Technology mustn't gobble up 'quality time'

The term “quality time” has evolved in recent history, but we are all aware how much it’s being curtailed by today’s technology. One might have expected a far greater outcry over a recent opinion survey that underlined the extent to which technology is having a negative impact on the balance of work and personal pleasure. Instead, the survey – which demonstrated that technology has enslaved humans at work like never before – has flown under practically everyone’s radar. 

There is a school of thought that suggests our only option in this day and age is to go with the technological flow. Modern gadgets can facilitate everyone’s labours, after all. But, according to the survey, the drawbacks are in danger of outweighing the benefits. The study shows, for example, how technology also facilitates the dispensation of instructions by keeping the bosses and senior colleagues in almost constant touch. Employees are being bombarded with instructions far more than the telephone ever allowed, and the intrusion on their private time can only add to their stress while significantly eating into their family life.

That’s merely the most obvious drawback uncovered in the survey. Technology, if not used properly, can also hamper relations between those using it to communicate, because – in another instance of detracting from our quality time – it decreases face time. We physically see far less of the people with whom we’re interacting. Instead of sitting down with co-workers to discuss matters of importance, we are relying on text messages, partly due to convenience and partly because it avoids direct confrontation. The written word, however, cannot fully convey emotions, be they riled or kindly. Misunderstandings routinely occur because text messages are misinterpreted.

The governments of some European countries are becoming more cautious about allowing communications technology to be used in the workplace. Labour rules are being mulled to bar bosses from sending “instructions” by email outside working hours. Several private firms, seeking to foster more “face time”, already discourage or outright prohibit digital communication among people who work in close proximity. Such measures invariably raise objections, understandably so if a firm’s productivity is somehow at stake.

What is undeniable is that modern technology has made us think differently than we did in the past. It wasn’t that long ago that most people would have balked at receiving work-related email once they’d finished their jobs for the day, let alone acting on them outside working hours. Yet, for the majority, that’s no longer a big deal. More people now tend to regard such email with a sort of pride, a sign that they’re “in the loop” 24 hours a day. Employees who get a message about work while dining out with the family aren’t particularly disturbed by it, even if it means their attention is diverted from their spouse and children.

So the definition of quality time has changed considerably in the past 15 years, along with the duration of the period it used to define. People have come to accept that, since technology makes their work easier, any collateral cost must be covered. And, if you can work at home more often, receiving online instructions at home at odd hours can seem like a small price to pay.

The key, as is so often said, is in finding a fair balance. Employees enjoying the benefits of working at home should be able to accept such intrusions. Employers, though, ought to think twice before emailing fresh orders to the staff in off-hours. And co-workers must be considerate toward one another – and be prepared to handle face-to-face confrontations as the need arises. 

We can be thankful for the ease technology has brought to our lives, but, as is also often said, we must learn to manage it rather than let it manage us. 

Some aspects of life have improved tremendously, even if many of us struggle to “live smarter”. In the back of our mind should always be the warning of Albert Einstein. “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction,” he wrote, because “the world will then have a generation of idiots”.