work to overstep its bounds. When your mind is at ease, you
naturally feel good, and make it easier to deal with the things around you.
What is more important is that your energy is regulated to the point where you
are able to respond effectively and within a reasonable amount of time.
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