Digital Wellbeing in a Covid World

A huge thanks for Anastasia Dedyukhina from Consciously Digital for popping in to the International HR Forum's virtual cafe last Thursday. 

The topic was how to keep on top of digital wellbeing in a world where tech has become all-pervasive, and Covid has blurred home/work boundaries.

In a poll at the start of the call, 76% of attendees felt that they were "always on". 

Scary stuff... 

And something mirrored by Consciously Digital's detailed research, that indicates a number of trends amongst workers from tech companies that have accelerated during the pandemic:
- Increased screen time, given the proliferation of video calls, emails, collaboration tools, etc.
- Longer working hours. 69% said their working hours had increased when they had to work from home.
- Decreased tech/life balance. 
- Less capacity to stay focused. Indeed the mere presence of a smart-phone impacts productivity. 
- Less time to think and focus. 41% had less than 1 hour uninterrupted time per day.
- The volume of video calls. 71% have 5 or more a day.
- Increased multi-tasking. 87% do this whilst on video calls. 
- More pressure to keep on top of emails. 95% have their email open whilst working.
- An increased blurring of the boundaries between work and home life. Only 18% felt that they put clear boundaries in place. 

All of this had implications for the health and wellbeing amongst the respondents:
- 63% have no established breaks.
- 76% have meal breaks in front of their laptop or smartphone. 
- 86% keep their device(s) in their bedroom at night.
- 73% check their device before getting up in the morning.

So what can be done about all of this?

Anastasia explored the three pillars of a healthy tech/life balance:
1. Focused work.
2. Rest and unplug.
3. Physical and mental wellbeing.

The challenge for HR practitioners is to not just to encourage digital wellbeing in the workplace, but also within the broader HR profession.

A number of ways to encourage wellbeing were explored. 
- Regular physical activity. 
- Looking after your eyes.
- Taking care of your posture.
- Healthy eating habits.
- Quality of rest, and sleep.
- Effective time management, and delineation between deep and shallow work.
- Thinking about your environment, and the impact this has on work, your relationships, etc.
- Taking time for self-recovery.

We covered off in an hour what could easily be a day's workshop. Thanks again to Anastasia for a thought-provoking and interactive session. It certainly got me thinking about things I can do to review digital wellbeing at my company, and also on a personal level as I must admit some bad habits have crept in over the past couple of years!

Digital wellbeing should be an area that is top of mind for any HR professional, and with that in mind please do connect with Anastasia:
- On Twitter @ConsciDigital
- On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiadedyukhina/
- Via the website https://www.consciously-digital.com/