Visiting various websites – whether on my PC or smart phone — is starting to feel like dystopia Los Angeles from the movie Blade Runner. Static ads are intermingled with articles. Giant banners frame the tops of pages with columns of smaller ads along both sides. If I scroll to read the rest of a story, an ad fills the screen, necessitating I swipe it away. And sometimes when I’m on a site, an audio ad will start playing with no means to turn down the sound.

Adding to the miasma, video ads play randomly, and more often than not, an ad proceeds the content I want to view. Should I research a company or product, I’m immediately stalked with tracking ads popping up in the most unexpected places like the need to invest in a cybersecurity solution while browsing for a dining room set or washer and dryer.

It’s becoming increasingly hard to discern content from the noise, and wade through the paid prattle to find the desired information.

Yes, I realize ads keep the web free and accessible to everyone with an internet connection (at least until net neutrality is squashed). And to be honest, some ads are amusing and are designed to elicit my interest by offering free shipping or savings on something I’m genuinely interested in purchasing.

Technology Overload

It’s not just ads that are competing for my attention.

Email, instant message, notifications from document sharing apps, social media, newsfeeds, and my calendar. The bings, bongs, and pop-ups distract, sideline, and steal valuable time, making it difficult to concentrate on pressing projects and complete necessary tasks.

There’s a slew of productivity and aggregator tools like Trello, Whiteboard, Evernote, Zapier, Freedly, HootSuite, and Sprout, which help organize, reduce, and analyze the clutter. However, they don’t impact what automatically pops up when perusing the Internet. And with every passing month, the situation seems to get worse with businesses and organizations eagerly adopting affiliate marketing, customer relations marketing (CRM), and marketing automation. These vehicles hook, yank, and pull in customers through social media, email, and intriguing downloadable content.

The question is whether people are becoming overwhelmed, numb or developing frenetic multi-tasking skills to keep up.

TIME magazine reported, “A study conducted by academics at the University of Cambridge and U.K.-based telco giant BT says that one in three people feel “overwhelmed” by technology. Surprisingly, the study claims that a third of adults, and an amazing 43% of 10- to 18-year-olds, are already trying to cut down or control their use of social technology.”

The article was published six years ago. Eck!

Social scientists will point out Generation Y (Millenniums), Generation X, and budding Generation Z are joined at the hip to technology, and are wholly comfortable with 140-character (or less) conversations, pictures that disappear as soon as they’re viewed, emojis to convey ideas, and constant interruptions from apps and ads. No doubt, many can type faster with two thumbs on a smart phone then ten fingers on a keyboard.

The question remains whether they immersed and satisfied with technology or simply frantically absorbing and responding.

Powering “Now”

One outcome of today’s encompassing technology and endless ways to engage is the mushrooming of the on-demand economy with immediate access to goods and services from drivers ready to whisk you to destinations, to instantaneous quotes and comparisons of products, prompt responses from company representatives, instant access to maps and directions, on-demand videos and training courses, groceries delivered to your door at all hours, medical consultations at the click of a button, bank balance updated upon scanning checks, and rare Pez dispensers available with next-day shipping.

The need to “wait” is being replaced by the instant gratification of getting what you need, when you need (or want) it. There’s a sense of entitlement that when an urge strikes it should be fulfilled straightaway, even if there’s a cost associated. For many, the price of ordering online and getting it delivered to their doorsteps outweighs the effort of going to a store, restaurant or service provider.

Convenience, speed, and simplicity are driving the on-demand economy, which are the same factors that make smart phones and tablets attractive. Type a few characters, tap, swipe, tap or swipe again, and what you want pops up.

Putting on the Brakes

The lunacy of technology, tugging at one’s attention span, has led to the need to “unplug.” Even young people are recognizing the value of putting down their phone, not immediately responding to emails, and avoiding apps and websites, which steal valuable time.

Physically being tethered to a smart phone can result in back and neck pain from tilting your head down to read a tiny screen. Constant texting and typing on a keyboard the size of a cracker can irritate conditions like tendonitis, causing hand, forearm and wrist pain. And staring at a computer screen can lead to dry eye and blurred vision.

From an emotional point-of-view technology can cause significantly more harm, especially with trolling and bullying, and feelings of abandonment and loneliness while perusing social media feeds or reading about others’ successes and lifestyles.

More telling, research from Swansea and Milan Universities found when heavy internet users go offline, they suffer from withdrawals like those experienced by drug users. The phenomenon of nomophobia, fear of being without a smart or cellular phone, affects around 66% of people.

Crazy, but true!

In addition, research has shown the plethora of emails, text message, news feeds, ads, video, and audio blips are rewiring our brains. We’re going from multi-tasking to addiction by engaging in stimuli for which are brains aren’t equipped to process.

According to Adam Gazzaley, a professor in neurology, physiology and psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco — and the author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World —95% of people multi-task, and on average, for a third of their day. Some young people multi-task with up to seven devices at once. The outcome is we’ve become accustomed to constant stimulation and our tolerance for boredom has plummeted.

Waiting in line becomes agonizing as does sitting in traffic, anticipating a response on an important manner (or even a simple answer from a co-worker), or having a meal without checking one’s phone.

Gazzaley refers to this phenomenon as an “ancient brain in a high-tech world,” and explains people can reel in their technology addictions by modifying their behavior and training their brains to deal with distractions.

Calming the Chaos

Today’s society dictates the need to embrace technology to do one’s job, communicate with friends and family, and more commonly, obtain goods and services. With technology comes the overload of distractions. The challenge is recognizing what’s occurring when fliting from one online vehicle to another, and then make a concerted effort to stop and engage in a solitary task when feeling overwhelmed or agitated.

Unlike the replicants in Blade Runner, we have the option of changing the course of our lives. Stopping to enjoy the unconnected world instead of focusing on what’s in our hands or at our fingertips isn’t wise, it’s essential.

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