Ask the dr

TOO MUCH TECH?

Dear Dr. Brothers: To say that I am an on-the-go kind of guy would be an understatement. I eat my breakfast standing up while I e-mail clients, all while checking the kids’ homework from the previous night. I schedule appointments on my cell phone on the way to work, while listening to the latest financial forecasts on the radio. On the way back home, I’m back on the cell to confirm those appointments, and I fire up my laptop before bed to work on some spreadsheets. My spouse has asked how long I can keep this up without burning out. Is this behavior psychologically healthy?
—J.G.

Dear J.G..: Since you seem to be pressed for time, I’ll give you the short answer upfront: No. Just reading your letter not only stressed me out, but I think it raised my blood pressure as well!

Just because we live in a time when we always can be reached doesn’t mean we have to be! We think if we don’t get an immediate reply to an e-mail, something must be seriously wrong. Remember when it would take days to get a response with snail mail? Or when the news was broadcast only a few times a day? The world still turned, even though we didn’t have immediate access. When you split your time so quickly and thinly, someone’s bound to get a smaller slice. When it comes to checking your children’s homework, let’s hope it’s not them who are left with the smaller piece. You need to start setting some serious boundaries on your time—sometimes it’s necessary to unplug ourselves for a bit to get our priorities in working order. And all that technology you use probably can use a little break also.

(c) 2007 by King Features Syndicate

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